Wow, I really enjoyed this, even though it was a lot different to what I expected after reading the blurb.

This is my first book from Robin Hobb and I am in awe of her beautifully written prose and her immaculate skill at building a world that feels realistic and fantastical at the same time.

In a memoir style, we follow Fitz, the illegitimate son of the future king of the Six Duchies, who is abandoned as a young boy at Buckkeep, the King's residence. Growing up under the care of Burrich, the stable master, he discovers that unlike most people he is able to form a deep telepathic connection with animals, especially dogs. As a potential threat to the throne, he is later taken as an apprentice to the King's assassin, and soon finds himself a pawn used to plot political schemes and manipulate social unrest, also by training in the Skill, an ancient, inherited ability to communicate telepathically with others or manipulate their actions... 🌀

I loved following Fitz's coming-of-age story, and I suffered with him under the injustices of the story's antagonists (why, Mrs Hobb, why 😭). Especially through the first-person perspective and the many (but surprisingly not tiring) monologues written as stream of consciousness, I felt like I got a deep understanding of Fitz's character and could really identify with him.

It's definitely written in a different way than other fantasy novels I've read so far and doesn't follow the usual hero's journey or three-act-structure framework, which made it all the more interesting to me, but may not be to everyone's taste.

I'm looking forward to the next part of the trilogy 👀

Full review to come, but for now: glad I read, glad it’s over, I WILL be reading Julia by Sandra Newman