Novel

For this camp i have been reading the book Assasins Apprentice. It is a story told by the author Robin Hobb (who has written a number of trilogys) about a royal bastard who is despised by certain people at the keep where he lives and some deign to overthrow it. The boy is helped by the stablemaster threw the early years of his life in the keep and begins to bond with a young pup which is in the stablemasters care. When the stablemaster finds out about this he takes the pup away and tells him to never do that again. The boy learns later on that he has two special powers. One is specific to those of royal blood and is regarded as a noble art to learn. It allows for a person to see into the minds of others as well as mentally contacting or controlling them. The other (the one which he was told not to use) is called the wit. It is a power that allows for him to see into the minds of animals and if he spends time around them it allows him to bond with them allowing for the animal to see things his way. However the wit works both ways and by using it he slowly loses his humanity. It is said that if a person uses the wit too often they degrade into beasts or people with no more minds then beasts. As the boy grows he is given a name by the stablemaster which is then melded into a proper one by one of the Princes called Verity. The skillmaster (who teachs him to use his power inherited through royal blood) hates the boy for (as he sees it) causing Prince Chivalry to abdicate his position from the throne. The skillmaster tries to kill the boy but thanks to a bond which he makes with a dog (unbeknownst to the stablemaster) he is saved. The boy is trained to become an assasin but when he receives an assignment to kill a prince everything goes wrong and a plot is discovered to take over the throne. After falling into a trap the boy uses his skill (the power that was inherited through royal blood) from the body of the pup who he thought died when he was young (but rediscovered when they were both older) to contact Verity and warn him of the plot. With the dogs last breath he saves the boy from near death but at the cost of the dogs life. Though it is not the main part of the story their are these pirates in the story called red ship raiders. Their introduction is probably my favourite part of the whole book.

WARNING SPOILER AHEAD (sorta)


The raiders send out a ransom note to the people and what really throws the people off is what the ransom entails. The note says that if the people pay the ransom then the townsfolk they took hostage would be killed. If they refused to pay then they would be returned. The boy is sent out to try to remedy the problem but by the time he gets there the raiders have already been told that the ransom will not be paid. They find the people in a run down house in the town and find that they are people entirely devoid of emotion. They would kill anyone if for the comfort of a cloak or even simply just for the meat on the person. The boy escapes but the raiders spread this (which comes to be known as forging) to other people and though they are encountered frequently and are considered the main problem they do not play the major role in the story.

Overall it was a very good story with plenty of mystery and though some stuff confused me a bit it was often revealed later on about what happened. Robin Hobb is a brilliant writer and i'd recommend his books to anyone out there reading this blog.