And an inconvenient piece on a game-board, of course, might well be removed.ĭespite the darker plot-threads that begin to unravel in this instalment, Hobb’s solid sense of place and character never fails to delight.

While that has advantages, it also means he’ll become more obvious and more inconvenient for certain people. Growing into a young man, he will gain new and more visible responsibilities at court, becoming a piece on the game-board in his own right. Only Verity stands between the Duchies and the Raiders: that much hasn’t changed but Fitz himself has. While convalescing, beset by fits and fevers, he has strange visions in which he sees through King Shrewd’s eyes and watches Red Ship Raiders closing in on the Six Duchies. Fitz knows that he will always be under threat if he returns to Buckkeep, but it rapidly becomes apparent that he has no freedom to choose another path. And Fitz finally understands the true scale of Regal’s ambition and hatred. Verity himself has been protected from treachery. The Mountain princess Kettricken has left for Buckkeep, where she will become Verity’s bride. Weakened and damaged by at least three separate attempts on his life, he can reassure himself that he has averted the worst of a diplomatic crisis. Despite the concerted efforts of several people, he is still alive. Picking up from where Assassin’s Apprentice left off, we rejoin Fitz in the Mountain Kingdom. There must be few mid-series books with such a raw ending, but at least the closing mood is one of mitigated triumph. The miraculous thing is that it all just binds you in to the story ever more tightly. Martin, who is usually referenced as the example par excellence of an author who refuses to wrap his characters in cotton wool. It’s harder and more brutal by far than the work of any other author I can remember reading, even more than George R.R. I had forgotten, quite forgotten, exactly how tough this series is: I can’t believe I was so young when I read it before. Sometimes, at the close of a book, you feel almost physically drained.

Royal assassin cover