Oh, dearest young Lauren, am I to be frustrated with you for not having read this series sooner? Or am I to be delighted that you left me the chance to do so now?

WHAT A FANTASTIC BOOK I say as I wipe a tear from my cheek, having just finished it. What an absolutely wild roller coaster of emotions from which I may never recover. Oh we’re in it now my friends, we’re in for—checks notes—seventSEVENTEEN????? Oh lord. seventeen books. Well, 16 since I just finished this one.

Robin Hobb, I know not what you look like, nor from where you hail, but you have my heart (and my sword, and my bow, and my axe).

Assassins Apprentice is a masterclass of world building and character creation. I was immersed from the first moment I entered this book and it never faltered the entire way through. I literally laughed, cried and gasped out loud. Some of the twists I saw coming, or knew enough to expect, but others had me metaphorically pacing the floor with my head in my hands.

Fitz is a protagonist like no other. He’s kind, and yet steadfast and brutal in his own way when that is needed. He’s intelligent, but also incredibly human and incredibly young for the entire book, and we see him struggle and fail, and come back every time even if he needs some coaching at first.

This book came to me in a moment when I really needed an epic high fantasy to immerse myself in, and despite my genuine shock that it’s my first RH book, I’m so glad that now is it’s moment to shine for me. I’ve been reading since I was very small, and for the longest time I would specifically pick my fantasy from the sections where these books would have lived, so I can only assume it’s an act of fate that I never picked one up until now.

I am steeling myself for where the trilogy and then the wider series takes me next, because I know for a fact that after this it’s going to be wild.

Hobb is know for slower, character focused books, but damn this really doesn‘t have much of a plot (it‘s like pwp but without the porn which is sad bc I would pay good money for a Fitz&Fool pwp (I am aware of ao3 but I am terrified of spoilers, this will be my treat once I finish this behemoth of a series)

Like I said the pacing in this is slow, and sometimes very rough

On the back of my book it says that this is about the quest to find Icefyre, Icefyre get introduced at the 50% mark, no one ever leaves Buckkeep in this book

But as always the characters really shined, there were so many little moments I adored. In some way this felt like a little slice of life.

We‘re there moments I wanted something to happen? Yeah But for these moments there were character interactions, where I had to put my book down to properly process them.

I love Fitz so much, god he‘s so fucking dumb