Royal Assassin is the second book in Robin Hobbs' Farseer trilogy, and as far as second books in trilogies go, this one was pretty darn good! The overall story arch progressed nicely and there was actual character development (things both generally missing in second books of trilogies).The story continues to follow young FitzChivalry, bastard grandson and assassin to the dying King Shrewd, as he weaves his way through life in the royal court serving both Shrewd and king-in-waiting Verity, while the Shrewd's youngest son Regal weaves his nasty web of deceit and betrayal. The Red Ship Raiders continue to attack the coast and turn all survivors into zombie-like beings. In a desperate attempt to save the kingdom, Verity leaves his ailing father and pregnant wife in the hands of shady Regal so he can pursue the Elderlings spoken of in their land's ancient lore who were said to have some special power that may help end the coastal attacks. Needless to say, everything goes to hell in a hand basket.
This is a wonderful, well-written story. It was almost heartbreaking to read about the internal destruction of the kingdom and the king's court at the hands of dastardly Regal. I thought it had a great ending (which I will not reveal here). I'm looking forward to reading the last of this trilogy, as well as the other books Hobbs has written about this brilliant world she's created.
1 comment:
Did you read the final book in this trilogy? I felt cheated! We all knew how things would end, more or less, and it dragged on for 1,000 pages of filler before we got to Fitz's revenge and ultimate triumph. I felt as you did about the first two books. Book three was blah!
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