Assassin's Apprentice (The Farseer Trilogy, Book 1) Robin Hobb 9780007562251

'Fantasy as it ought to be written' George R.R. Martin

The kingdom of the Six Duchies is on the brink of civil war when news breaks that the crown prince has fathered a bastard son and is shamed into abdication. The child's name is Fitz, and he is despised.

Raised in the castle stables, only the company of the king's fool, the ragged children of the lower city, and his unusual affinity with animals provide Fitz with any comfort.

To be useful to the crown, Fitz is trained as an assassin; and to use the traditional magic of the Farseer family. But his tutor, allied to another political faction, is determined to discredit, even kill him. Fitz must survive: for he may be destined to save the kingdom.

Robin Hobb is one of the world's finest writers of epic fiction.She was born in California in 1952 but raised in Alaska, where she learned how to raise a wolf cub, to skin a moose and to survive in the wilderness. When she married a fisherman who fished herring and the Kodiak salmon-run for half the year, these skills would stand her in good stead. She raised her family, ran a smallholding, delivered post to her remote community, all at the same time as writing stories and novels. She succeeded on all fronts, raising four children and becoming an internationally best-selling writer. She lives in Tacoma, Washington State.

'Hobb is one of the great modern fantasy writers ... what makes her novels as addictive as morphine is not just their imaginative brilliance but the way her characters are compromised and manipulated by politics.'
The Times

'In today's crowded fantasy market Robin Hobb's books are like diamonds in a sea of zircons'
George R.R. Martin

'Hobb is superb' Conn Iggulden

'Hobb is a remarkable storyteller' Guardian

'This is a historical novel with a sly touch of magic. The first in the Farseer trilogy, this book will get new readers hooked on a series that recalls HBO's Game of Thrones and The Lord of the Rings' Telegraph