Assassin's Apprentice (Farseer Trilogy, #1)

By Robin Hobb

Narrated by Paul Boehmer

Image From Goodreads

[In a faraway land where members of the royal family are named
for the virtues they embody, one young boy will become a
walking enigma. Born on the wrong side of the sheets, Fitz, son
of Chivalry Farseer, is a royal bastard, cast out into the world,
friendless and lonely.

Only his magical link with animals - the old art known as the
Wit - gives him solace and companionship. But the Wit, if used
too often, is a perilous magic, and one abhorred by the nobility.
So when Fitz is finally adopted into the royal household, he
must give up his old ways and embrace a new life of weaponry,
scribbing, courtly manners, and how to kill a man secretly, as he
trains to become a royal assassin.]

I am so in love with my new place, it's the best and so beautiful and different and not London. In heaven.

Adjusting to a new routine is taking a little bit of time to get used to but one I'm sure I will pick up soon enough.

I'm yet to find a new place to run and I want to start writing my posts ahead of time so I can have them scheduled instead of doing them last minute each time. But, baby steps.

Need to finish unpacking yet...

Moving swiftly on.

I have heard SO many good things about Robin Hobb's books but the lengths of them always put me off starting as they were all just so so so long.

You know a good way to combat lengthy books? Don't look at the size of them. 

Audiobooks are perfect for this. I know 28 odd hours sounds long but it's way less intimidating than say 800 pages. It seems more manageable which is why I've decided to listen to all of Robin Hobb's books on audiobook. It will save me lugging around a large book and I will feel more like I am getting through it, which is always good.

I loveeeeee heavy fantasy books (not heavy physically), just all that intense description and packed in scenes where nothing actually happens but it's in another world and just what the characters eat is fascinating.

Medieval-fantasy is also good. Love a bit of old-fashioned swordplay.

This was similar to The Kingkiller Chronicle books (which are fab by the way) in that not a lot actually happens but it keeps you hooked anyway in the everyday events that the protagonist has to go through.

Fitz was a very loveable character, especially as we got to start with him as a six year old and end with him as possibly being in his early/mid teens? Still not sure how old he is currently but, still, we get to grow up with him making us just that little bit biased when anything happens to him.

The rest of the characters were well-rounded and interesting. There were a few I wasn't sure if I liked or not, and some I definitely disliked but they were all used very well for their parts.

Burrich was one of those I wasn't sure I liked all the way through. He was caring and almost fatherly towards Fitz but then he could also be quite cruel and harsh given how old Fitz was.

Galen and Regal I loathed. They were equally horrible, especially to poor Fitz, but their cunning plans are what pulls the story to its tense climax.

The plot was very good. I loved the slow pace of the beginning, introducing the characters and the surrounding world. Things did move pretty slowly for a long while, but like I said earlier, this was fine with me as it was all interesting. One by one hurdles were thrown Fitz's way; some minor ones to begin with but growing more and more intense as the story progressed.

The magical element was very intriguing. There appears to be two different types and one that's looked down upon. I'm still trying to work out what the difference is between the two but I'm sure that'll become clear in the following books.

The climax was fantastic. I was shocked by some of it which is always a good thing as it's not predictable! I honestly can't wait to continue reading Hobb's books to see how it all unfolds!



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Gorey, Jersey

Can I give you some advice? Never watch two final episodes to two different series on the same day. I am a complete wreck. Both Grimm and The Vampire Diaries had their last ever season finales last night and I watched them before writing this.

Jesus Christ.

Deep breath and let's get on with some more of what we got up to in Jersey.

Our third day started the way the second did, with the hotel breakfast and a reasonably early start to pack as much in as we could.

I knew I wanted to visit a castle or two and what I didn't tell you about the day before was the afternoon, before our date night, was a bit of a failure. 

We'd originally attempted to visit Elizabeth Castle but it turned out it wasn't the right time of year and then we tried to go to the Maritime Museum as well, but it turned out that was only open on Sundays! What a palarva. So that's when we settled for the arcade.

Anyway as it was a brand new day, we thought we would try the Maritime Museum again which was thankfully open! We literally just got inside when the heavens opened and it hailed very very heavily. Lucky for us, we spent the next hour or two wandering round the museum looking at all the shells and sealife and boats.

It was quite interesting but rather expensive!

Again, as per our usual, we went back to the hotel for a quick break before heading back out again, this time to visit Mont Orgueil Castle in Gorey (the opposite side of the island - took about 20 minutes to drive to!)

I loved this castle. We drove past The Paper Fig restaurant and wove our way up and up these narrow twisting lanes to the castle on the hill above.

We got to the little hut where we had to pay for the entrance and the weather turned once more for the worst - only quick bursts of heavy rain but enough to keep us hovering inside a little bit longer.

The guy behind the desk gave us a map of the castle and challenged us to find the four hidden items on our scavenge through the castle as it had many many little hidey holes and so many tucked away crevices!

Once the rain had stopped the sun came out in all her glory and it was a beautiful day. The views were absolutely stunning and we had so much fun winding our way around all the rooms and completing our mission to find the secret items.

We were starved by the time we left though so we took a different, very windy route back to the hotel but came across this adorable little garden centre with a tearoom. The food was amazing. It was packed so it must be a good spot for a Sunday lunch.

After that we made our way back to the hotel, packed our bags ready for our departure the following day and made use of the hotel amenities one last time.

One last post to come for Jersey but that's all you're getting for now!

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The Heir Chronicles, Book Two - The Wizard Heir

By Cinda Williams Chima

[Seph McCauley has spent three years getting
kicked out of one exclusive private school after
another. And it's not his attitude that's the
problem: it's the trail of magical accidents -
lately, disasters - that follow in his wake. Seph
is a wizard, orphaned and untrained, and his
powers are escalating out of control.

Worse, as the magical accidents that plague him grow
in intensity, Seph makes a discovery: the stories he's
been told about his parents' deaths are fabrications.
The people he trusts most have been lying to him.

Seph is sent to the Havens, a secluded boy's school
whose headmaster promises to train him in magic.
Maybe here he will find a community he can trust?
But he soon learns that the training comes at a steep
cost and everyone around him is keeping secrets.
Where can he turn, when he finds himself at the
centre of a war he may well not survive?]

Oooh, I was wondering how they would continue on from The Warrior Heir, whether the characters would crossover or whether this one would be completely separate but be placed in the same world.

I'm glad that it crossed over to be honest. I enjoyed Jack's character so much in the first one that Seph couldn't really compare in this one (although Jack came across a little cold and grouchy in this one which put me off him).

I did like the story though. It had an intriguing concept and a good mysterious element to it. Unfortunately, I did find it a little predictable in that I guessed who both of his parents were and it wasn't that big of a reveal as to who the Dragon was either.

Not to worry though because it was a solid story and I can see how it could possibly unfold in the others to come.

I don't think I enjoyed this one as much as the first one though because it lacked the medieval element that it had and I love medieval plots.

One scene that particularly stood out to me, which I think was fantastic, was the scene where Madison and Seph go off together for a picnic by a scenic river. This scene doesn't have any importance to the story or any impact at all on anything really, I just thought it was so beautiful and could picture every detail described.

Am looking forward to seeing what the others have in store!



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Jersey, Channel Islands

Do you ever just put your foot in your mouth and wish you'd never said or done something?

That's me all over. Moody cow and always fucking things up.

It's a wonder I still have a boyfriend with all the bad moods he has to put up with from me.

It hardly seems possible that we were in Jersey only a week ago.

I mean everything is all stressy again and rushed and I just want to go back to the slow paced life in Jersey.

It was the most relaxing and best four days I've had in a long while (although the previous weekend seeing Jack Whitehall and The Cursed Child was a pretty good one too!)

So, Jersey is still technically England, but it's an island nearer to France. I think that's why it gets better weather than the UK and the sea, the sea is so blue! Even when it was pouring with rain.

Incredible.

Anyway, I'm just going to leave you with a few photos today from our trip but full details of what we got up to will be posted sooooon, I promise.

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