The bastard sons of kings play a noble role in fantasy: not only were King Arthur and Modred by-blows, but it is often suggested that Merlin himself came to power from the "wrong side of the bed." While Hobb's offering has a few too many illegitimate heirs backstabbing around, this is still a delightful take on the powers and politics behind the throne. Fitz, who is often called the "Boy" or the "Bastard," was begotten by good Prince Chivalry upon some "peasant" woman. At age six, he is given over to the safekeeping of the prince's man, Burrich. Fitz's impolitic existence causes the prince to abdicate his claim to the throne, and he and his wife leave the court, and the boy, behind. Fitz has inherited the "Skill," a mind-bending talent, and also has the ability to meld his thoughts with those of nonhuman creatures and to mentally "repel" physical advances. When Fitz finally comes to King Shrewd's attention, he is given over to the Royal Assassin's tutelage and trained to carry out the king's devious plans. The novel's conceit-that it offers Fitz's memoirs from childhood through adolescence-allows for several sequels. A gleaming debut in the crowded field of epic fantasies and Arthurian romances.

Donated by the American Book Center for the Bookcrossing Convention 2010. Thank you!

Theoretically, I like Fantasy-novels. In practice, I often despise it because of bad style and a bad story.
But Leseschaf looked over my shoulder and told me that this is a good one. So I took it home.

Yup. Was a good one. Took a while to get the plot going, though. But that's a common feature with fantasy novels, isn't it?

Got that at the famous International-BC-Ashcloud-Meetup in Amsterdam. Now it may travel to the next big Meetup.

thanks to Catbook

Hello! Bookcrossing is a online community of book lovers dedicated to sharing books with each other and the world at large. We are curious to see how far and wide it will travel and how its readers like it. Kindly make a journal entry to let us know it's found a new reader.

Feel free to read and keep this book, pass it on to a friend, leave it back on the shelf or somewhere else for the next reader. If you journal this book as a member, then you will hear from the book as it travels around. Happy reading!

Liebe Finderin, lieber Finder,
Gratulation, dass Du dieses Buch gefunden hast! Ich hoffe, es gefällt Dir. Du hast nicht nur ein Buch, sondern eine ganze Gemeinschaft von Leserinnen und Lesern gefunden, die Bücher lieben. Schau Dir die Seite mal an! Ich würde mich sehr freuen, wenn Du Dir die Zeit nimmst, einen Journal-Eintrag zu machen und mich so wissen zu lassen, wo das Buch gerade ist und was Du damit vor hast. Vielleicht willst Du Bookcrossing ja beitreten? Das ist anonym, kostenlos und macht Spaß!