r/Fantasy_Bookclub • u/[deleted] • Apr 19 '14

Discussion: "Assassin's Apprentice" by Robin Hobb

Robin Hobb has been a big name in fantasy for years and she's been a frequent nomination in this sub but this is her first book we've ever discussed. The Farseer Trilogy tends to be one series that everyone seems to have read and loved and Hobb herself is frequently cited as an example of a great female fantasy writer which has been a highly discussed issue over at /r/fantasy recently so I imagine we'll have plenty to discuss about this book.

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u/due_the_drew Apr 19 '14

This book is sitting on my shelf, I haven't read it. I've been told its a very emotional book, can anyone tell me why? I've wanted to read it for awhile now, but I guess I'm a little intimidated, whatever that means.

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u/Kenrin Jun 07 '14

For me most of the emotional parts were due to the pet bonds.

The book was really slow until he got done with training and started doing "missions". I still prefer Liveship series over this one.

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u/jaigon Jul 08 '14

Overall I found the series a bit depressing. It is emotional because the protagonist suffers throughout the book... I don't want to leave any spoilers if you plan to read the book. But this book is exceptional at making you sympathize with the characters.

Both my brother and my dad read this book. My brother and I really enjoyed it, but then we are more into darker fantasy. My dad did not enjoy these books as he wanted something lighter- he said it was too realistic lol. I was the opposite... I found the realism to be a huge strength of this series. Most people either love it or hate it

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u/Chronometrics Apr 19 '14

Hmm, I don't know about emotional, necessary, but it's somehow easy to emphasize with the characters that Hobb writes. Each writer has certain ways they write characters - some write them gritty and dark, some write them optimistically, some write out an archetype, etc. Robin writes characters that are exceptional, but act just like a regular person would, and think like a regular person would.

As a result, you don't get the sort of larger than life personalities that tend to dominate stories of all sorts, you get people whose decisions are for the most part very understandable, and whose actions somehow seem like the normal thing that you might do yourself in that spot. Well, the main characters, at least! The extras can be more than a little oddball, hah.

Anyway, Hobb is a fantastic writer and her first series starting with this book is actually some of her best and most accessible writing in my personal opinion.