Age of Assassins

By: RJ Barker

Narrated by: Joe Jameson

It's a game of assassin versus assassin.

Girton Club-foot has no family and a crippled leg and is apprenticed to the best assassin in the land.

He's learning the art of taking lives, but his latest mission tasks him with a far more difficult challenge - to save a life. Someone is trying to kill the heir to the throne, and it is up to Girton to uncover the traitor and prevent the prince's murder.

Age of Assassins is the first in an epic new trilogy set in a world ravaged by magic, featuring a cast of assassins, knights, ambitious noblemen, and fools.

©2017 RJ Barker (P)2017 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

"Both a coming of age story and a tale of twisty intrigue, Age of Assassins builds a compelling fantasy world and peoples it with characters you can care about. Riddled with intrigue and dangerous magic, this is a hugely enjoyable debut." (Jennifer Williams, author of The Copper Promise)

"A beguiling story of action and intrigue combined with a poignancy and humor that are as sharp as any blade." (Jon Skovron, author of Hope and Red)

"A dark-humored game of cat and mouse between assassins with traitors on all sides." (David Dalglish, author of A Dance of Cloaks)

This is a good one!

Gotta love any book that can keep you this engaged and doesn't dehumanize the female characters. The narrator does a great job, too.

Good story, but occasionally frustrating..

The main character is a boy that's been raised as an assassin most of his young life and I understand that he is still developing, but damn.. his naiveté and innocence is absolutely frustrating more often than not.. especially when he is raised in an occupation as dangerous and surrounded by death as an assassin. The story is good though, if you can bear the strangeness of youth, innocence and naiveté in an apprentice assassin.. the conflicting attributes always left me feeling un-immersed whenever their glaring features flared up in the main character.. but hopefully he develops more as the story goes on..

Excellent Start of a Series

Ostensibly, this book is a coming of age story revolving around a young crippled slave boy, Girton Clubfoot, who was purchased by an unknown woman, Merela Karn, and then trained in the fine arts of an assassin. There is an aura of the arcane arts throughout the telling but, in this book at least, magic doesn't get exercised all that often. There is little backstory on either of them provided in the beginning but the author skillfully introduces these essential story elements in the form of dream interludes along the way.

At a young age he has learned to be an adept learner and is totally dedicated to Merela every instruction. Eventually they are hijacked into an assignment to root out an assassination attempt on the queen's son and from there forward the reader/listener is enmeshed into the unsavory and often brutal episodes played by different factions of court politics. Along the way there are betrayals, real and feigned friendships, plots of deadly encounters and even a burgeoning romantic relationship for the young and naive assassin.

RJ Barker is a very good writer and Joe Jameson narrating skillful performance makes listening to the story easy what with his excellent ability to provide distinctive voices to the many characters both male and female, young and elderly.

Now, onto book 2.

A great start to a series

A great start to a series. RJs characters are loveable and I'm excited to see if the next book incorporates more magic(sorcery).

The Scribblings Review of Age of Assassins

Anonymously summoned to Castle Maniyadoc, Girtan Clubfoot and his master, assassin Merela Karn, find themselves trapped and forced into a hunt for another assassin.

Age of Assassins is part mystery and part coming-of-age, wrapped in the trappings of a fantasy novel. The bulk of the story is told in first-person, exclusively through the eyes of Girtan, a young man rescued as a child from slavery and trained as an assassin’s apprentice. From that earlier age, he has had almost no friends or close acquaintances save his master, so when he has to assume the rule of a young noble and join a group of other boys in knightly training, it forces him to acknowledge some of what has been missing from his life.

Complicating matters further is Girtan’s meeting and growing affection for a stable-hand. As Girtan grows to value these friendships it becomes harder for him to be objective about his true purpose; finding the assassin intent on killing the prince. It isn’t made any easier by the prince’s nature; arrogant, cruel, bullying and, having already been shamed by Girtan once, intent to taking any form of revenge he can. Given that he could easily kill most of the other boys, he is often forced to choose between maintaining his cover and the reactions his adolescent hormones demand.

It turns out there are almost as many plots and secrets scattered around the castle as there are people looking to turn the unexpected arrival of a new member of the court to their advantage. While some of these schemes are only tangential to Girtan’s mission, they do act as distractions as he tries to puzzle his way through, and are effectively tied together at the climax, including one which hits a little too close to home for Girtan’s comfort.

One of the advantages the 1st person narrative has is that the reader discovers clues and information at the same time Girtan does, ensuring that the mystery remains foremost. The downside is that is can dilute some of the sense of jeopardy that Girtan faces. But obviously the same does not apply to anyone else and Girtan’s fear for his new friends comes across sharply.

Keeping the action confined to the castle and it’s immediate surrounds also helps amplify the claustrophobic nature of the story as many of the characters, not just Girtan are essentially trapped there. The combat, when it happens, is well handled and the description of Girtan’s fighting style is unique, as he moves in and out of conscious thought, letting his training take over.
Age of Assassins is a very good read and I plan on returning to the Wounded Kingdom in the future.

4.5 out of 5 antlered war mounts.

Held my attention

It was interesting and fast read/listen...bought the next 2 to see what happens down the road with the characters

Realistic characters and action

The story is appropriately convoluted and the actions moves smoothly. Not a yawner with an easy to see climax. The writing is crisp and enjoyable.

Well Crafted Tale

This was a well-crafted tale with great details.

The narration was superb with great character voices.

I can't wait to see what happens in the next book because things are not all rosy.

Good sorry line

Good action not much gore. the ending could have been better. but overall it was a good book.

YA darkish fantasy

I’ve read a few reviews calling this dark fantasy. I’d call it dark fantasy light. Something more of an entry level story into the genre, at best.
It was a decent story that really gets going towards the end. But definitely young adult.