Premise

The final entry of the Farseer Trilogy, Assassin's Quest follows Fitz on his journey to finally deal with (now) King Regal - first by attempting an assassination and then by journeying to the land of the Elderlings.

The highlights of what really work and come together in this novel are:
  • Above all else, I enjoyed that this entry in the trilogy had Fitz following a very direct goal. Every page felt like progress was being made towards what Fitz wanted and though the ending was incredibly bittersweet (which is not a powerful enough word to describe it), it was incredibly satisfying and felt like the correct conclusion for the ending of Fitz' early life.

The Standout: Coming of Age
Fitz ends this book at around his early 20s (at least, that's what I gather by context clues). Throughout his childhood, he's had a variety of mentors and relationships and one by one he loses every single one of them in some way or another in this book - despite his ultimate success. It's incredibly tragic but it also opens up space for Fitz to finally begin living his life as his own man - a concept he grapples with throughout the entire book (and series, really).

I really enjoyed the symbolism of losing everything that made his childhood - well - his childhood. It really feels like moving on in the series, I can expect a metamorphosis of Fitz into a more independent character.

A Small Criticism
The ending is very fast. Very fast. I think it does a sufficient job of explaining everything but there are particular points (like Forging) that I felt were slightly glossed over. There was enough foreshadowing to ultimately let the reader understand what Forging was without explaining it but it still felt a bit too quick for my liking.

I'm also unsure if the relevance of the White Ships (and how they differ from Red Ships) was ever explained.   

Final Thoughts
Assassin's Quest is my favourite entry in the Farseer Trilogy. I loved all three books deeply, but this was my favourite because Fitz had a direct goal the entire duration of the plot - and the feeling of getting closer and closer to that goal really made this an easier read that felt a bit less slow than the previous two books was fantastic.