Liked didn’t quite love.
Royal Assassin continues pretty much straight where Assassin’s Apprentice left off. Fitz is still in the mountains recuperating after his bout of poisoning at the hands of Prince Regal, ponding whether to remain for the Winter or start the trek back to Buckeep and the burden of being the bastard.
I like how this sequel we delve so much deeper into the backgrounds of a few of the characters and their reasonings behind where their loyalties lie. Which I feel was really the main focus of the book. There are various situations where Fitz finds his faith and trust for his king pushed right to its limits. He even at times I feel circumvents his oaths in a way that still isn’t treason but is better suited to his point of view. We do see some growth throughout the storyline but I feel there is still so much more that he is capable of and hasn’t shown his full potential yet.
I find Molly to be a little bit unlikable. I see the reasoning behind her character and how Robin Hobb utilised her as a way for Fitz to truly display either his love and commitment to her or to the Farseer line. I felt she went into the whole situation well aware of how she will be perceived and accepted the inevitable for what it was yet still she demanded Fitz to choose her knowing he wasn’t going to. I think it was the back and forth that bugged me the most. One day she will be accepting of Fitz’s situation and would just live for the moment and try to be happy and other days she would reject him completely and not be open to any kind of compromise.
The pacing of the story was a little off for me. There were certain sections that were very action packed with high intensity and then the plot would become stagnant and a little dry. This is a very politically driven plot with a few fantastical elements thrown in, whereas I would prefer the reverse. I felt like it was just a little too long as well, not enough happened for me to justify the book being 648 pages. I think had this book been around the 400 page mark I would of been a lot more engaged.
I want to know more about the mysterious Elderlings, I want to see Fitz utilise more of his assassin abilities and have a few more covert missions. There just wasn’t enough oomph in this for me.
⭐️3/5 stars still a solid fantasy read, just not entertaining enough for me, I’m hoping for an explosive ending!
I was surprised how much I actually enjoyed this!
This was a great continuation to this series. Brandon Sanderson really took the foundations that he laid down in Skyward and continued to build depth and layers to the story that is just so entertaining and enthralling to read!
The Beautiful is set in the year 1872 and revolves around a 17 year old girl named Celine Rousseau, who has run away from her dark past in Paris to rediscover herself in the city of New Orleans.
One Word Kill – This was probably my least favourite of the three books although it was crucial in terms of establishing all of the scenes that will eventually become so important later in the series. I found it a little hard to get into personally, especially with all of the science/time travel/mathematical jargon that is used frequently throughout the book. Being how short it actually is I think Mark Lawrence did an excellent job adding depth and personality to each of the characters. I was a little bored at times but I was intrigued enough that I definitely had to continue on! ⭐️3/5 stars
Limited Wish – I really liked that there is a jump in time and Nick is a little bit older now. The setting is a lot more interesting as well and I found it very easy to fall back into the storyline. This book went a lot more in depth in terms of all the science and mathematics behind the time travel. At times I did find myself kind of skimming most of those conversations and trying to stay focused on what was actually happening. I liked the introduction of the new characters and we are given a lot more answers in this book to some of the questions that are set down in One Word Kill. I highly enjoyed the new setting and the development of the characters and their devotion to each other and to D&D. ⭐️4/5 stars
Dispel Illusion – This was fantastic! I liked that we jump from the different timelines and see kind of behind the scenes of what Nick was actually seeing all those years ago. The intricacies that Mark Lawrence had to put together and seeing the seeds sown in the first book ultimately come to fruition was highly engaging and super satisfying! Definitely took a turn I did not expect but better than what I had imagined was going to happen. Completely unpredictable and so much more fulfilling in a way. All of Demus’s secrets come to light and there are so many twists that bloomed unexpectedly that you cannot put this book down! ⭐️4.5/5 stars
Amy Leigh Reads 