FOF Book Club: Assassin's Apprentice

The second month of our Flights of Fantasy Book Club is officially over! In March, we invited you to read the Farseer trilogy along with us. Today, both Rachel of Hello Chelly and I will be sharing our thoughts on Assassin's Apprentice, the first novel in the series, as well as answering three questions - and we're asking those who read the books to share their own answers, whether in the comments or in a post of their own. Without further ado, here are my thoughts on this Robin Hobb novel! (P.S. You can still sign up for Flights of Fantasy!)

Rachel & I were actually aiming to read all three novels in the Farseer trilogy last month. However, we didn't realize that this goal was fairly ambitious. Unlike the previous book club reads, this was definitely a read that required more time as the writing was denser. And so, instead of binging the entire trilogy, we only ended up reading Assassin's Apprentice. (Actually, I was the only one who ended up finishing the novel, as Rachel wound up setting it down halfway through. She'll talk about why in her post today!) My overall impression? The story are built up very slowly, with plenty of description laced in and less actual plot than I was expecting. To put it bluntly, the first two thirds of the story are all about showing Fitz's history and his upbringing. The last third shows readers his first actual adventure after everything that came before - and it is the most exciting part of this novel, in my opinion. But I didn't mind the time Hobb takes to really introduce readers to Fitz and the circumstances that shaped him! I wound up truly loving Fitz. However, he's really the only character that I really felt like I knew. Everyone else was still lacking dimension to me at the end, though I'd say I got a decent read of their major characteristics. Still, I remain hopeful that I will learn more about them in the sequels and that they will be a little bit more action-packed. I certainly plan on giving them a shot!

Every time we share about our book club reads, we'll be answering these three questions below! We'd love for you to join us and share your answers in the comments or in your own post. Don't forget to leave a link in the comments or in the monthly link-ups.

1. Who is your favorite character? It is, without a doubt, our main character Fitz. He is the bastard of the former crown prince, abandoned by his mother, and forced to make a life at court. Honestly, for someone so young, he goes through so much - physically and emotionally - and my heart went out to him. I like that he was smart, willing to work and that he really wanted to do what he felt was right no matter what situation faced him. He certainly makes mistakes, but he learns from them and really grows by the time this chapter of his story comes to an end.

2. Which is your favorite book? We only read one, so I can't really answer this question, now can I? I honestly wouldn't consider this a "favorite" though, since I was 50/50. I liked Fitz a lot, and found the pacing tolerable, but I felt like other characters were underdeveloped.

3. Would you read more books by this author? I plan on it! I'm curious to see what happens to Fitz after the events at the end of Assassin's Apprentice. What does it all mean for him and his future career and life at the palace? Guess I'll have to wait and find out for myself!