ROYAL ASSASSIN - REVIEW

My review of Robin Hobb's Royal Assassin. The follow up to Assassin's Apprentice. The Second book in the Farseer trilogy. Let me know what you think of Royal Assassin and the review!
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[@shadowpt3]

The ending of the third one may not click with everybody. But it would be a shame if you stopped there. The next set of trilogies are some of the best the genre has to offer, Liveship Traders and Tawny Man, how I wish I could read them for the first time again.

[@chrislunny6728]

Love Robin Hobb. Her prose and characters are wonderful.

[@h.a.harris7423]

As an adult reader, I really appreciate Robin Hobb's writing. One of my problems with other fantasy books is that the simplicity of language pervasive in YA seems to be oozing over into adult genre fiction and I'm not a fan of that.

[@JARHuygebaert]

The second trilogy about Fitz is way better than the first, the third one is amazing too

[@nicholasoleksak395]

Daniel, as a fan of the series it’s best if you forgive the 3rd. It’s not BAD as the fans make it out to be. It’s ok. But I can see why people were so disappointed with it. If you stopped reading the series as a whole because of Assassin’s Quest, trust me the series as a whole is WORTH IT. please stay the course. And keep going. LiveShip Traders is phenomenal.

[@bryanbaker6040]

Robin Hobb is the best damn character writer in all of fantasy. There, I said it.

[@BackAlleyTANGO]

Don't listen to the people telling you the third book isn't good! The Elderlings series just keeps getting better and you'd miss out on some of the best character work in the genre if you give it up. D: Liveship Traders is SO GOOD, Tawny Man ever better, and Rainwild Chronicles?

[@svvv977]

Regarding the magic system: what I think is so unique about the Skill is that no one really knows how it works anymore, this becoming more evident as the series continues. It is a forgotten art that no one knows how to use, but still need to use. Thats what I love with Fitz's struggle with the Skill

[@jcg9998]

'Royal Assassin' was the single most depressing fantasy novel I have ever read. At times, it was almost painful. What a fantastic job of taking the traditional boy hero and forcing him into a scenario in which he is forced to commit evil acts, lose his home and abandon all his friends in order to maintain his fierce loyalty to Royal family.

[@adrienountiki8018]

While I think RA is the best book of the trilogy, the third is by no means bad. If anything, you might find the ending frustrating, but not because it's bad, at least imo. I really hope you continue reading the Realm of the Elderlings, because the other Hobb trilogies are just as good and often better than Farseer.

[@kevinalbora562]

Years of waiting for Assassins Apprentice and now Daniel is breezing

[@WhatCassRead]

I liked the third one a lot. It’s a departure from the Buckeep formula you’ve been seeing and you need that. You see Fitz expand his magic use, and while the ending of it may turn some people off, stopping there and not giving Liveship Traders a try would be a damn shame. Liveship is one of the greatest fantasy trilogies full-stop.

[@B.LEE.DbrianleedurfeeREVIEWS]

Speaking of prose, as someone who has been reading fantasy since I was a kid in the mid 1980s, writing has gotten weaker over time. The fantasies written in the 70s 80s 90s prose was a selling point. And writers really took some pride in it (Hobb, Katharine Kurtz, Tad William's, Jennifer Roberson, I could go on and on). The popularity of YA in the 2000s has sort of killed that across the board. The writing styles have become more bland and workman-like. One is not better than the other...but I know which I prefer

[@erikbarnett2970]

One aspect of Hobb’s writing I appreciated was the very thorough descriptions of foods and smells. It seemed like such a weird thing to focus on, and so rarely done. However, Fitz’ deep connection to canines means that smells and tastes are a much larger part of his life. It is subtle for many scenes, but I think an excellent writing choice.

[@pasipanodya]

Thanks for this video! I've been getting a bit disenchanted with fantasy booktube's bias for simple prose. In many reviews by eminent booktubers I'm seeing good prose be slandered or viewed as a negative that distracts from the story, while mediocre and clumsy prose alike are praised for being "straightforward". It's good to see there is still appreciation for authors who spend just as much time on crafting

[@CatrionaReads]

It took me MONTHS to read Royal Assassin because I was so irritated with Regal, I just couldn't. I found Assassin's Quest to be overly long but on a par in terms of quality with RA. The Liveship Trader's trilogy combines all of the prose and character qualities of Farseer, with the better magic system, larger world and multiple perspective 3rd person limited. SO GOOD

[@Law-of-EnTropy]

I dunno if the magic system in this book series is softer, but based on what you said, I can't help but remember a video from HelloFutureMe how while hard magic systems tend to magnify the fantastical aspects of the story, soft magic systems magnify on the psychological aspects of the story.

[@ryan_17295]

Having almost finished the whole trilogy of trilogies I really appreciate the slow, well developed character work. Fitz and the Fool are such amazing characters

[@svvv977]

And btw, I know some people dislike book 3, but i LOVED it. I adore the pacing of Hobb's books - the 'slowness' makes me feel at ease (or not) but really makes the story, characterd and world feel expansive by its slowness instead of 'big world big fast action'

[@octo448]

One thing I always mention about the Assassin trilogy from Hobb is that she doesn't mean assassin like most current popular authors use the term. I'm not exactly sure how to articulate the differences, but there is very little in the trilogy that reminds me of the assassin school series' that have become so popular in YA fiction recently. Fitz' journey is a lot more about his nation, his sense of self, and the intrigue than it ever was about assassination. The fact that SPOILER he kills people sometimes SLASH SPOILER is almost incidental.