Until recently, Fitz was only known as “boy.” The illegitimate son of a powerful noble, Fitz is taken in by his uncle, Prince Verity, who prepares the boy for a journey to the capital to meet his royal grandfather. But Fitz is not a normal child. An ancient power stirs inside him, something that will change the destiny of the Six Duchies forever! The incredibly influential fantasy novel comes to comics in this first installment of best-selling author Robin Hobbs’ Assassin’s Apprentice !

I have really enjoyed working with Dark Horse to bring Fitz’s story to this medium,” says author Robin Hobb. “I’ve been very impressed with their integrity and respect for the original material.”

Writer Jody Houser states, “I’m excited to continue telling Fitz’s story in comics form. An epic fantasy classic and a dream art team… what’s not to love?” I would highly recommend Assassin’s Apprentice and the Farseer Trilogy. As you read you become ever more immersed in the story and it just seems to get better and better.”— Fantasy Book Review Either way, Dark Horse and this creative team have created something pretty darn special here. Should the quality continue throughout its entire run (hoping its completed, of course), this will no doubt draw a lot of new readers into the tales of the Six Duchies. Maybe after we can even geta Liveship Traders adaptation. Please... 4.5/5

Hobb is the author whose books Martin described as ‘like diamonds in a sea of zircons,’ the writer to press on those who turn up their noses at fantasy. Her writing is superb, her world-building irresistible, her storylines both hell-for-leather exciting and deeply introspective.”— The Guardian Assassin’s Apprentice #1 has the difficult task of adapting a novel to comic book form but does so with great skill and interpretation thus far.”— Major Spoilers It's impossible to fit all the detail from the book into an adaptation but all the main plot points and events are here which means we get a much faster moving adventure and yet somehow is still feels like a story being told at a leisurely pace.

Fantastic Five: The best comics of the week of September 7, 2022

The adaptation to the graphical novel is good - it's been almost three decades since I last read the novel, but there are still many familiar parts and if something was skipped I did not miss it. I do remember that in the novels there's an unfortunate amount of moping by the main character which is thankfully absent in the adaptation. As the space is condensed, the plot also opens up more clearly than I remember, though it does come with some pretty heavy speech bubbles full of exposition. Letterer Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou relays the narrative with typewriter-style lettering on scraps of torn beige parchment. He presents dialogue in easy-to-read uppercase lettering classic dialogue balloons. He may not go as Old School to reveal thoughts as puffy clouds, but his pleasing font grows bold to express intonation. Robin Hobb is the author of three well-received fantasy trilogies: The Farseer Trilogy (Assassin’s Apprentice, Royal Assassin, and Assassin’s Quest), The Liveship Traders Trilogy (Ship of Magic, Mad Ship and Ship of Destiny) and the Tawny Man Trilogy (Fool’s Errand, Golden Fool, and Fool’s Fate) Her current work in progress is entitled Shaman’s Crossing. Robin Hobb lives and works in Tacoma, Washington, and has been a professional writer for over 30 years. The cover art is not the style in the comics. The story is illustrated by Ryan Kelly with colours by Jordie Bellaire. The art suits the fantasy setting and all the characters are easily distinguishable from one another. The colour palette is sombre showing the medieval setting with flashes of colour cleverly used to portray uses of the magical abilities of The Skill and The Wit.