皇家刺客 下

by Robin Hobb, 羅蘋·荷布, 姜愛玲 (Translator)

　　六大沿海公國的奇幻故事高潮迭起，而這回年輕的蜚滋駿騎將成為扭轉王國重大危機的關鍵人物。

　　蜚滋自首次諭令刺客任務中僥倖生還，差點成了殘廢。深受打擊的他心懷怨恨，發誓摒棄對國王立下的誓約而遁隱山中。但是，愛情和一連串的緊急危機，又讓他回到公鹿堡宮廷，捲入皇室的致命陰謀中。

　　紅船劫匪對沿海地區重新發動猛烈攻擊，不但燒毀民宅，還把受害者逼向精神崩潰的邊緣。在飽經內憂外患的王國裡，背叛的預謀深深威脅著年邁體衰的國王。在這危機四伏的時刻，蜚滋極可能左右王國的命運，甚至不惜付出至高代價。

　　刺客系列的作品並不是以華麗血腥見長；相反的，這是一名身懷絕技，卻仍生澀無知的少年成長的故事。在皇室勾心鬥角的過程中，往往隱含著無數的陰謀和伎倆，不到最後一刻，讀者都無法得知主角脫身的機會和真正的陰謀為何。這系列的作品在娛樂性和峰迴路轉的刺激感上，可說是近代奇幻小說中少見的。

358 pages, Paperback

Published July 24, 2003

About the author

** I am shocked to find that some people think a 2 star 'I liked it' rating is a bad rating. What? I liked it. I LIKED it! That means I read the whole thing, to the last page, in spite of my life raining comets on me. It's a good book that survives the reading process with me. If a book is so-so, it ends up under the bed somewhere, or maybe under a stinky judo bag in the back of the van. So a 2 star from me means,yes, I liked the book, and I'd loan it to a friend and it went everywhere in my jacket pocket or purse until I finished it. A 3 star means that I've ignored friends to finish it and my sink is full of dirty dishes. A 4 star means I'm probably in trouble with my editor for missing a deadline because I was reading this book. But I want you to know . . . I don't finish books I don't like. There's too many good ones out there waiting to be found.


Robin Hobb is the author of three well-received fantasy trilogies: The Farseer Trilogy (Assassin’s Apprentice, Royal Assassin, and Assassin’s Quest), The Liveship Traders Trilogy (Ship of Magic, Mad Ship and Ship of Destiny) and the Tawny Man Trilogy (Fool’s Errand, Golden Fool, and Fool’s Fate) Her current work in progress is entitled Shaman’s Crossing. Robin Hobb lives and works in Tacoma, Washington, and has been a professional writer for over 30 years.

In addition to writing, her interests include gardening, mushrooming, and beachcombing. She and her husband Fred have three grown children and one teenager, and three grand-children.

She also writes as Megan Lindholm, and works under that name have been finalists for the Hugo award, the Nebula Award, and the Endeavor award. She has twice won an Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Readers’ Award.