The second Farseer novel deepens the political crisis of the Six Duchies as the Red Ship Raiders continue their devastating attacks on the coastal villages, leaving behind Forged victims stripped of their humanity. Fitz is drawn further into the court's politics and its dangers, his relationships with the Fool, with Molly, and with the increasingly unstable King Shrewd all developing under mounting pressure. Royal Assassin is where Hobb's willingness to deny her protagonist relief becomes fully apparent - the novel is relentless in the demands it makes of Fitz and of the reader, and its conclusion is among the most devastating in contemporary fantasy fiction.