In this current age of grim, morally grey fantasy, Assassin's Apprentice
seemed a bit old-fashioned and 'clean'on first impression. There seemed
a lot of familiar fantasy cliches and tropes; it had hints of Earthsea,
I thought, although without the keen, crystal atmosphere of LeGuin's
series... It held my interest well enough but it seemed slow...as I
continued to read though, it started grabbing me more and more until I
really started enjoying it.
By the half-way point I was hooked
and found myself staying up a little later each night to find out what
happened next. There is quite a bit happening under the surface here, I
think.
Having said that parts of it is a bit predictable: I don't
like to think I'm smarter than the narrator(and main character) but I
had certain things figured out long before he did...and I'm not sure I
was meant to. But just a bit. There were also a lot of things that
surprised me(usually the failure of a familiar trope to materialize as
you think it's going to.)
I miss the really fine details of
really great world-building, but part of that is probably the first
person voice used. This is a massive series of series, so I have the
feeling that I"m just scratching the surface of it...and I am intrigued
about how political fortunes and situations are going to develop in this
long tale. I'd probably give this first story 3 and half stars if that
were possible, so I'm rounding up, here, because I expect that this fine
story is just the beginning: the story is going to widen and broaden
and hook me in further as I read...I'm looking forward to it!
Recommended to fans of traditional fantasy.
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