2025 & 2026 Reading Challenge discussion

This thread is to discuss Royal Assassin by Robin Hobb, the second book in the The Farseer Trilogy.

Pages: 435 pages

Length: 1 Month (October)

Participants: Kathelijne, Dominique, Stuti, Alison, Allie, Heather, Raviteja, Michelle.

Everyone reads at their own pace during a Buddy Read. Because participants can be at different parts of the book at different times, it is extremely important to mark spoilers so that the book is not ruined for someone who is not as far along as others!!!

Mark spoilers by placing {spoiler} before the text and {/spoiler} after the text but use the < and > instead of the { and }.


Happy Buddy Reading!

Looking forward to reading this!

I am still finishing up he first book and have some other books planned for this month, so I hope to be able to read this in time ;)

Halfway through :)
(view spoiler)[
So I thought Assassin's Apprentice was just good, especially towards the end but I'm really loving this one. I think it took me a while to get used to the writing style, I didn't really connect to Fitz in the last one. Maybe it was because he's telling the story from a later point in time and therefore, he felt sort of distant and maybe emotionless?
But now I know better! He's becoming an increasingly interesting character with a lot of flaws.

Especially the women in the book are great so far. Kettricken is getting a surprising amount of page time which makes me think she might be playing a bigger part in this series then I was thinking (not complaining).
And I absolutely adore Patience (and Lacey).

Molly is a bit underdeveloped at this point and I'm not really invested in her relationship with Fitz. I have a feeling that's not going to work out...

But anyway, I really like the slow plot and it feels like Fitz is slowly increasing his influence in Buckkeep. He's advisor to Kettricken, he has Verity's trust, and people are finally starting to respect him a bit. And he's finally standing up to people and not just taking everything they say as the truth.

Also, I still absolutely do not trust Chade... am I the only one??
(hide spoiler)]

I read this book over the month, and finished it a few days ago. I am sorry for being all too silent, with the way work was, I barely had time to be on GR.

(view spoiler)[
I liked the book but it somewhat felt sluggish to me at times. There were points where there was not much exciting (except the regular events) and that was a bummer for me. Otherwise I enjoyed how the relationships evolved over time.

I guess the one that was the most problematic for me, is (obviously) Fitz and Molly. Since the beginning, we can see that this relationship comes with a lot of challenges (Lady Patience clearly explains it) but we cannot stop rooting for this to evolve, particularly in the beginning. I felt so bad for Fitz. But beyond a certain point (when Fitz has to take the King's permission), this started to drag between Fitz's lack of results and Molly's indecisiveness (to take an action rather than wait). I can understand that Molly has her point of view, but when she laughed at Fitz for saying he was an assassin and accused him of lying, I lost it. I really made me think how it would be, had Fitz married her and how much she could understand and support him (well, not so much!). In the end, I think Fitz is better off without her.

Nighteyes is a delight to read, particularly with his wolf point of view when it comes to current events. I am glad that Fitz has him.
Lady Patience and Lacey are adorable.
Kettricken is as she was designed to be.. Raw and compassionate and we cannot find any fault with her.

I think Fitz tried to be too many things at once, and I think that is what caused the way the book ended. As it was mentioned above, he has a specific role to play with each person, and in the end, he had to do it all at once. I liked Chade and how he worked with Fitz.

In the end, the interesting one is the Fool though.. We still do not know how he knows/predicts what he does and if there is a different end goal for his actions (except for what is best for the kingdom/farseer line).

And, I absolutely hate Regal (who doesn't)?

The ending of the book feels quite open to many possibilities and I cant wait to find what happens in the next book. (hide spoiler)]