Book Review: 'Assassin's Apprentice', Robin Hobb
I can't quite make up my mind about this. It's the first in a trilogy. Quite long. Hugely popular. Clearly lots of people love it. I seem to remember getting into it quite well when I was reading it, and then going out and buying lots of books by the same author, but I haven't rushed to read the next book. Why not? I think the biggest fault is the slow pace. It really does take ages (in terms of words) for anything to happen. And it's hardly a startlingly original premise - young boy with mysterious background has magical powers, ends up being mistreated, but comes good. Oh, and for such a long book, I didn't feel that I learned much about the world in which the story is set. I could tolerate the second and third faults were it not for the first. It simply should have been much shorter.* Three stars. Probably.
* This is a fault common to many recent fantasy and science fiction novels and series.
* This is a fault common to many recent fantasy and science fiction novels and series.