The Farseer Trilogy - Review
Link to the author's (R. Hobb) personal website
Book 1: Assassin's Apprentice
Book 2: Royal Assassin
Book 3: Assassin's Quest
Blurb: (From Book 1) In a faraway land where members of the royal family are named for the virtues they embody, one young boy will become a walking enigma.
Born on the wrong side of the sheets, Fitz, son of Chivalry Farseer, is a royal bastard, cast out into the world, friendless and lonely. Only his magical link with animals - the old art known as the Wit - gives him solace and companionship. But the Wit, if used too often, is a perilous magic, and one abhorred by the nobility.
So when Fitz is finally adopted into the royal household, he must give up his old ways and embrace a new life of weaponry, scribing, courtly manners; and how to kill a man secretly, as he trains to become a royal assassin.
Review: So I need to preface this with saying that I read the series a fair while ago. I enjoyed the premise: the bastard son of a prince is found, they have unusual abilities and we get to see them trained in a super cool fantasy world. The formula's far from unique, but when done well with some flair of originality who cares. I have to credit this series with having more than just a flair of originality too, the stone garden was a great concept.
The series lost me in the second book though, and I'm still unsure as to why. I finished the series, but it was a slog at the end and I have no plans to re-read. I can't truthfully recommend the series, but I can recommend the first book and from there making your own decision.