Although I am aware there are other questions asking for references of representation theory they are either too specific or too advanced.
I seek a text which is geared towards the beginning graduate student and not a particularly strong one at that. It should be noted that I am learning representation theory for the first time.
I would ideally like the text to be
-Accessible and no "magic" (No Rudin style "it's trivial" when it's not). Also nothing too advanced.
-Small number of pages between exercises (small being 10-15 pages) instead of a massive chapters with a few exercises at the end. Also a book with a lot of exercises is desirable.
-Hints or solution to exercises (big ask, I know)
-Less prerequisites is better
A good example of a textbook I really like in another discipline (measure theory) is real analysis for graduate students by Richard Bass, which you can see here. (although it has no solutions or hints)
http://bass.math.uconn.edu/real.html
I know that a book that satisfies all of the above is probably non existent and I do not expect references which have all of the above qualities. Any references that satisfy even only one of the above are greatly appreciated.
Best Answer
I have been working my way through Gordon James and Martin Liebeck's Representation and Characters of Groups which offers a good intro to representation theory, and a review of groups. It is accessible and plainly written with lots of examples and straight forward exercises.