Top 5 Books about Assassins I Want to Read

This Top 5 series started back in October and I kind of lost motivation for making it every week. But it’s back! This is a series of books that I want to read that all have a common theme. Previously on the blog I have focused on witches, werewolves, thrillers, faeries, fairy tale re-tellings, high fantasy and many more. I am going to try and bring this series back for every Saturday.

The upcoming schedule is:

8/10/19– Books about Assassins

8/17/19 – Books with Found Families

8/24/19 — Books about Dragons

8/31/19 — Books with a Road Trip

Rules!

• Share your top 5 books of the current topic– these can be books that you want to read, have read and loved, have read and hated, you can do it any way you want.
• Tag the original post (This one!)
• Tag 5 people

 

Assassins

There are a lot of novels about assassins that I’m dying to read. I love morally grey characters, so criminals, thieves and assassins are always fascinating to me. I think assassins tend to be a bit morally dark, which makes them interesting to read about. I read Graceling a while back and absolutely loved it (check out my review), so ever since then I’ve wanted to read more titles about assassins. This prompt is full of titles that I am dying to read and I can’t wait to see everyone else’s recommendations!

 

The Way of Shadows by Brent Weeks

From New York Times Bestselling author Brent Weeks…
For Durzo Blint, assassination is an art-and he is the city’s most accomplished artist.

For Azoth, survival is precarious. Something you never take for granted. As a guild rat, he’s grown up in the slums, and learned to judge people quickly – and to take risks. Risks like apprenticing himself to Durzo Blint.

But to be accepted, Azoth must turn his back on his old life and embrace a new identity and name. As Kylar Stern, he must learn to navigate the assassins’ world of dangerous politics and strange magics – and cultivate a flair for death.

When I mentioned to some friends that I really liked Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn series, they mentioned that I should try out Brent Weeks’ books. Everything that he has written sounds up my alley, but this book sounds totally up my alley. I bought a copy in early June, so I will be able to get to this pretty soon!

The Queen’s Assassin by Melissa de la Cruz

Perfect for fans of Sarah J. Maas and Red Queen, this is the first novel in a sweeping YA fantasy-romance duet about a deadly assassin, his mysterious apprentice, and the country they are sworn to protect from #1 NYT bestselling author Melissa de la Cruz.

Caledon Holt is the Kingdom of Renovia’s deadliest weapon. No one alive can best him in brawn or brains, which is why he’s the Guild’s most dangerous member and the Queen’s one and only assassin. He’s also bound to the Queen by an impossible vow–to find the missing Deian Scrolls, the fount of all magical history and knowledge, stolen years ago by a nefarious sect called the Aphrasians.

Shadow has been training all her life to follow in the footsteps of her mother and aunts–to become skilled enough to join the ranks of the Guild. Though magic has been forbidden since the Aphrasian uprising, Shadow has been learning to control her powers in secret, hoping that one day she’ll become an assassin as feared and revered as Caledon Holt.

When a surprise attack brings Shadow and Cal together, they’re forced to team up as assassin and apprentice to hunt down a new sinister threat to Renovia. But as Cal and Shadow grow closer, they’ll uncover a shocking web of lies and secrets that may destroy everything they hold dear. With war on the horizon and true love at risk, they’ll stop at nothing to protect each other and their kingdom in this stunning first novel in the Queen’s Secret series.

I have always liked Melissa de la Cruz’s books, but as soon as I even saw this title I knew that I wanted to read this book. A romance between an assassin and an assassin’s apprentice, plus political  intrigue and royal threats, this is a book that I am dying to get my hands on. This book comes out in February of 2020 and I’m going to try to get my hands on an ARC.

Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder

Choose: A quick death…Or slow poison…

About to be executed for murder, Yelena is offered an extraordinary reprieve. She’ll eat the best meals, have rooms in the palace—and risk assassination by anyone trying to kill the Commander of Ixia.

And so Yelena chooses to become a food taster. But the chief of security, leaving nothing to chance, deliberately feeds her Butterfly’s Dust—and only by appearing for her daily antidote will she delay an agonizing death from the poison.

As Yelena tries to escape her new dilemma, disasters keep mounting. Rebels plot to seize Ixia and Yelena develops magical powers she can’t control. Her life is threatened again and choices must be made. But this time the outcomes aren’t so clear…

I’ve heard amazing things about this series. There are 6 books in this series, so if I wind up loving it I would be able to enjoy the characters and the world for quite a while. This series sounds like something I would love and I really hope that I can get my hands on book one soon.

Age of Assassins by R.J. Barker

To catch an assassin, use an assassin…

Girton Club-foot, apprentice to the land’s best assassin, still has much to learn about the art of taking lives. But his latest mission tasks him and his master with a far more difficult challenge: to save a life. Someone, or many someones, is trying to kill the heir to the throne, and it is up to Girton and his master to uncover the traitor and prevent the prince’s murder.

In a kingdom on the brink of civil war and a castle thick with lies Girton finds friends he never expected, responsibilities he never wanted, and a conspiracy that could destroy an entire kingdom.

I recently read The Bone Ships by R.J. Barker, which comes out in September. I gave the book 5 stars and after reading I wanted to check out his other books. It just so happens that his other series is about assassins! It’s about protecting the prince and uncovering a traitor, and after reading The Bone Ships this series is pretty high on my TBR.

Assassin’s Apprentice by Robin Hobb

In a faraway land where members of the royal family are named for the virtues they embody, one young boy will become a walking enigma.

Born on the wrong side of the sheets, Fitz, son of Chivalry Farseer, is a royal bastard, cast out into the world, friendless and lonely. Only his magical link with animals – the old art known as the Wit – gives him solace and companionship. But the Wit, if used too often, is a perilous magic, and one abhorred by the nobility.

So when Fitz is finally adopted into the royal household, he must give up his old ways and embrace a new life of weaponry, scribing, courtly manners; and how to kill a man secretly, as he trains to become a royal assassin.

I’ve been trying to get into epic fantasy this summer and everyone keeps recommending that I check out Robin Hobb’s books. The Assassin’s Apprentice is about a royal bastard who has a magical connection with animals and trains to become an assassin’s apprentice.

 

Tags!!

Milana @ A Couple Reads

Meeghan @ Meeghan Reads

Steff @ Reader Fox

Steph @ Bookslovereaders

Ambi @ Scaredy Engines End of Line Library

Raven @ Dreamy Addictions

 

Check out other Book Blogger’s Top 5!

Leelyn @ Sometimes Leelynn Reads — Top 5 Saturday: Assassins

Blair @ Feed the Crime — || Top 5 Saturday | Books With Badass Assassins ||

Sara @ My Year of Reading Dangerously — Top 5 Assassin Books | Top 5 Saturdays

Susan @ Novel Lives — Saturday Tag- Top 5 Books About Assassins I want to Read or Have Read

Dini @ dinipandareads – Top 5 Saturday: Books about Assassins

Alys @ Alys in Bookland — Top 5 Books with Assassins that I Want to Read

Louise @ Foxes and Fairy Tales — Top 5 Books about Assassins

 

 Let’s Chat!

Do you like books about assassins? What is your favorite things about those types of books? What is your favorite book that has an assassin character? Have you read any of these books? Which ones would you recommend? Make sure to comment below so we can talk about books about assassins!