Assassin’s Quest (The Farseer Trilogy #3)

I started this trilogy because of all the great reviews. I finished this trilogy because once started, I wanted to know how it ended. Such a disappointment. Hobb repeated the historical information over and over and over and over……. until I gave up and began to skip sections that were repetitious. The main character Fitz was basically a screw-up, and did not improve with age, it was like he had “Loser” stamped on his forehead. I mean really, 3 books later and he still can’t get anything right?! The most interesting characters in the book were the wolf and the “Fool”. There are hours and hours and hours of conflict, but the resolution to the whole mess is summed up in about 1/2 hour, and Fitz doesn’t even play a part in the resolution once it starts. This could have been a fantastic saga, but it wasn’t.

Do you like books about suffering bastards (literally)? Do you like the protagonist to get his butt handed to him time and time again but somehow come out of it with only some scars and mild PTSD? Do you like the antagonist(s) to basically “win” all the time? Do you want to question the point in living when you finish the book? Then look no further because this is the book for you! But seriously, this book is very well written and the story is unique. It’s hard to gripe an author for the themes they choose but I would have liked a little less depression, doom, and overall hopelessness for the protagonists of this story. Life is hard enough, people often read to escape, I don’t need to read about how freaking horrible it is for our hero of the story. Honestly, in hindsight, I would NOT have read these books but after reading the first one and part of the second I was “committed.”
This is the only book, and series, I would rate 5 stars but tell everyone to avoid like the plague (getting the plague was probably the only bad thing that DIDN’T happen to the protagonist).

**Mild Spoilers Below** (Not really)
The books take an endless amount of time to go into detail of all the hardships but then speeds through anything remotely positive. Even the ending (which is mostly depressing) felt rushed and left me feeling empty inside… not a feeling I enjoy.

I feel as if each book in this series portrays Fitz in an even more bothersome way. To me, he still acts rash, is quick to anger and makes bad decisions. While this is fine in book 1, by book 3 he should have grown more as a character and not repeat all these traits with the frequency he does. I just don’t feel like his character grew in a way that was commensurate to his experiences through the series. This is not to say, he didn’t have his moments and some areas of growth. But he was the MC and we were constantly in his head and literally heard and knew his every thought in painstaking detail. This is why he was a frustrating character. As a first person narrative we were well aware that he should know better and with each book it was harder to overlook that his maturation as a character may not be building towards something. Sadly, in the end, he was still the same frustratingly bad decision maker as he was at the start.
Fortunately, all the other characters became favorites of mine. I mentioned this fact in my review of the Royal Assassin, so I wont repeat it here. The quality of the other characters helped me get through this book, that was hundreds of pages longer than it needed to be. I’m fine with slow pacing, but there was a lot of redundancy of information or information given in great (an beautiful) detail that didn’t really advance the story. It wasn’t even world building, which would have kept me engaged better. It was mostly exposition written beautifully, but exposition none the less.
Unfortunately, I didn’t feel rewarded at the end of the book for sticking with the series. Some of the biggest moments that all 3 books worked towards, happened in a few sentences or were relegated to the final chapter intros or mentioned in the epilogue. The big reveal at the end with the Elderlings, the retaking of Buck, fighting the Red Reders and reuniting six Duchies got very few pages. There were also several unsatisfying (to me) resolutions with several of the big secondary story lines as well.
I know and understand there are many who love this series and I respect that. I wish I was one of them and I really wanted to be as well. I’m in the group that is conflicted over how much I love it and how much I’m disappointed with it.
Overall, the series is worth reading to enjoy the amazing writing of Robin Hobb (exposition and all) and to be introduced to a world, group of characters and a story the is beautifully written and extremely interesting. Just don’t look to have an ending that hits the crescendo and gives the payoff that you may think all the interesting characters and beautifully written plot lines deserved.

I just received the 3rd illustrated book in the mail and I have no doubt I’ll love reading it! BUT… They really need to start adding bubble wrap to their packaging. I could have bought the older versions but paid extra for these specific books for their beautiful design ( as well as the story of course). I’ve ordered all three books in the mail and had them exchanged each time, they sent another that ended up just as damaged( scratched up, squished corners) as the first. I ended up keeping them as I worried another replacement would end up worse. The boxes these books came in were not damaged so there is no blame to put on the people delivering.

So please… Add some padding inside the boxes!!!!

I will say that the story is fantastic and have fallen in love with this trilogy. I look forward to reading more of Robin Hobb’s work in the future. The illustrations are beautiful and true to the things described in the books. The covers are gorgeously done as well.

Firstly, I have read the first 2 books and loved them both but did not post reviews as I felt I could not add any more about how wonderful these books are. I feel compelled to write a review of this, the 3rd and final instalment to add my own perspective to the somewhat mixed reviews of Assassin’s Quest.

Firstly, the criticism of the Kindle edition:- were there some spelling errors? Perhaps, they really didn’t stand out to me and any there were certainly didn’t spoil my enjoyment. The errors mentioned by a previous reviewer re. punctuation and lack of clarity regarding when characters are having a wit or skill conversation has been fixed – the reader is left in no doubt when characters are talking to each other “out loud” and when they are having a skill or wit conversation so do not let this put Kindle readers off as it would no longer appear to be an issue.

Some reviewers have expressed a view that the novel is overly long and a tad repetitive, retelling parts of the previous books as well as recapping what has gone before in the current book. While I can understand that this might grate on some, for me the recapping was brief enough to be a gentle reminder and not long enough to be annoying. As to the length? Yes, the book is long, far longer than the previous 2, but it could have been double the size and it wouldn’t have been enough for me, such is my enjoyment at immersing myself in the world of Fitz and his companions (and adversaries)!

It’s true the first two thirds of the books focus on the journey, but this was not a distraction for me. I loved Robin Hobb’s ability to describe the various places Fitz visits on his journey and the people he meets along the way. Fitz has ups and downs as with all the books, and I do agree with one reviewer who wished that (just once) Fitz would get a break, but then by the third book the reader should not expect all to go as planned – Ms Hobb always has a little surprise up her sleeve!

Nor did I find the ending too rushed or disjointed. By the time the reader has reached the end of the journey where we find out whether Fitz has succeeded or failed in his goal to reach his King, it’s fairly clear where and how the book is going to end. For me, the ending did not need to be as long as the rest of the book – the journey was the main story line for me, along with what happens to the people from Fitz’s old life. And it was damn good to see what Regal had made of himself and hope against hope that he finally gets his comeuppance. Does he? Read it and see!

I loved this book, as I loved the previous 2. Some people were clearly disappointed and I would not beg to say they are wrong as its a very subjective thing. For me, I devoured this trilogy and cannot wait to meet up with Fitz again. I have already downloaded part 1 of the Liveships trilogy, as apparently one should read these next before the Tawny Man series. Liveships is not a continuation of Fitz but certain parts of it are referred to in the Tawny Man series and the pedant in me likes to do things in order.

Grab a copy of Assassin’s Quest, boil your kettle and settle down for a thoroughly enthralling read!

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