I’ve been fascinated by assassins ever since learning about their medieval origins during the Crusades. These interesting fellows were led by the mysterious “Old Man in the Mountain” and wreaked mayhem because of how they infiltrated places of trust. Assassins are the secretive warriors of death, trained with uncanny fighting skills and the various weaknesses of the human body and mind. Throughout my novels, these characters are woven into the storylines with new names such as Sleepwalkers, the Kishion, and most currently, Poisoners. Assassins can get into places that are all but impossible. They are deadly with weapons, with just their hands, or with a little crushed powder. They infiltrate enemy lairs and use disguises to trick the senses.
But what I really find fascinating are novels that use them to help out the good guys. They can be the main hero or sometimes just a supporting role. They are often conflicted because of the beauty they see in life and how often they participate in the release of death. They are a spice to the stew that is savory and interesting to me. These are some of my favorites.
Assassin’s Apprentice by Robin Hobb
Of course Fitzchivalry Farseer tops my list in Hobb’s masterful series about a young boy raised at court by the enigmatic Chade to help deal with the enemies of the Farseer throne. Fitz’s loyalty is tested as are his survival skills in knuckle-biting scenes throughout the novel. The young man pays a high emotional toll to fulfill his role, and I think the entire series is a must-read for would-be assassins.
Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers
This is set in an alternate vision of medieval Europe, Brittany to be precise, where the girls of the fictional convent of St Mortain serve the God of Death by becoming assassins. In this world, their targets are assigned to them by a “mark,” a spot on their body where the assassin must kill them and only they can see. In this book, Ismae partners will a noble to use her training to save the realm from unscrupulous forces that deserve the killing hand she can administer.
Blood Song by Anthony Ryan
I was gripped by Ryan’s new world as seen through the eyes of Vaelin Al Sorna who was dedicated to the Sixth Order as a young boy. Those of the Sixth Order are part knight Templar, part assassin and 100% unrelenting. The dropout rate of the Sixth Order during the training is staggering. Add to Vaelin’s wit, courage, and self-discipline a mysterious blood magic…let’s just say you want this guy fighting on your side. His loyalty to the throne and its up and coming princess despite treachery has made him a favorite of mine.
The Druid of Shannara by Terry Brooks
This book is one of my all-time favorite novels by Brooks and the reason is because of Pe Ell. This assassin works for the bad guys and the good guys simultaneously and it’s never clear exactly which he prefers. Truly, he’s on his own side and his interests align with the good guys—most of the time. Pe Ell relishes a challenge. He takes risks. To say he’s mercurial doesn’t begin to do it justice. He has a magical blade called the Stiehl and he’s never afraid to use it. He was one of the most original characters that Brooks invented in his Shannara world.
Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White
Wait…what? A children’s book with an assassin? Of course! Charlotte A. Cavatica is a spider, a ruthless killer of bugs and barnyard pests. Not only does she kill them, she drinks their blood. Her wily instincts and clever web-spinning make her the savior of the doomed pig Wilbur. This was a childhood favorite of mine and Charlotte was part of the inspiration behind the titular character of my latest novel, The Queen’s Poisoner.
Jeff Wheeler took an early retirement from his career at Intel in 2014 to become a full-time author. He is, most importantly, a husband and father, a devout member of his church, and is occasionally spotted roaming hills with oak trees and granite boulders in California or in any number of the state’s majestic redwood groves. His latest book is The Queen’s Poisoner, the first of the Kingfountain Series.
I would add the Taltos books by Brust.
Don’t forget the Night Angel Trilogy by Brent Weeks.
FWIW, I think The Druid of Shannara may have been the last book in that series that I read, in part because I couldn’t get past Pe Ell’s name. You see, I — like Terry Brooks — live in the Pacific Northwest, and so I know Pe Ell not as a legendary assassin, but as a tiny little town not quite halfway from the turnoff from I-5 to the slightly-less-tiny town on the southern Washington coast which is or was home to a great many of my father’s cousins and ancestors.
Cognitive dissonance R us.
That said, a recommendation: the Cloak and Dagger series by Anne Lesley Groell, beginning with Anvil of the Sun. This is a trio of briskly paced, often highly amusing adventures whose protagonists are members of their world’s Assassins’ Guild. Our primary leads are the Cloak and the Dagger (Jen and Thibault to their uninitiated friends), two novice Guild members, who in their first outing find themselves forced to rescue Jen’s aunt, the much more experienced Hawk, from a remarkably devious gaslighting. Essentially, this is a sword-and-sorcery cross between the Thin Man movies and The Man from U.N.C.L.E., with a definite nod in the direction of The Avengers (the British series, not the Marvel franchise) into the bargain. And yet the books are not entirely fluff; Groell doesn’t shy away from forcing her characters to confront genuine emotional issues. I count this a series that ended much too soon; I still want at least three more books in this universe.
What, no love for Vlad Taltos by Steven Brust?
Don’t forget C. J. Cherryh’s Foreigner series, where the Assassin’s Guild is a branch of government.
Glen Cook’s Morley Doates would likely spit in your eye if you called him a ‘good guy’ to his face; but I still think he counts for this catagory.
Heh. I never thought of Charlotte as more of an assassin than any other predator. But you’re right that it’s unusual for a self-proclaimed killer to be a hero of a children’s book. I was always too busy loving Templeton to analyze much else.
How about Valyn and Gwenna from the Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne? The Kettral are essentially assassins mounted on huge birds.
Drizzt Do’Urden from the Forgotten Realms. Probably fantasy’s best elf assassin.
Thanks for reading my musings.
AndrewHB
Hmmm. Another voice for remembering Vlad Taltos. Also maybe Pteppic from Pratchett’s Pyramidss? Or Samalander from the all too often overlooked Villains by Necessity by Eve Forward.
Vin and Kelsier from the Mistborn series. Almost all Mistborn are assassins but aren’t usually good guys.
The Gatherers, Ehiru, Nijiri and Hanani, from N. K. Jemisin’s “Dreamblood” duology, whose function is to grant a merciful and useful death to the old and ill. That’s the idea, anyway.
And if we’re including natural predators, Ed the great white shark, in Diane Duane’s Deep Wizardry, pretty much steals the book.
I’ll throw in Kalam from Erikson’s Malazan novels as another example of a “good guy” assassin… as much as the reader considers any Bridgeburner as a “good guy.”
Also, Korlat was technically a Tiste Andii assassin-mage-shapeshifter, and she could generally be considered a “good guy” as well, but she’s a less obvious choice.
How about Sicarius in the Emperor’s Edge series by Lindsey Buroker?
@12: YES. Ed is the best.
Arya Stark is an assassin who readers tend to root for…but whether she’s a “good guy” is rather debatable.
Lord Vetinari, anyone?
For the Malazan Book of the Fallen you would also have to include Rallick Nom, Apsalar, Crokus and most importantly, Cotillion…
@John C. Bunnell: Cognitive dissonance? How about Allanon (ALcoholics ANONymous)?
Tyop alert:
I strongly suspect, for no known reason and on purely unreasoning and irrational grounds, that two ELs may have been inadvertently been substituted for an ETH.
Grave Mercy, indeed. Ismae’s got your number: she’ll be calling some time soon.
“But you’re right that it’s unusual for a self-proclaimed killer to be a hero of a children’s book.”
Which made me think of Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, the mongoose in “The Jungle Book” – there are plenty of killers in the Jungle Book, but Rikki’s the closest to an assassin (the others mainly kill in self-defence or to eat; Rikki kills because he’s a mongoose and killing’s what he does, it’s his duty).
“Lord Vetinari, anyone?”
He went to the school*, but I don’t think he’s ever a practising assassin…
*and got very high marks. Except in Concealment. His teachers failed him for poor attendance because they almost never saw him in class. His response: “Your point is?”
I’m going to throw in Teppic from Terry Pratchett’s Pyramids. He was trained as an assassin to be a good king.
Hearn the Watcher from the David Dalglishs Shadowdance series should be on this list instead of Valin Al sorna.. in the description it even says “part assassin” Hearn is an assassin and the best, or Azoth from the Night Angel triligoy by Brent Weeks books is also a better fit for this list.
Waylander by David Gemmell, started out as an assassin that killed the king but ended up saving the kingdom.
Hero’s Die by Matthew Stover
I’ll second Night Angel, and throw in the Riyria series (Chronicles and Revelations).
Everyone forget the desert men assassins in the warded man series. Aisha. That girl was a piece
If we are talking comics then we have to add in Sara Lance (White Canary) from DC Legends of Tomorrow and Arrow.
Trained by the League of Assassins and recently in the tv series, kicked their butts.
Also Bruce Wayne aka The Batman, trained with the league of assassins in the recent Dark Knight movies.
@11, To some extent I agree, Certainly Vin would qualify, but is Kelsier really a hero? You could make a strong case to call him chaotic evil.
On the topic of Sanderson; David Charleston from the Reckoners Series.
@29 Chaotic neutral is an easier case though and he’s on the same side as the Protagonist which makes him moderately heroic or at least one of the “good guys.”
not SFF but certainly Lawrence Block’s John Keller books qualify.
Assassins who are “good guys”? Tricky. Most of the suggestions about are either not really good guys (I’m looking at you, Vlad Taltos, you amoral Easterner), or not really assassins (Batman in the Christian Bale movies might have been trained by assassins but he was never an assassin). It might help to start by defining what a “good guy” is, beyond being on the side we want to win.
Perhaps Sabina Kane, title character of the eponymous series by Jaye Wells, would fit. Half mage, half vampire, therefore outcast and serving her vampire lineage as best she can, as an assassin.
Patsy, from Delilah S. Dawson’s YA book, HIT, would fit as well. She doesn’t *want* to be an assassin, but if she doesn’t find the people on her list and either convince them to work for the corporation or kill them, the corporation will kill her and her mother.
And not really F&SF genre, although it totters around the edges of fantasy with gods and destinies and such, but Remo Williams from “The Destroyer” series probably fits. After all, he works for the U.S. government and the people in charge of the government of the U.S.A. are definitely the good guys, right? Right? Guys?
May I add the “Throne of Glass” series by Sarah J. Mass? My god. I fell in LOVE with ALL her books, even her “A Court of Thorns and Roses” series (I’m waiting for the third book, A Court of Wings and Ruin which will come out a month from now. By the way, I’m eleven years old and I fell in love with books like these since I was eight. EIGHT. Can you believe that? They were introduced to me by my lovely older sis. who is turning eighteen soon. My favorite of all 6 books (including the prequel) is probably the latest one, Empire of Storm, because it shows how strong her and her powers are. Not only that, but there is an unbelievable twist at the end that will make you literally squirm and scream for the next book. God. I hate that authors leave us hanging for a year, leaving us frustrated we don’t have anything to read because we’ve finished all of the books we prefer in one night (which I do that’s why I have sleep deprivation). Well. All I’m saying is that READ SARAH J. MASS’S BOOKS.
I read this list and then just sat here for a minute thinking “Really? No Throne of Glass? “.
Celaena is literally an assassin who is also the protagonist and even though she sometimes does some decidedly bad-guy like things she is still fighting for the greater good.
I’m very disappointed in you list.
I expected more from you
Great starter list! I especially loved Anthony Ryan’s Blood Song. As Mia said above, Celaena Sardothian needs to be added to this list! So does the Hunter from Andy Peloquin’s Heroes of Darkness series. If you haven’t read that one, I highly recommend checking it out!! It’s my new obsess over series!!