With the most ambitious and far-reaching novel in the trilogy, Robin Hobb concludes "The Farseer" saga in Assassin's Quest.

Fitzchivalry Farseer, bastard of the royal line of the Six Duchies, is alive but not necessarily well after being imprisoned and tortured by his uncle, the self-declared King Regal. Taken for dead and buried by his stepmother, Fitzchivalry is revivified by his mentors Burrich and Chade using the misunderstood and maligned Wit-bond he shares with the wolf Nighteyes. All of his friends and family must believe he is dead for his and their own safety, including his beloved Molly, who now carries Fitzchivalry's child.

Regal rules the Six Duchies with an iron fist, but only for his own gratification. The coastal duchies have been abandoned to the ongoing raids of the Red Ships and to the ravaging of bands of soulless Forged ones. Fitzchivalry vows to avenge his own "death" and that of Regal's father, Shrewd. He begins the dangerous journey to Regal's new court, determined to assassinate Regal and his telepathically Skilled coterie.

Fitzchivalry finds that his life is yet not his own to do with as he pleases when a Skill command from the rightful king Verity directs him to "come". Verity is still alive in the Mountain Kingdom, continuing his quest to seek aid from the legendary Elderlings to fight the Red Ship menace. Inadvertantly reunited with his old friends the Fool and Kettricken, Verity's wife, and joined by two surprisingly resourceful women, Fitz treks to the Mountain Kingdom to find his king. Guarding himself against the probes of Regal and his coterie into his mind, and battling the siren call of pure Skill, Fitz struggles along the sinister road that leads him to Verity. What he finds at the end of his quest will either be the salvation or ruin of the Six Duchies. It will also determine the fate of the one thing that comes to mean more than his own life to him: the daughter he has never known.

Assassin's Quest is the crowning glory of "The Farseer" trilogy. Broad of scope and delving deeply into the realm of self and sacrifice, this concluding novel injects brilliant new life into what has become a stale staple of the genre -- dragon as deus ex machina. Robin Hobb has constructed a trilogy that fully commands the reader's attention from beginning to end, and looks to be one of the major talents in the new generation of fantasy writers.

• Renegade's Magic: The Soldier Son Trilogy, Book Three
• Forest Mage: The Soldier Son Trilogy, Book Two
• Shaman's Crossing: The Soldier Son Trilogy, Book One
• The Farseer: Assassin's Apprentice
• The Farseer: Royal Assassin
• The Liveship Traders: Ship of Magic
• The Liveship Traders: Mad Ship
• The Liveship Traders: Ship of Destiny