Royal Assassin

“Fantasy as it ought to be written . . . Robin Hobb’s books are diamonds in a sea of zircons.”—George R. R. Martin Fitz has barely survived his first hazardous mission as king’s assassin. Battered and bitter, he vows to abandon his oath to King Shrewd, remaining in the distant mountains. But love and events of terrible urgency draw him back to the court at Buckkeep, and into the deadly intrigues of the royal family. Renewing their vicious attacks on the coast, the Red-Ship Raiders leave burned-out villages and demented victims in their wake. The kingdom is also under assault from within, as treachery threatens the throne of the ailing king. In this time of great danger, the fate of the kingdom may rest in Fitz’s hands—and his role in its salvation may require the ultimate sacrifice. BONUS: This edition includes an excerpt from Robin Hobb's Assassin's Quest. Praise for Robin Hobb and Royal Assassin “[Robin] Hobb continues to revitalize a genre that often seems all too generic, making it new in ways that range from the subtle to the shocking.”—Locus “[Royal Assassin] reaches astonishing new heights. . . . The Farseer saga is destined for greatness—a must-read for every devotee of epic fantasy.”—Sense of Wonder

This was by far my least favorite of the trilogy. I adored the first book, and dived right into the second. Far too much time is spent at the beginning rehashing over what happened in the first book - so much so that I put it down for two years until I didn't remember the first book so well. And then it does two things: (1) it feels like Fitz is in a never-ending, ever-deepening quagmire that he has no hope of escaping, which led to me feeling rather despondent as I read. And (2) it feels like he keeps basically having the same problems come up time and again, which just makes the whole thing even more frustrating for me.

I realized that I just really prefer my fantasy books to involve travel and different characters. For way too much of this book, Fitz is just stuck at the castle, having the same intrigues with the same handful of characters ... it's boring. To me. I realize other people could be quite happy with this.