The King's Assassin
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4.0 • 6 Ratings
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- £2.99
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- £2.99
Publisher Description
With its engaging thief-taker hero, this YA series from the acclaimed author of The ADAMANTINE PALACE is perfect for fans of Trudi Canavan and Robin Hobb.
Berren has left his past as an apprentice thief-taker behind him, in a mist of blood and screams and death. Press-ganged as a sailor, his old life is now just a distant memory. Until the day he spots someone who might well be his old master, Syannis, the man who killed Berren's first love. Syannis was thought dead, but he is a hard man to kill. As Berren chases down the man he believes to be an enemy, he finds himself caught up in a web of political machination and danger unlike anything he has encountered. For Syannis is a deposed prince, and he is willing to go to any lengths - including dealing with the black-hearted sorcerer Saffran Kuy - to regain his throne.
As Berren struggles to understand his feelings towards Syannis and his mad quest, he slowly comes to realize that the world is going to war - and Berren is caught in the middle. Can he navigate a path through the dangers which surround him? Will he find a way to extricate himself from the sorcery and intrigue that follow him at every step?
And who is destined to be the King's Assassin?
Customer Reviews
Kings Assassin
Every bit as good as the first book in the series.
Couldn't put it down!
Good but could have been great....
I read a lot of fantasy, have done for 30 years. I can't write and I am no critic but some stuff is really good and some is rubbish and occasionally there is a series and writing that is almost brilliant but isn't. Why is that? This series is good, some depth of characters, some mystery, plenty of complexity in the background, a desire to read more each night/day - but what lets it down?
For me the failure to describe the action is an issue, I want to feel the sword thrusts, the clash of steel, the subtle movement as the hero/anti hero takes another life. I want to know what the characters are thinking as they die/kill, where is the bit part POV?
In fact where is the supporting cast character development, why can't we hear what they think? Is it all just about one boy/man, who is as you would expect gifted but flawed, but despite all his experiences still comes across as naïve and a bit "stupid".
Actually that may be the key, why is the main character not learning, sure there is a nice development in how he becomes skilled in all the good things required of a great leader/hero, writing, swords, a bit of magic, battle, women, horses and so on, but why isn't he thinking more, why is he always on the bum end of the deal? Isn't he supposed to be streetwise?
Anyway I liked it, but it was not great, merely good. I could say more but I don't want to add spoilers.......