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Rant to your heart's content about your thoughts on the first book in the Farseer Trilogy! BE WARNED - IT WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS.

I read this one a couple months ago. I've never cried over a book, but this ending had me bawling!

What I admire most about Robin Hobb's writing (and there are many things to admire) is how she set up the characters so well in the beginning that you grow emotionally attached to all of them. Not much happened plot-wise, but I couldn't put it down!! Was anyone else up until 3am on a work night reading this? I think I had almost a week straight of that shenanigans.

Lastly, I think Burrich is my spirit animal.

I read this in the beginning of June, and loved it. I'm so glad I stuck with this book, because I initially found the writing style off-putting. I tend to avoid stories with a first-person perspective and I also find Hobb's paragraphs really long(maybe it's just me?). But I got over it at some point, and I'm glad I did.

I love the way the world is described. I can see it so clearly in my mind and empathize with Fitz so much. Maybe it's because of the things I initially was put off by, or maybe it's because Hobb is a genius, or probably both. Either way, I'm hooked now. I will see this series through to the end(with a few breaks so I don't burn out!).

Also, something needs to be said about the characters... I love them all so much, except for the ones I'm not supposed to(Regal, Galen, Cob... those guys are the worst!).

I wonder if Burrich’s disgust of “the wit�� might be something that was developed to limit people’s ability to use it. In a similar way to how The Skill was only allowed to be learned by a few, perhaps the royals sought to take away other power that they don’t possess by making people view it as abhorrent.

This is definitely a book for dog lovers, “Man can not grieve like dogs do. Fortunately�� :( :(

It should have been obvious that Galen was out to harm Fitz after dropping him right next to Forge. I suppose you can get away with anything when you have the right connections.

I don’t trust Shrewd. A man who would seek to kill an innocent prince with poison is not a good person.

Speaking of which, I don’t really think Fitz does anything to really redeem himself for planning to kill Rurisk. Is this a character I’m supposed to be rooting for? I’m not without sympathy. The life he found himself in was the only one he knew, and he had no where to go besides. Still, “Just following orders�� has never been a justifiable reason to murder. Am I the only person who is still mad at Fitz about this?

I really enjoyed this book! I look forward to continuing the series.

This isn't directly related to the plot, but when I first read the Farseer trilogy, I had a dream about Fitz and Molly, which is unusual for me—I typically don't remember my dreams, nor do I usually dream of fictional characters.

While I don't remember exactly how I envisioned Fitz, to this day, I distinctly remember what Molly looked like in the dream. I'm not even sure the "Molly" I now think of every time I think of the books matches Hobb's description of her, but I will always think of her as a petite girl with red hair and freckles thanks to that dream.

I dream about fictional characters all the time.

As I recall, Molly had black hair in the books.

I've always pictured Molly as a redhead with freckles as well for some reason. Maybe it's because the color red is always associated with her? Molly Nosebleed, red skirts, etc... Or that she seems to fit that "fiery redhead" archetype.

Now that I realize she is a brunette, I'm going to need to make a mental adjustment.

Glenn wrote: "I've always pictured Molly as a redhead with freckles as well for some reason. Maybe it's because the color red is always associated with her? Molly Nosebleed, red skirts, etc... Or that she seems ..."

Wait, Molly is a brunette? You and me both, Glenn.

She is a brunette, but Burrich told Fitz once her hair had a shade of red ;) Maybe it's more like chestnut...

This was my first Hobb book, and I finished it last night. I also pictured Molly is a redhead!

Overall I quite enjoyed this one, though the pacing often felt strange to me, and it seemed kind of plotless. What I think is incredible is how Fitz's character seems so real and believable.

I'm not sure what I think of Shrewd, but I don't trust him either. Verity, however, I love. He may be my favorite character as of yet. I wish that something would have been done to really acknowledge how Regal pretty much tried to screw them all over. I don't think that entire end plot is something he should have been able to get away with.

I have just finished my reread. I enjoyed it just as much the second time around and it's amazing how much of it I had forgotten. Robin Hobb writes beautifully and really knows how to create multi-dimensional characters. Having said that, I do think it gets very slow at times and some details get repeated, so it's definitely not flawless but on the whole, it's a great start to the series and a solid 4 star read.

With regards to Molly, I picture her as a brunette, but with some red tones in it.

The whole episode with Nosy hit me just as hard this time as it did the first time, particularly how it gets resolved at the end 😢

Shelby, I don't really trust Shrewd either. He hasn't done anything to make me wary as such, but I can't shake the feeling that he looks out for himself and doesn't really give a damn about Fitz. I agree with you about Verity, I really like him too. As for Regal, ugh!

Galen really makes my skin crawl! What a horrible person! He deserved that beating from Burrich and I was so glad he got his comeuppance at the end!

I can already feel myself becoming very attached to Fitz and the Fool. What a fascinating character the Fool is! So mysterious! I can't wait to see where their story goes from here and how their relationship develops.

I am very much looking forward to Royal Assassin. I have never read it before as I just never got around to picking it up after I first read Assassin's Apprentice last year.

I've read Assassin's Apprentice last month, not knowing there was a readalong for Robin Hobb massive series! I'm so glad I found this group!

I really like the Skill and the Wit, and I'm wondering: can it be the same thing, only applied differently? They both seemed rare and like Mark said, it might be why the royals allowed the "witted" to be hunted down like animals.
I also really like Verity and I'm so sad Chilvalry had to die, but I don't remember, was he killed by someone? (I remember it had to do with hunting, but nothing more.)
Lady Patience was a great character. It was so sad when she said that Fitz should have been her son. I wonder what Chade thought of Fitz's doing on his first "assassination".
I started to like Rurisk, and then he died. I really want to see more of Kettricken in the next book, that I'll probably read in August.

Kayleigh wrote: "So, I finished Assassin’s Apprentice last week and I liked it �� a solid 4-star book.
It wasn’t perfect �� I tried reading it before and couldn’t deal with the glacial pace it had at the beginning �� ..."

Kayleigh, that's an interesting thought about Rurisk. I didn't interpret it that way, I just assumed he looked strangely at Fitz because he could see that Fitz was interested in Nosy and he was wondering why. However, it is possible that he could have had the Wit.