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Product Description
From Booklist
In this conclusion to the Farseer saga, FitzChivalry's quest for revenge on the usurping Regal requires him to journey to the Elderlings (wise old mages in the classic mold) and afterwards to realize the emergence of his own magical gifts, at which point the quest comes to an end after a mere 688 pages. Like much high fantasy these days, the book could have been pruned more than a trifle; on the other hand, along with the extra wordage come extra measures of characterization, world building, and emotionally compelling scenes of both magic and battle. And this is definitely the end of one story, although the world Hobb has created is now sufficiently developed (even why the characters have such archetypical names is explained) to be the scene of future books. In all, this is an improvement over its predecessors that will please their readers and probably whet their appetites for more from Hobb. Roland Green
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
From Kirkus Reviews
Final installment--each entry independently intelligible--of Hobb's stunning fantasy trilogy (Royal Assassin, 1996; Assassin's Apprentice, 1995) about the beleaguered Six Duchies and their Farseer kings. Months ago, King Verity vanished into the far mountains in search of the semi-mythical Elderlings, whose help he must have in order to defeat the rampaging Red Ship Raiders, leaving his murderous, venal, and insanely ambitious brother, Prince Regal, to dispose of Verity's last few loyalists at his leisure--including narrator, spy, and assassin FitzChivalry. Poor Fitz, unable to contact his beloved Molly (she thinks he's dead) and daughter (by Molly) for fear of exposing them to Regal's attentions, uses his magic Skill to locate Verity and receives an imperious summons: ``COME TO ME!'' So, abandoning his plan to assassinate Regal, Fitz enters the mountains with a small band of helpers. Eventually, having evaded Regal's minions, Fitz comes upon Verity Skill-carving a huge dragon out of black rock; nearby stand other lifelike dragon-sculptures that, to Fitz's animal-magic Wit, seem somehow alive. Are these eerie sculptures what remain of the Elderlings? Yet, for all his Skill, Verity cannot bring the dragons to life; and soon Regal will arrive with his armies and his Skilled coterie. An enthralling conclusion to this superb trilogy, displaying an exceptional combination of originality, magic, adventure, character, and drama. -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
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Most helpful customer reviews
1.0 out of 5 stars
Don't waste your time!,
This review is from: Assassin's Quest: The Farseer (Mass Market Paperback)
I feel like I should be putting this review on the the page for the first book to prevent people from getting to this point, but here goes anyways. I loved the first book in the trilogy, then immediately when on to read the second book. I didn't like it as much as the first, but I HAD to know what would happen, and how it would turn out. So I picked up Assassin's Quest and began reading. It was terrible. For every rise in action in the book there was way too much lead up, then a disappointing wrap-up. It felt like all the book was about was Fitz traveling around being an idiot. The book was written so that the reader knows everything that Fitz knows, so you know exactly what terrible thing is going to happen to Fitz next, even though he seemed to be to stupid to realize what was coming. I could understand if he made a stupid mistake once, but over and over again the same thing happened: Fitz gets into skill trouble and Verity has to save him. Now this sounds like I just don't like that bad things happened to the main character, but that's not true. I love the character Fitz, and love that he is flawed and realistic, and that his story is somewhat gritty. BUT Hobb did not write him to be frustratingly stupid...which he was in this book.The only good thing that I have to say about this book is that there are the occasional moments where Hobb brought back the joy of the first books. I love Hobb's descriptions of the settings (and the dragons!!!) and history. And I loved the relationships of the characters in the book, banter between Fitz and the Fool brought smiles to my face. Even lesser characters had depth and were worthy of attention. Despite these few good things, I still would not recommend this book to anyone...not even those who have read the other two. Image your own ending, you'll put more thought into it than the author did.
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Darkly Intriguing End,
This review is from: Assassin's Quest: The Farseer (Mass Market Paperback)
I think the end of this trilogy may not have been what readers were expecting, but I think it fits Fitz's journey perfectly. Nothing ever happens the way you want it to, things take longer than you want, and there's never a straight path. Hobb just did something wonderfully right with these characters.Again, her writing was nothing short of amazing. Again, the characters were formed and reformed around the challenges that faced them. Writing at its best.
3.0 out of 5 stars
An average end for a story which started so well...,
By
This review is from: Assassin's Quest: The Farseer (Mass Market Paperback)
The first 200 pages are excruciating. FitzChivalry goes through a transformation of sorts before going on his grand adventure. Instead of giving us glimpses of this change, the author spends a third of the book exploring it in explicit detail and virtually copy pastes passages from the first two books. It's a waste of the readers time and it totally destroys the pace which made the series such a pleasant read.I very rarely skim read, but in this case I just had to do it to avoid stopping altogether. After plodding through that first part of the book, the pace does pick up, although the story just isn't as compelling as I had hoped. There are a lot of elements to pique the reader's curiosity in the second half of the book and it's unfortunate that the author didn't explore them further and create a few more side quests at this stage, rather than spending so much time on the beginning. The ending is a bit anti-climatic. I was hoping for an epic conclusion to the tale, but it's anything but. Albeit a few final hurdles, the story unwinds without gusto and the author simply ties up the loose knots without much story telling. We're told what happens after the mission is accomplished, when you'd expect that to be part of it. How boring. So, although the first two books were thoroughly enjoyable, don't be too anxious to read the conclusion. If you don't keep your expectations in check, you'll be disappointed.
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