The Farseer

Read, don't own. Published in three books:
*1995: Assassin's Apprentice
*1996: Royal Assassin
*1997: Assassin's Quest
==Length==
* Assassin's Apprentice - 454 standard pages according to one person's respectable-looking analysis159k words according to http://www.sffworld.com/forums/showthread.php?9822-Length-of-Fantasy-Series/page2. It seems like this person uses a similar method to mine to estimate word count, so probably just as reliable., 418 according to my usual1818 characters on page 157, and 430-435 judging by Notepad++'s count of a couple of versions of the full text I found to count.
* Royal Assassin - about 786 standard pages275k words according to the above source..
* Assassin's Quest - about 974 standard pages341k words according to the above source..
==First read (July-December 2013)==
===Format===
*Assassin's Apprentice: 2007 paperback HarperVoyager edition. 460 pages, 35 lines per page, 17 blank pages.
*Royal Assassin: 2007 paperback HarperVoyager edition. 752 pages.
*Assassin's Quest: similar to above. ~838 pages.
===Journal===
Borrowed the trilogy from Hayley in 2013 after she had recommended Robin Hobb frequently, and started reading the first book towards the end of July 2013.
Assassin's Apprentice (July 24th - August 27th 2013)
Started on July 24th, after finishing The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, read it fairly slowly until I finished it on the 27th of August. I got into it fairly quickly, and found it quite compelling by the end. But not brilliant.
1
Royal Assassin (August 27th - October 12th 2013)
Picked it up soon after finishing Assassin's Apprentice, but continued to read slowly. I'm currently halfway through and would give it up, actually, I think, if I didn't want to have read a trilogy Hayley likes so much. It's not actually bad, but the first-person is grating, I find something about it inherently unbelievable. Like the narrator isn't mature enough or something. It reads like someone trying to tell a dramatic story but without the skill to do it well. I'm bored reading it, even though it seems to have the elements of an interesting story. On the other hand, maybe it doesn't. Maybe having a single narrator, and a kinda boring teenage boy at that, means it doesn't have the right elements.
Finished it on the 12th of October, in bed. I read the last 90 pages in that one sitting, and it was actually quite compelling. But I was just about to give up a few days before that, so I definitely think this trilogy has a problem with being too long. I'd've probably loved it, though, as a teenager!
0, tops.
Assassin's Quest ( - 31st December 2013)
Read it rather slowly, whilst distracting myself several times with other works, until the end of 2013. I made a determined effort to finish it before the new year, and did so in bed on the night of the 31st of December, at Dan and Ceri's.
This one had some promising bits in the middle, but mostly no. Did not enjoy this trilogy. Characters annoying, idiot ball everywhere, transparently trying to increase tension for release later. The finale had no less than three separate 'oh crap we're doomed - oops I accidentally saved us all' moments. Sigh.
Hayley insists that The Liveship Traders trilogy is still awesome and her favourite one, and that I should read that. We'll see...
===Rating===
0
===Reading record===
Previous book: The Science Fiction Hall of Fame
Simultaneous books: Worm, The Metamorphosis of Prime Intellect
Next book:
==Ratings, awards, mentions and recommendations==
=Links and references=
Category:Books
Category:Works
Category:Fantasy books
Category:High fantasy books
Category:1990s books
Category:The Realm of the Elderlings
Category:American books
Category:Books read in 2013
Category:Books with 0 rating