king shrewd is dead at the hands of his son regal as is fitzor so his enemies and friends believe but with the help of his allies and his beast magic he emerges from the grave deeply scarred in body and soul the kingdom also teeters toward ruin regal has plundered and abandoned the capital while the rightful heir prince verity is lost to his mad questperhaps to death only veritys returnor the heir his princess carriescan save the six duchies but fitz will not wait driven by loss and bitter memories he undertakes a quest to kill regal the journey casts him into deep waters as he discovers wild currents of magic within himcurrents that will either drown him or make him something more than he was praise for robin hobb and assassins quest fantasy as it ought to be written robin hobbs books are diamonds in a sea of zirconsgeorge r r martin an enthralling conclusion to this superb trilogy displaying an exceptional combination of originality magic adventure character and dramakirkus reviews starred review superbly written wholly satisfying unforgettable better than any fantasy trilogy in printincluding minemelanie rawn