Quote:
Originally Posted by Galadriel
I recently gave a try at Robin Hobb's Assassin's Apprentice. It was awful. Hobb can write well, but her plot is clichéd and her characters are cardboard cut-outs. There was, sorry to say, too much unnecessary description (rich, coming from a Tolkien fan!). But, where Tolkien's prose is lyrical and impressive in itself, Hobb's sounds forced, and lacks beauty.
I had high hopes for this book, but it was quite disappointing  *Shields self from Hobb fans* |
Ah, well, here's a newly-discovered non-Hobb fan to back you up.
My local library doesn't have the first book, but I got out the second, "Royal Assassin", recently, then started to read the third but couldn't finish it. I wouldn't say the middle book's
awful, though, exactly– it is mostly well-written, and there are hints of an underlying mythos that sounds intriguing– but I just don't think that makes it worth wading through chapter after pointless chapter of Fitz-Sadsack-Chivalry whining drearily on and on and
on about his loneliness and his health problems and his illegitimacy and his stigmatised psychic powers and his semi-unrequited love for Molly– and, of course, the overpowering angst of an assassin's lot. I'm not kidding when I say that I kept finding myself muttering
"Just. Shut. UP!" though gritted teeth. It doesn't help that nothing much happens for ages, and that when the "real" plot finally gets going it becomes apparent there is no reason whatever for Fitz to be the main character, since he plays very little part in the overall story. Hobb tries to gloss over this by throwing in some prophecies about how Fitz is
"The Catalyst... destined not to actually do
anything but to be very important anyway, because... um... er... hey, look over there!", but needless to say, this doesn't work. As for the rest of the cast... well, to Hobb's credit she does try to give them some character development– in fact, she spends quite a lot of time establishing what they're like– but the trouble is, there's just not that much
to establish, if you see what I mean.
Also, why is it always wolves and dragons? Why is no fantasy protagonist ever mystically soul-bonded to a sheep? I ask you.
~Yes, that was a bitter rant, that was.
Put it down to disappointment– I'd heard so much praise for this trilogy.