Below is the complete list of Robin Hobb’s Farseer books in order. For this series, the chronological reading order is the same as the order of publication.
Publication Order of Farseer Books
About Farseer
Robin Hobb’s Farseer Trilogy is the opening sequence of the Realm of the Elderlings and the beginning of the story of FitzChivalry Farseer, one of modern fantasy’s most enduring protagonists. Comprising Assassin’s Apprentice, Royal Assassin, and Assassin’s Quest, the trilogy follows Fitz from an unwanted royal bastard brought to Buckkeep as a child to a young man burdened with dangerous abilities and obligations to the Farseer throne. Although the three novels tell a complete major arc, Fitz’s life continues in later Realm of the Elderlings series.
Assassin’s Apprentice begins when six-year-old Fitz is delivered to the royal household as the illegitimate son of Prince Chivalry, heir to the throne of the Six Duchies. The revelation of his existence contributes to Chivalry’s withdrawal from court, leaving Fitz to grow up among servants, soldiers, stable hands, and members of a royal family uncertain what to do with him. King Shrewd eventually recognizes that Fitz’s ambiguous position can be useful and has him secretly trained by the assassin Chade.
Fitz possesses the Skill, the hereditary mental magic associated with the Farseer line, but he also has an instinctive affinity for the Wit, an older magic that allows him to form profound bonds with animals. In the Six Duchies, the Wit is feared and condemned, forcing Fitz to conceal an ability that is fundamental to his identity. His relationships with animals, especially the wolf Nighteyes, become among the most important bonds in his life.
The trilogy unfolds against an escalating crisis. Raiders from the Red Ships attack coastal settlements and leave behind victims who have been “Forged,” stripped of empathy and ordinary human attachments. At the same time, the royal family is weakened by internal rivalries. King Shrewd is aging, Prince Verity carries much of the burden of defending the kingdom through the Skill, and Prince Regal’s ambition increasingly threatens those around him.
Royal Assassin deepens these conflicts as Fitz returns to Buckkeep and becomes more entangled in court politics. His loyalty to Verity and the crown repeatedly clashes with his desire for an ordinary life. His relationship with Molly Chandler makes that conflict painfully personal: Fitz wants intimacy and independence, yet his birth, training, secrecy, and duties continually prevent him from separating himself from the Farseers.
Other recurring relationships are equally important. Burrich, the stablemaster who becomes Fitz’s guardian, provides a complicated paternal presence. Chade is both mentor and manipulator, teaching Fitz the skills required for clandestine service. The Fool, initially an enigmatic court figure, gradually emerges as someone whose connection to Fitz reaches far beyond ordinary friendship or palace intrigue. Kettricken, Verity’s Mountain-born queen, likewise grows into a crucial figure in Fitz’s understanding of loyalty and leadership.
By Assassin’s Quest, the relatively contained world of Buckkeep has expanded into a much larger journey. Questions surrounding Verity, the Elderlings, and the mysterious stone dragons push Fitz beyond the political struggles that shaped his youth and reveal that the kingdom’s survival is connected to forces far older than the Farseer dynasty.
The trilogy is narrated retrospectively by Fitz, giving the books a strongly personal quality. Hobb allows him to misunderstand people, make damaging choices, and recognize some truths only after their consequences have become unavoidable. Magic and political conflict matter, but the emotional cost of Fitz’s decisions is what gives the trilogy its distinctive character.
The three Farseer novels should be read in publication order, as they form one continuous narrative. After Assassin’s Quest, however, the recommended path through the larger world is not to jump immediately to Fitz’s next trilogy. The Liveship Traders Trilogy comes next in the Realm of the Elderlings publication sequence, followed by the Tawny Man Trilogy, where Fitz again becomes the principal narrator.
Farseer therefore works both as a trilogy and as the foundation of a much larger saga. It introduces the Skill, the Wit, the Six Duchies, the Fool, and conflicts whose significance extends across sixteen Realm of the Elderlings novels. More importantly, it establishes Hobb’s defining approach to fantasy: heroic events seen through the life of a deeply imperfect person who must continue living with what those events cost him.