Customer Reviews
Fantastic start to an epic series - By: Mrs. Sarah Murphy, 23 Nov 2008 
I am so jealous of anyone who still has all these Robin Hobb books to start. It is an epic journey which is beautifully crafted. Great characters & storyline. One of the best things about Robin Hobb's books is she takes the time to finish the story as well as she writes the rest of it & you feel you have been on a journey & weren't robbed at the end. Read them!
one of my all time favourites - By: Cervantes, 18 Nov 2008 Robin Hobb is certainly on of the best fantasy writers out there.
I have read both the Farseer trilogies(Farseer & Tawny Man ) as well as the Liveship Traders & also the Soldier son trilogy.
Beautifully written - it is fantasy that does not lean on clichés 90 percent of the time.
Robin creates real characters that grows on you within a completely believable world & a very interesting & fresh type of magic.
This is the kind of Fantasy novel that got me hooked on the genre.
90% feelings-10% action - By: Torben Berg-sorensen, 15 Nov 2008 
Having read so many positive reviews I bought the 3 books.....what a shame ! The idea for the books a fine, but Ms Hobb puts feeeeelingsin everywhere...the plot becomes tidious & nothing is happening without describing more feelings...in the end I "speed read" - one pagein every 30 & at last, towards the end, hoped some action without feeling & some explanation to the plot story was given...I was wrong.
So I don't get the hype about this series. Nothing close to just one page of Tolkien.
On the other hand. If you like caracters that expresses feelings all the time, do not fight (very short & none-gory fights herein the books)and just can't get their act together - this series is for you.
Refreshing, original fantasy - By: G. Cochrane, 17 Sep 2008 
I found Assasssins Apprentice, & the rest of the trilogy, a very refreshing read. The pace does begin a little slow & at times I felt Robin Hobbs did not have to go to the extremes she did to portray Fitz's utter loneliness, however after about chapter six I found the pace picked up & I was hooked into the book.
This is not a typical 'epic quest' based fantasy tale, Hobb does a great job of avoiding most of the cliches & stereotypes rifein the fantasy genre, although admittedly the antagonist can be a little flat at timesin the typical 'bad guy' way. However, overall I think this book is worth reading just for Hobbs' skillin creating deep, dynamic characters that grow with the story. I felt a little distant from most of the charactersin the book at first, I think this is a clever reflection on the state of mind of young Fitzin his loneliness, however by the second book I had grown to love them - the characters are all so rounded & realistic, with their own histories, opinions & faults.
Hobbs' use of language also impressed me, she has a lovely style of writing that is very descriptive without being over-indulgent, giving the story an overall feel of 'realness' that sucks the reader into the world of Buckkeep & the Six Duchies.
A brilliant read. - By: Daniel O'keeffe, 06 Sep 2008 I am not the biggest fan of reading & don't read particularly often but I loved this book It did have quite a slow start but once it had started it was brilliant I couldn't put it down.
Don't think about buying it just BUY IT!
