Royal Assassin

Royal Assassin by Robin Hobb, 581 pages

The second book in a trilogy, this series is better read in order than as stand-alone books. Fitz, bastard son of the now dead Prince Chivalry, took a lot of time to recover from being poisoned in the new Queen-In-Waiting Kettricken’s homeland. It is some time before he is able to travel back to Buckkeep. But he is a King’s Man, and eventually he does make it back. There he finds that intrigue is rife. Queen Kettricken is not very well accepted by the people because she is too foreign. King-In-Waiting Verity spends most of his time Skilling to try to help keep the Kingdom safe from the Red- Ship Raiders so his people and his Queen don’t see enough of him. King Shrewd is very ill and rarely makes public appearances because he isn’t strong enough. Prince Royal seems to be scheming to find a way to take the throne, although his father is still alive and his brother stands in his way. Among all of these other problems, Fitz realizes that he is in love with his childhood friend, Molly. But he doesn’t know how to reconcile his life of devotion to the King with the life he wants with her. Fans of fantasy will like this series.