Fool's Assassin Audiobook By Robin Hobb cover art

Fool's Assassin

Book One of the Fitz and the Fool Trilogy

 Preview

Get 30 days of Standard free

Auto-renews at $8.99/mo after 30-day trial. Cancel anytime
Try for $0.00
More purchase options

Fool's Assassin

By: Robin Hobb
Narrated by: Elliot Hill
Try for $0.00

$8.99 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $29.25

Buy for $29.25

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

Nearly twenty years ago, Robin Hobb burst upon the fantasy scene with the first of her acclaimed Farseer novels, Assassin’s Apprentice, which introduced the characters of FitzChivalry Farseer and his uncanny friend the Fool. A watershed moment in modern fantasy, this novel—and those that followed—broke exciting new ground in a beloved genre. Together with George R. R. Martin, Robin Hobb helped pave the way for such talented new voices as Scott Lynch, Brandon Sanderson, and Naomi Novik.
 
Over the years, Hobb’s imagination has soared throughout the mythic lands of the Six Duchies in such bestselling series as the Liveship Traders Trilogy and the Rain Wilds Chronicles. But no matter how far she roamed, her heart always remained with Fitz. And now, at last, she has come home, with an astonishing new novel that opens a dark and gripping chapter in the Farseer saga.
 
FitzChivalry—royal bastard and former king’s assassin—has left his life of intrigue behind. As far as the rest of the world knows, FitzChivalry Farseer is dead and buried. Masquerading as Tom Badgerlock, Fitz is now married to his childhood sweetheart, Molly, and leading the quiet life of a country squire.
 
Though Fitz is haunted by the disappearance of the Fool, who did so much to shape Fitz into the man he has become, such private hurts are put aside in the business of daily life, at least until the appearance of menacing, pale-skinned strangers casts a sinister shadow over Fitz’s past . . . and his future.
 
Now, to protect his new life, the former assassin must once again take up his old one. . . .

Praise for Fool’s Assassin
 
“Hobb knows the complicated workings of the wayward human heart, and she takes time to depict them in her tale, to tell her story sweetly, insistently, compellingly. . . . A book meant to be inhabited rather than run through.”—The Seattle Times
 
“[FitzChivalry Farseer is] one of the best characters in fantasy literature.”—Fantasy Book Review
 
“[Hobb’s] prose sparkles, her characters leap off the page.”—Tordotcom
 
“Modern fantasy at its irresistible best.”—The Guardian
 
“Fantastic . . . emotionally rich storytelling.”—Library Journal (starred review) Fantasy Epic Action & Adventure Genre Fiction Heartfelt Suspenseful Coming of Age
adbl_web_anon_alc_button_suppression_c

Critic reviews

Praise for Fool’s Assassin

“[Robin] Hobb knows the complicated workings of the wayward human heart, and she takes time to depict them in her tale, to tell her story sweetly, insistently, compellingly. . . . A book meant to be inhabited rather than run through.”—The Seattle Times

“[FitzChivalry Farseer is] one of the best characters in fantasy literature.”—Fantasy Book Review

“[Hobb’s] prose sparkles, her characters leap off the page.”—Tordotcom

“Modern fantasy at its irresistible best.”—The Guardian

“Fantastic . . . emotionally rich storytelling.”—Library Journal (starred review)

Praise for Robin Hobb

“Fantasy as it ought to be written . . . Robin Hobb’s books are diamonds in a sea of zircons.”—George R. R. Martin

Featured Article: 16 of the Best Fantasy Authors Ever


There is no feeling quite like falling in love with a great fantasy listen, doing a little digging, and joyfully discovering that the author has an extensive catalog of audiobooks for you to dive right into. Fantasy as a genre is particularly blessed with a wealth of diverse authors writing all different kinds of stories. From classic epics to standalone novels that were published in the last few years, it's the perfect genre for losing yourself in a full day’s worth of listening. These brilliant fantasy authors will transport you to another world—whether a parallel universe or a post-apocalyptic version of Earth.

Featured Article 16 of the Best Fantasy Authors Ever
Rich Character Development • Emotional Connections • High-quality Writing • Promising Trilogy Setup • Skillful Pacing

Highly rated for:

All stars
Most relevant

Any additional comments?

I am a huge Robin Hobb fan and was so excited when news of a new Fitz and Fool book leaked prematurely. I eagerly pre-ordered and I have to say that I almost returned this audiobook, not because of the story but rather due to the narrator. Elliot Hill, is not a bad narrator. However, he is definitely not the best pick for this book. He just could not capture Fitz. I pressed on with the audio as I have limited time to read a print book (or Kindle book) right now and I just had to know what became of Fitz and the Fool. I loved the story! And I kind of got used to Elliot Hill's narration. Yes, it moves slowly with all the action happening mainly in the last 3 hours. But just because it is slow does not mean that it was frivolous. If you are expecting another Fitz and Fool together again adventuring type book...this is not it. Rather there is a lot of time spent explaining what Fitz has been up to in past years and also several more years. There is also time spent developing new characters, one in particular (don't want to spoil things) has an individual first person narrative for a huge portion of the book. As others have mentioned, the listener can figure out the obvious but Fitz is completely dense and you just want to whack him! Hey! You're a trained assassin, pay attention Fitz and put it together! Ends with a cliffhanger! So Robin Hobb has created new characters and a new story line for us fans to follow and follow I shall. I can not wait for the next book! I don't know if I can recommend this audiobook but I do recommend the book. Just depends on if you can put up with the narrator.

Can't wait for the next book!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I enjoyed the story but like many others I found the narrator annoying. One tip I would give anybody else trying to listen is to set the playback speed 1.25... otherwise the narrator's voice is ridiculously slow and unbearable

Poor Narrator

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I love the other books and I really wanted to love this one. But from the first note of the narrator's voice I knew it was going to be difficult. The tone of Hill's performance is grating to me and I could never really get past it.

The weakest of the Fitz books so far

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Unlike other reviews, I did not find the narrator to be bad. He was simply different from the original narrator. Granted, he was not as good as the original narrator, but he was good enough. He brought energy and effort to a story that I consider to be a good reboot of Farseer series. The Farseer stories are, to me, the best of Hobb's efforts. I think this rebooting, through introducing a new generation of bastards and actors in the series that has lost some of the most significant players in previous tales, is both intriguing and effective. The story does drag a bit in the beginning, but staying with it yields enough excitement to warrant the effort. My only real negative, and the reason I gave the story four stars rather than five, has to do with FitzChivalry's inconsistency. One minute he is protective of his family and determined to keep the safe from political machinations. A moment later, he is neglectful of the safety of his family. When family members talk to him of harm that has come to them, he refuses to believe or see the possibility of danger, this after worry-warting his way through earlier chapters. It caused me, as a reader, no end of frustration and irritation with the character. While this was truly irritating, the story was definitely worth four stars for the complex plot, the careful interweaving and construction of multiple story arcs, and the exciting cliff hanger at the end. Glad I ignored the warning regarding the narrator because with the caveats mentioned previously, this story is well worth the credit.

A Good Reboot

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
The story line and character development a very good, but much prefer the Narrator in the previous trilogies.

Very good extension of the Fraser Seriies

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews