Age of Assassins
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4.3 • 89 Ratings
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- $6.99
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- $6.99
Publisher Description
A young apprentice to an assassin becomes embroiled in a conspiracy that could destroy a kingdom in a brilliant epic fantasy debut by David Gemmell Award-nominated author RJ Barker
To catch an assassin, use an assassin...
Girton Club-foot has no family, a crippled leg, and is apprenticed to the best assassin in the land. He's learning the art of taking lives, but his latest mission tasks him with a far more difficult challenge: to save a life.
Someone is trying to kill the heir to the throne, and it is up to Girton to uncover the traitor and prevent the prince's murder.
In a kingdom on the brink of civil war and a castle thick with lies, Girton finds friends he never expected, responsibilities he never wanted, and a conspiracy that could destroy an entire kingdom.
Praise for The Wounded Kingdom:
"Dead gods, dread magic, and a lead that feels like a breath of fresh air. Great fun."―Peter Newman, author of The Vagrant
"Often poignant and always intriguing, Age of Assassins reveals its mysteries with the style of a magic show and the artful grace of a gifted storyteller."―Nicholas Eames, author of Kings of the Wild
"The most interesting treatment of the fantasy assassin trope in a while, and an involving narrative in its own right."―RT Book Reviews
The Wounded Kingdom
Age of Assassins
Blood of Assassins
King of Assassins
For more from RJ Barker, check out:
The Tide Child Trilogy
The Bone Ships
Call of the Bone Ships
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In Barker's uneven epic fantasy debut, a disabled teen hero faces down mighty adversaries. Girton the Club-Foot was enslaved as a child; since being rescued, he's become an apprentice assassin roaming the cursed land to distribute deadly justice. To sniff out a killer targeting the heir to the throne, Girton disguises himself as a son of a lesser noble family come to court to train as a squire. As he and his master, Merela Karn, carry on their investigations, they peel back the layers of court intrigue and hidden alliances to find that nearly every person from the priests to the lower classes seems to have reason to kill the cruel, spoiled prince. Girton tries to sort out who is actually behind the plot while also contending with more typical teenage concerns (including first crushes, a sexual relationship, and cliquey friendships) and learning to behave as a noble in a highly stratified society. Girton's maturity and skill seem occasionally inconsistent: with his peers he acts in accordance with his 15 years, but he can also stare down the powerful and speak his mind with adults. Impressionistic flashbacks offer moving reflections on his prior life, and readers will appreciate Barker's complex mythology and smoothly flowing plot.
Customer Reviews
Worth the wait
I had been seeing this title for years, but never purchased it, when I finally read a preview I was hooked after reading the first three pages, this is one heck of a book.