Young Fitz is the bastard son of the noble Prince Chivalry, raised in the shadow of the royal court by his father's gruff stableman. He is treated like an outcast by all the royalty except the devious King Shrewd, who has him sectetly tutored in the arts of the assassin. For in Fitz's blood runs the magic Skill—and the darker knowledge of a child raised with the stable hounds and rejected by his family. As barbarous raiders ravage the coasts, Fitz is growing to manhood. Soon he will face his first dangerous, soul-shattering mission. And though some regard him as a threat to the throne, he may just be the key to the survival of the kingdom.

Filled with adventure and bloodshed, pageantry and piracy, mystery and menace, Assassin's Apprentice begins the story of a bastard of the royal house, a young man who is trained in the mystic arts of the assassin and who may become the savior of his kingdom.

Robin Hobb was born in California but grew up in Alaska,

Robin Hobb was born in California but grew up in Alaska, where she learned to love the forest and the wilderness. Sh where she learned to love the forest and the wilderness. She has lived most of her life in the Pacific Northwest and cue has lived most of her life in the Pacific Northwest and currently resides in Tacoma, Washington. She is the author of rrently resides in Tacoma, Washington. She is the author of the Rain Wilds Chronicles, the Farseer Trilogy, the Liveshipthe Rain Wilds Chronicles, the Farseer Trilogy, the Liveship Tr