Assassin’s Quest

Robin Hobb 1997 Buy from Amazon.com

This is the third novel in the Farseer trilogy and I found it to be a very different type of novel than the first two. In the other books Fitz is influenced constantly by the actions of others and the intrigues of court. This novel begins with Fitz and Burrich again living together, but far away from the Keep. Fitz is known to be dead, and he is recovering his strength and his humanity after the ordeal of torture and interrogation at the end of the last novel.

During the first section of this story Fitz and his companion wolf Nighteyes are traveling together. For the first time, they are not surrounded by the royal and significant people that Fitz grew up with, but are journeying their own way and he is making his own decisions. Most of the novel is about traveling and the winter snow and cold mountains set the scene for hardship and introspection.

Fitz reunites with the Fool and Kettricken and they set off with two new companions to find Prince Verity. Throughout the novel Fitz uses his untrained Skill to watch his lover Molly in her new life. She gives birth to their daughter Nettle believing that Fitz is dead, but Burrich is watching over them. Fitz holds on to the dream of an ordinary life with them, away from intrigue, safe from the demands of royal blood.

Royal Assassin was a novel in which Fitz grew accustomed to being an adult, and there was constant politics and danger from plots and betrayals. In this novel most of the dangers are more tangible, such as the winter cold, the hardship of a long journey, and the straight forward problems of soldiers trying to kill him. It seemed as though it would be very difficult to understand how Verity could be gone so long and yet still be alive, something that weighs on Kettricken heavily. The reasons become clear when they find him, and in a way that is both wonderful and logical.

I was very pleased with this novel, but it was quite sad in ways too. Fitz has had a difficult life, full of hard choices, loss and injury. It would have been satisfying to have everything work out in his favour in the end, but his story is nevertheless rewarding in its own way.

Buy from Amazon.com