Royal Assassin

The second book in the Farseer trilogyis a lot like the first one: meandering and tragic. Fitz is a bit older. He's been through some tragedy, and he's anxious to carve out some sort of life for himself. Meanwhile his loyalties are shifting ever so slight, from the King to his eldest living son.

The book starts off with a bit of a jolt. It backs up to just before the epilogue of the previous book. For the first few chapters it seems like it's going to go in a different direction altogether. But it's just an internal crisis that Fitz has to work through before reaffirming his loyalties and returning to court.

After that it get right back into the thick of war and court politics. There's a fun, shadowy treason plot that threatens to tear the kingdom apart from the inside while raiders continue to attack from without. Fitz is doing his best to thwart both plots without betraying his loyalties and getting himself killed and while attempting to carve out some sort of life for himself away from it all.

Alas, as is obvious fromt he beginning, he fails at everything. This is a tragedy, and Fitz meets heartbreak every step of the way. Even when good things happen, it seems like it's just so it can be taken away, causing more pain in the process.

Between the relentless tragedy and the slow plot, I wouldn't expect to enjoy these books as much as I am. But I'm very nearly addicted. It makes me hope all the harder for a happy ending in the end, for the society if not for Fitz. And I'm also enjoying the worldbuilding. The level of detail is astounding; it makes the world feel like a real place, one I'm happy to spend time in.

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