Maybe just the wrong time to read this?A six-year old boy is dropped off on the doorstep to the royal family. He is the illegitimate son of a prince. He has no name. What is to become of this boy? Who will he turn into? What is in a name?The beginning of The Assassin’s Apprentice immediately had me hooked. It is incredibly moving and heartrending. Also, I really enjoyed the fantasy. It is what I would describe as realistic fantasy. The author doesn’t go too far into worldbuilding and doesn’t bor...

It took me three tries to read this excellent fantasy. I had to be in the right frame of mind, because I found it by no means a page-turner until I was about halfway through. Hobb has crafted a believable, intricate fantasy world in all its gritty, mundane, medieval detail, so you can smell the stables and taste the gruel along with experiencing the wonders of magic and courtly skulduggery. It is an enormously comprehensive autobiography of one Fitz, the bastard son of Prince Chivalry of the Six...

Wonderful start to a series with incredible character writingWhat a wonderful start to a series. If I were to rate this book on plot alone I would probably give it 3/5 stars. If I were to rate this book on character building, I would probably give it 10/5 stars. Robin Hobb makes you truly understand who all these characters are, and gets you to deeply care about them more than perhaps any other book I have ever written. While the plot is somewhat dull compared to other big-time fantasy books, it...

really enjoyed this first book! Can't wait to check out the rest of the series

(3.5) I finally got around to reading this popular Fantasy series that has been on my TBR for literally forever... and I'm pretty underwhelmed.

I liked Hobb's writing, I enjoyed the world and magic system but this has to be the most chill, less action-driven book about an assassin's education ever.

Things did end up picking up a bit in the last 100 pages and I am planning on reading the whole trilogy to give it a proper shot. It was... kinda relaxing I guess? lol

My journey into The Realm of the Elderlings by Robin Hobb has finally begun and it’s off to a great start.You can skip the next paragraph if you want to go straight to the review, this is just a long introduction that I need to make before writing my review. It’s not an overstatement to say that The Realm of the Elderlings is hands down my biggest gamble of all time in the history of book buying; I bought it without using my brain, after all. You may call me shallow, my interest in this series s...

Reread this AGAIN because I am going to read all of the books up to date that are out!!! Hmmm.. guess I should show y'all my cool bookshelf of the books and some of my dragon figurines. Ah, maybe later 😘 Okay, well here it is... These were the lessons in my assassin's primer. And more. Sleight of hand and the art of moving stealthily. Where to strike a man to render him unconscious. Where to strike a man so that he dies without crying out. Where to stab a man so that he dies without too much...

I haven't read a lot of fantasy in the last decade, so the fact I've read 12 of Robin Hobb's books in the last 5 years says a lot about how much I enjoy reading her work. The adventures of Fitz through three trilogies account for a big chunk of that reading.Robin Hobb can write a first person story with rare skill. She shows you a world though Fitz's eyes and makes it matter, makes it vital. Some elements of Hobb's fantasy are fairly old school, but written with a modern style and a literary ski...

I find a lot of fantasy authors are in love with the internalized conceptions of their worlds. This can lead to great nuanced detail supporting imaginative storytelling... but the flipside can be a creation that fails to translate that vision to the actual page, to the audience.Assassin's Apprentice illustrates this point fairly well. Robin Hobb has clearly lovingly created the world of the Six Duchies, and this love is echoed through the tale's device: born a bastard son to the king's heir, Fit...

One of my all-time favorite series. I love it so much I have first edition hardbacks. Lovely, touching, dramatic. It has everything.