Reading order
The Farseer Trilogy reading order
1
2
3- 3 volumes
- Volumes
- 1995–1997
- Published
- about 30 h
- Reading time
- Completed
- Status
- Fantasy#30
- Genre
Quick answer
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Publication order
3 volumes1995–1997Completed
- Three books, read in order, and the third is the reason people argue about this trilogy: Assassin's Quest is long, slow and punishing, and it is also where everything the first two set up is paid for.
- Do not stop after Royal Assassin, which ends on the cruellest note Hobb ever wrote.
- Afterwards there is a great deal more — the Liveship Traders and the Tawny Man trilogies both continue this world, and Tawny Man returns to Fitz himself, six books later.
- French editions split the later books into several volumes, which is why some lists show more than three.
A plan for the whole series
3 volumes, 1,737 pages, about 30 hours. At 45 min a day that is about 6 weeks.
Share of volume 1’s readers who reach the last volume. Chance of reaching the last volume: high
Stages
2 stages, with 1 short book from outside the series between them. You finish around December 14, 2026, 4 days later than in one go.
- Stage 118 habout 3 weeksby November 22, 2026
- Short breakThe Fire Next Time · James Baldwin · 120 pp. · score 8.8
- Stage 214 h19 daysby December 14, 2026
- The end of the series
We count 1.1 min per page, the pace of an average novel reader. Faster? Move the slider.
Does the series hold up
Shape of the series: even. Volume scores differ by at most 0.2 points. You get the same level from the first page to the last.
Best volume: Royal Assassin (8.5, 1,315 ratings). Weakest: Assassin's Quest (8.3). The series is complete; you can read it start to finish with no waiting. The last volume (8.3) scores close to the series average or above it.
How this plan is calculated
The plan comes from the pages and ratings of each volume: we split the series into stages of about three weeks’ reading, size each break to the stage before it, and read the chance of finishing from how many readers rate the last volume compared with the first. How we work out the plan →
Every volume in order
Order checked by hand · Order and years: Wikidata (CC0). Spotted an error? Tell us. · Data updated October 29, 2026
The Farseer Trilogy books ranked, best to worst
- 1.Royal AssassinBook 2 · 19968.5
- 2.Assassin's ApprenticeBook 1 · 19958.3
- 2.Assassin's QuestBook 3 · 19978.3
Frequently asked questions
Which Farseer Trilogy book is the best?
By reader score, Royal Assassin (8.5/10). The lowest-rated is Assassin's Quest (8.3/10).
Which The Farseer Trilogy book is the longest?
“Assassin's Quest” is the longest at 757 pages; the shortest is “Assassin's Apprentice” with 400 pages.
What should I read after The Farseer Trilogy?
Other series by Robin Hobb: The Tawny Man Trilogy, The Rain Wild Chronicles, Liveship Traders.
