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Submitted by Josh 
(Jul 08, 2005)

I would have to say one of the finest fantasy trilogies I have ever read. I read all three books in a matter of two weeks and loved them. I was so happy to read a dark fantasy tale. The ending was perfect, no trumpets, no gold and riches. The main character, hollow but for the scars his quest has left upon him. Brilliant.

An excellent trilogy. One must accept the fact that in life not every story has a happy ending. Robin Hobb displays the subjective concepts of happiness, loyalty and love in this enthralling and heartbreaking fantasy epic. The relationships between characters have a realistic and tenuos quality that throbs throughout the series. A must read for all those misunderstood, depressed indi rock souls out there :)

I must say that these books are fantastic, a most excellent read and I recommend them to anyone who wants to read books full of adventure, excitment, sercrets and even romance and commedy.

Book one lets you get to know who and what FitzChivalry Farseer is, there is a continuation that carries on through the books, as he gets older he develops new ideas.

Book two heads towards the romantic side of Fitz, his love for Molly rises and takes him into a life he could not lead, torn between his king and his lover, the troubles of a young man come crashing down upon him. The Evil that is Regal become more apparent as well and it get things spinning in your mind and wondering until it all burts free and the plot to take power succeeds ending with Fitz locked in a dungeon his only companion Nighteyes his wit wolf.

Book three, I cannot say much about book three than WOW, the images that appear in you head when you read that story are incredible, that hatred for Regal from Fitz and his love for Molly and his King Verity pull at your emotions, it grips you and makes you carry on reading because you want to know the end. Once you get there, you are filled with emotion again, Verity gives his life to the dragon to save the Six Duchies, Fitz raises the Elderlings to fly with Verity and save the Six Duchies. Once I started reading it I could not put the book down, it gripped me and forced me to carry on.

I recommend you read these books, they are fantastic, although each book is very long, once you get to the end, you feel that you where in the story, living the life of FitzChivalry Farseer.

****Notice- spoliers contained within this review****

If you plan on reading this series, you may not want to read my critique, as I will reveal a few key plot points.
In brief:
If you are trying to decide whether to read this series, I'll say that the first book is solid, detailed, character-oriented fare, but the second book is a tedious book almost entirely centered around intrigue and marginal plot developments. The third book ends very well, but begins slowly. Verdict: 1000 pages of good- albeit slow- reading and 1000 pages of aimless filler.

At length:
"Assassin's Apprentice"
The first book came to my attention by the accolades heaped upon it by genre master George RR Martin. It is true that the characters are complicated (though there is one that is simply "evil" from the beginning, and ergo kinda silly). It is also true that Hobb has a patient hand with details. The characters and mood for the first half of Book One bring to mind Charles Dickens, with occasional gothic touches. The best moment in the entire series is the sequence in which Fitz goes into the Fool's room in this book. Also nice is the commentary old Fitz makes about the story, as a comentator: "What a question to ask of a child," he interjects regarding Chade's question whether the boy Fitz would learn to kill and decide whether he should later on. (Sadly, Hobb almost completely abandons the old Fitz interjections in books two and three.)
This is easily the best book of the series, largely because it is the only book with so much invention in it: the characters, the world, forging, the skill, and the wit. While the conclusion is weak and relies too much upon "magical solutions" (ie. the hand of an unsubtle author), the achievement is well realized as a whole.

"Royal Assassin"
As I said before, book two is tedious. Few new characters are introduced and even fewer new concepts & places. Whereas book one could be a Dickens novel spanning years of an ignoble child's life, book two deals primarily with manners, plots and unrequited loves. It is much more Jane Austen than Charles Dickens, which is not a compliment coming from me. There is absolutely no sense of adventure in this book, as everything is contained in the same setting, other than a few skirmishes. There is neither wonder nor invention, merely plot, backstory, and exposition. Nearly seven hundred dense pages of intrigue! Unlike the clever reveal of Lady Thyme's identity in the first book, many of the surprises in this book (and the third) are painfully obvious from the start (who the spy is, who Molly's new special someone is, etc.). Questions of loyaly constantly arrive in Fitz's mind, and after multiple tantrums he begins to seem like nothing more than a petulant child. Also, intrigue is not terribly intiguing when it is clear who is behind all of the bad heappenings!
Unlike book one, this one ends really well and left me wanting to finish the series out. Royal Assassin was an unenjoyable reading experience as a whole.

"Assassin's Quest"
After the suffocatingly stagnant second book, Hobb finally takes Fitz on an adventure. A tedious two hundred pages with very little dialogue opens things up, but at least some new characters are introduced as well as that very neccessary sense of motion. Readers may note that the new characters serve the same dramatic purposes the old (Starling = Molly; Will = Galen; Kettle = Patience), but at least they break up the landscape descriptions and inner- monologue loyalty turmoil. Too much time is spent talking about the rules of the skill and the wit, especially when considering that the rules of these magics are consistently inconsistent.
Much of this book is haphazardly plotted (the attempt on Regal's life is a worthless detour and totally unbelievable; Moonseye isn't much better), but at least it's rarely predictable. Far worse than the irrelevant detours is the amount of times that magic saves the protagonist or shows him random important information. After a time it seems like the Skill is the power for Fitz to become Robin Hobb (ie. his own savior and author).
Nonetheless, my eleven week reading experience of The Farseer Trilogy was somewhat justified by the last three hundred pages of Assassin's Quest. While the lost city and the quarry reek of Lovecraft (all hail!), the inventions and emotional crescendoes found in these last pages will be remembered. Verity's revelations to Fitz, the concept of the dragons, and the epilogue all had me teary-eyed, despite myself. The teleporting stones and the skill path are also clever. Ultimately, the series ends at its emotional zenith, it just needed to shed about a thousand pages to be cohesive and well-paced.

Had the first book been married with the last three hundred pages of the third book, Hobb would have crafted something special and rich. As is, The Farseer Trilogy is just way too haphazard and repetitive to sustain its length.

This has got to be one of the best series I've ever read! Robin Hobb was great in the character development of FitzChivalry. I was able to feel everything that he did; his pain, his happiness...I have never read a book that the author has dove this far into, creating a magnificent character that you could relate too. He wasn't perfect, or some stereotyped "hero" that you get too much nowadays in fantasy novels. No, he was actually believable.
Hobb ended the series perfectly. I couldn't have been more satisfied. There was no need for it to be happy or complete...It just wouldn't be right, and it's quite refreshing after reading so many books where the characters walk off together under the sunset...you know what I mean.
This series was great. Robin Hobb couldn't have done it more perfectly.