Ah yes, the fantasy genre loves trilogies. The Malloreon, The Elenium, The Lord of the Rings, His Dark Materials, the Magic the Gathering Cycles, yes, the fantasy genre has been carried a long way on trilogies. We've gotten so accustomed to it that a fantasy book series with less than three books would be considered 'too short' and a series with more than three books would be considerd 'too long' (coughRobertJordancough). It's not a bad thing, really. More than once, the books that have swept me off my feet have come from trilogies. I think I need not gush on how much the His Dark Materials trilogy has affected my life. In fact, since the discovery of HDM, I haven't found any other trilogy that can actually captivate me and make me run to KLCC three days in a row to grab the rest of the trilogy.
Enter the Farseer Trilogy.
I remember reading a review on this series in 'The Star' before, though I won't say that the review was what compelled me to buy the series. Quite honestly, I took it out of instinct, grabbing it spontaneously off the shelf, not having anything else to read at that time. Guess that's how I tend to grab books I fall in love with. His Dark Materials, and now this trilogy are a testament to that fact.
Yes, this is another fantasy trilogy, with dragons, magic, kings and pirates, but to label it as 'typical' fantasy would be the biggest mistake anyone could ever make. The story revolves around FitzChivalry, bastard of the would-be King to the Farseer throne. At the young age of 6, (he can't recall much from before that age), he is sent to Buckeep Castle to be raised by his father's bloodline. His father, Prince Chivalry, who was supposed to be next in line to the throne was exiled upon discovery of his adultery, yet Fitz remains in the castle, raised at first by the stablemaster, Burrich. Through his eyes, we see the political games played inside the castle walls, where the main players are the two other Princes, Prince Verity (Chivalry's brother) and Prince Regal (stepbrother). Though Prince Verity, being the second son after Chivalry, is slated to be next to claim the throne from King Shrewd, it is no secret that the ambitious Regal will stop at nothing to try and claim the throne for himself. And at the same time, Fitz himself is often at the recieving end of Regal's hatred- apparently Chivalry never got along well with Regal well either. Regal would want nothing better than to have Fitz out of the castle, denied of any right to living under the Farseer name.
Which leads to the question, why exactly is Fitz allowed to stay on in the castle? Apparently, bastards can be used as weapons against the kingdom, as far as King Shrewd is concerned. The Farseer line comes with the ability to use a type of magic known as 'The Skill'. The Skill allows for reading the minds of other people across certain distances, manipulating, confusing, etc. etc. Where are the fancy fireballs, you ask? You won't find any here. There are only two forms of magic in this world- The Skill, and The Wit. The Wit allows for a psychic bonding with an animal familiar. People with The Wit in general can communicate with, not control animals, often resulting in being ostracized from society. The Wit is looked as 'dirty, dark' magic, and people who are caught with the ability are killed outright. It isn't until halfway through this book that Fitz is revealed to be capable of using The Wit, though Burrich forbids him from telling anyone about it, and forbids him from using it altogether, warning him that using The Wit will result in Fitz turning into an animal himself.
Magic aside, the brunt of this book is spent on detailing Fitz's early years in Buckeep, all the way until he starts learning under Chade (one of King Shrewd's assassins) to become an assassin. Hence the title. At the same time he also has to contend with Skill lessons, which don't go too well very often. When not in the castle, he tries to develop a normal love relationship with Molly, his love interest. And he juggles all this with the fact that someone is trying to kill him. Obviously, it's Regal. But with Regal being a Prince, there's not much that Fitz can do but try to stay alive.
Ah yes, Regal. I wouldn't be going too far by saying that he makes Umbridge of Potter fame look like a kind elderly lady who gives out candy to little children. The power that Hobb wields in this book, by making it told through a first-person viewpoint will make you weep, scream and hate along with Fitz once you get sucked in. And once you hate Regal, and I can guarantee that you will, you'll start turning pages, eager to see this bastard (not Fitz) get what he deserves. Though the opening for the book is arguably slow (it made one of my friends give up on it), once things kick into full gear (Regal starts causing problems, Fitz starts his lessons, his past is slowly revealed), you're not going to want to put this book down. And once you're done, you'll scream because you'll want Book Two immediately, but you'll sigh with relief knowing that your money was well spent.
Not picking up this book, for fantasy lovers, is a crime of the highest degree.
9 out of 10. Simply because the REALLY good parts are yet to come..
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