When this is all a character ever does....

It doesn't necessarily make him one dimensional - it could just make him focused. Does he kill, then shrug his shoulders and walk off, or does he get something out of it? Pleasure, challenge, or profit? Does he plot his kills or is he indiscriminate? (Assassin makes me think planning is involved.)

A character who kills for a living - and it doesn't seem to bother them - is usually either one of two things. He/she is either a sociopath, in which case there is no emotional component to the act and no empathy for the victim. Or he/she compartmentalizes. One life is his professional life and everything else never touches it.

Sounds like this guy has picked an apprentice, so that means he's wanting to pass on what he knows. He sees value in his skill and wants to impart that value to another - like having a child or a name sake.

An assassin is an artisan, he just uses death in place of paints. He trains, he practices, he meets goals. Going undetected is his gold medal. Like any athlete or artist, he's very focused on the perfection of his craft. Assassins are solitary creatures by nature and that perfection is solitary, making human connections can affect the quality of their work.

Anyway, if assassination is all an assassin character does, would that make him one dimensional? Would that work for you or anyone else when reading this?

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Not necessarily. It's not just what a character does but why that makes him/her interesting.

An assassin does not have to be a concert pianist on the side to be interesting. Nor does a concert pianist have to be a spy in his/her spare time to be interesting.

It's all about why they do what they do that catches and hold my interest.

Agree with Aggy. WHY is always the key question of writing. Good luck!!

I'm reading a long way gone, a memoir where Ishmael Beah describes after joining the army against the rebels in Africa as a teen, he and his fellow soldiers become obsessed with killing, drugs and war movies and that is all they talk about or do.

I don't think he's one dimensional.

I've read the book you're talking about, and I think you've missed A LOT of the nuances of Durzo's character. He might not build model ships, but there is a lot more going on in his life besides killing, it's just subtle because the book is primarily told through the eyes of his apprentace, who of course mentions his master most often in the context of killing.

Hmm, my main assassin character doesn't have any real hobbies either. Something about that line work is all-consuming, I think. All my other characters have hobbies (drawing, reading cheesy romance novels, studying physics, interior design--yes, they're weird), but not the assassin. I've always considered her one of my most well-developed characters, though. Some people don't have hobbies. My dad is like that, all he does is work (he's not an assassin, though ).

Not having hobbies doesn't make a character one-dimensional, the same way throwing a few hobbies into your character building won't make the character interesting. Of course, I haven't read the book you're reading, so the character could be one-dimensional for other reasons.

If all they do is kill and it's presented lazily (i.e, the writer didn't think beyond that) I'd say that, yeah, it's one-dimensional, but if it's intentionally presented that way, I'd just say it's interesting.

I mean if you think about it, a really good assasin isn't going to have lots of time for hobbies. If you want to be really successful at it, you'd probably be spending a lot of time making sure your body is always in perfect condition, that your reflexes are spot-on, and that whatever corollary skills (marksmanship, security, etc) you need are also in tip-top shape.

I think a modern-day assasin would be more likely to have lots of hobbies or a "other life" simply because killing in a modern-day setting takes a lot less perfection/skill.

I read all 3 of the books in that series on the recommendation of a friend at work (he and I have very similar tastes in books) Absolutely loved them. Some really fun characters and enjoyable plot lines.

Without throwing out any spoilers, I think megan hit it on the head. In the beginning Durzo may come across that way, simply from the view of his life that we are given. It takes a long time to actually learn his history (of which it is rather complex) and that almost makes it more interesting when we do learn it. You are sort of lulled into the type of one-dimensional character that you seem to think that he is, and then when you find out so much more about him, the reveal is almost more satisfying.

I say keep with the books - they are a good read.

I've read that book as well (and really didn't like it, but that's neither here nor there!). Durzo Blint didn't really come across as one-dimensional to me, mostly because we do get to see other sides to his personality. Yes, he might be pretty fixated on killing, but there's a subplot involving a woman he was in love with introduced right at the beginning and he has a circle of acquaintances/business partners who he interacts with regularly. To me, a truly flat assassin character is one who appears to be in stasis when he isn't killing people and, somehow, doesn't have any human connections at all.