La Citadelle des Ombres, Tome 1

The Apprentice Assassin / The King's Assassin / The Twilight Ship Today, in France and abroad, The Royal Assassin is unanimously acclaimed as one of the masterpieces of 20th century fantasy literature, to the point that some compare it to J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. Indeed, it is impossible not to be spellbound from the first pages by the strength and realism of the plot, the profusion of adventures and their twists and turns, the increasingly oppressive atmosphere of mystery and magic as one delves deeper into the action. In the kingdom of the Six Duchies, in the unsettling setting of a fortress beaten by the winds and waves, Fitz, a young boy of royal lineage, undergoes the harsh apprenticeship of life at court. A strange and gruff stable master gives him advice and affection; an old sage, isolated at the top of a tower, initiates him into the delicate perception of Good and Evil; bloodhounds who have adopted him bring him comfort and protection. Then begins for the young man a long initiatory journey strewn with pitfalls and betrayals. A journey of no return at the end of anguish, love, and despair. Confronted with the cruel demands of loyalty, is there another path for him than that of sacrifice? With a consummate art of suspense and a knowledge of the human heart that she keeps secret, Robin Hobb draws us into a poignant and superb epic. The masterpiece of Robin Hobb, whose first three volumes of the series are gathered in this work.