Alphabet Challenge: A
★★★★★
“Very little worth knowing is taught by fear.”
The Challenge
I listen to several bookish podcasts, one of them being “What Should I Read Next” with Anne Bogel, creator of “The Modern Mrs. Darcy” blog. On one such recent episode at the end of 2025, a guest explained a challenge she would be undertaking in the new year. It is an alphabet challenge in which each of the titles of the books she will be reading must fall in alphabetical order. That did not sound too hard at first until she elaborated on the rules.
Each of the titles must only include words beginning with that letter. For example, Red Rising, which will be my “R” book, is acceptable because both words qualify as “R”. However, a book like East of Eden would not work because “of” does not begin with an “E”. The same problem would occur with any title that begins with “the” (unless I am reading for the letter “T”)!! This has really dwindled down the options off of my TBR while assembling my book list, making it more of a fun treasure hunt of a challenge!
For my first book of the Alphabet Challenge, I took on Assassin’s Apprentice, the first book of the Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobb. My friend, Miriam, a fellow fantasy reader, had previously recommended the series to me. Her brief synopsis of it intrigued me and I was grateful for her suggestion when it came time to make make my alphabet list.
The Book
Assassin’s Apprentice is a well-written fantasy novel full of political intrigue, family drama, and mystery. It centers on the royal family of the Six Duchies who are each named after virtues which they embody and many of whom possess a magical art called the Skill. Our main character is the illegitimate son of the future king of the kingdom, Prince Chivalry, who comes to the royal court as a young boy being dropped of by his mother and grandfather to be raised among the royal family. He comes to be called “Fitz”. It soon becomes clear that Fitz has the Skill and also the Wit, which allows him to communicate with animals; however, it is considered shameful to use the Wit and could turn him into a man-beast if used too much. Fitz trains in many arts and skills in the castle, including becoming a trained assassin as his primary usefulness for the king.
It was a slow start to the book, taking about 50-60 pages to really grab my attention, but that is not too unusual in a genre that needs to set the stage with world-building and introducing a variety of characters. Once the groundwork was established, the pace really picked up and had me racing to find out more. I appreciated the number of intersecting plot lines that still have me asking questions and guessing what is really going on!!
The Wit magic brought on a sense of nostalgia from a middle grades book I read long ago called Wild Magic by Tamora Piece. It was fun to be reminded of that magical world and those characters! If you enjoyed that book back in the day, then this may be a great next read for you too!
Assassin’s Apprentice brings up questions of identity and the importance of names. In a lot of ways the royal members live up to their names, but it is confusing because sometimes their names make little sense of how they line up with their character. Fitz is also sometimes addressed as “Boy” or “Newboy” due to the royal court’s treatment of his illegitimacy and Fitz’s lack of self-worth. At one point, a family member randomly decides to call him “Thomas” with little time spent to think about a name for him. As someone who has named her own child and who will be naming another baby later this year, it made my heart so sad that Fitz goes through life without a real name to claim. Names have power.
Content Warnings
Frequent use of the word “bast—d” , “b—ch” is also used but as a correct term for a female dog, suicidal ideation and attempts, murder, violence, infertility, child abuse, animal death
If you have read this trilogy and see that I missed something, feel free to chime in below (NO SPOILERS!!). Also let me know if you are going to add this to your TBR!