Review of Royal Assassin by Robin Hobb

Royal Assassin by Robin Hobb---

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There will be spoilers from book 1. If you have not read Assassin's Apprentice, please do so before reading this review.

Fitz the Bastard is now Fitzchivalry, named after his father, Chivalry. However, now he's basically a cripple at the start of the book. The last book, Assassin's Apprentice, left off with a huge reveal, and now Fitz has seizures and is incredibly weak. His quest to assassinate the mountain prince while going to help the mountain princess Kettricken engaged to prince verity and come back to Buckkeep was a success in a way. However, Prince Regal's ploy to blame Fitz and take Kettricken as his own instead of for Prince Verity has failed.

The King's health is steadily declining.

Fitz has grown from a child to a teenager and is learning more and more about the politics and the tricks of living in a royal family. 

The end of book 1 had Fitz drinking the poison meant for the Mountain prince. It killed the mountain prince but failed to kill Fitz. The book starts off with an incredibly weak Fitz who has seizures. He stays in the mountain kingdom and tries to heal, but depression comes along with that, and he feels like he isn't going to be a help to anyone.

Prince Verity remains back at the castle, using the Skill to deter the red ships from attacking the coast of the Six Duchies. The Skill takes over Prince Verity, making him obsessed with constantly using it. It eats up at his life force, and nothing else satisfies him. He's young, but the use of the Skill has aged him, and now he looks older than his father.

Princess Kettricken is a new character introduced in this book. She is Prince Verity's wife. In the Mountain Kingdom, she was raised knowing she would be sacrificed. She marries Prince Verity and portrays herself as a strong woman. She is someone who can handle the stresses of the ruling. She is kind to her people and instills a sense of solid devotion in them because of her leadership. One that motivates the people to try and fight for the kingdom is worthy of that leadership. That is Princess Kettricken. She wants to please her Prince. But Verity is so stuck in the Skill he has no time for anything else. The Royal Assassin tells of the struggles of a marriage when one partner can't/won't give the other the time or love they deserve. It's raw and honest. 

The story grips you, and you must keep reading because you know the saying if it's not good, it's not the end. Well, nothing in this book is going the right way. Fitz struggles every page. The kingdom is in upheaval. The royal family betrays one another for greed and power. Fitz's love of Molly is frowned upon because even though he is a Bastard, one in the royal family cannot marry someone with common blood. So everything is working against Fitz. 

There seems to be no hope of defeating the Red Ships. The Skill will undoubtedly eat up the rest of Prince Verity's life force. The Fool is in mourning for his dying King. There are legends told of the Elderlings that would come to their rescue and defeat the Red Ships and save the kingdom. Fitz and Prince Verity convince the King to let Verity journey to find the Elderlings and save his kingdom. However, in Verity's absence, turmoil abounds. Prince Regal sees this as his chance to take his power and rule. 

Fitz must figure out how to stop this and help the King and Prince Verity in his absence. He's torn between wanting to live with Molly and serving his King. 

Robin Hobb writes such a gripping tale that it's hard to put down. There is hardship, and there is frustration. Her characters aren't perfect, and their mistakes direct the story. No one wants to read a high-end fantasy book where everything goes smoothly. That's not a story. Those happy ever after's are boring. Yes, we want to see our characters succeed, but when they have faults and mistakes, somehow, we can relate more.

I love Robin Hobb's writing. I love the way her brain works. She writes in first person but also portrays all the other characters using their own words. The book opens with a small introduction to Robin Hobb, saying…." Robin Hobb is one of the world's finest writers of epic fiction." So I'd say that gives you a good idea of what you're about to read.

Click here to learn more about Robin Hobb.