Having immensely enjoyed Robin Hobb's "Farseer Trilogy", I enthusiastically turned to her next fantasy series, the vast "Liveship Trader's" trilogy. This first novel in the series, "Ship of Magic", is set in the same world as the "Assassins Apprentice" but otherwise has very little to do with it, instead focusing on a whole new and unique fantasy setting. Liveships are large masted sailing ships made of wizardwood that actually become sentient beings after three generations of their owners' families having died on board them. We follow various members of the Vestritt family, an Old Trader family who is in the unenviable position of trying to increase their trading profits before their creditors take harsh action. There are several main characters but chief among them is Althea Vestritt, a young lady who has spent most of her life sailing under her father's captaincy aboard the Vivacia. Upon her father's death in the early chapters of the novel, the Vivacia "quickens" into a full-fledged liveship. Unfortunately, through a series of circumstances and inner family squabbling, Althea is not allowed to continue to sail on board her, thus launching the main story thread of the series.

There are many well-drawn characters in this novel, but I always appreciate a good villain. Ms Hobb excels once again, with the introduction of Kennitt, an ambitious pirate who has his eye on Vivacia as his prize. To be able to write a villainous character whom the reader can sympathize with as he pursues his dastardly plots is difficult at best but Ms Hobb does it so well. And her good characters come across as very real also, not always choosing the wisest or most honest course. They stumble over bad decisions during their struggles to achieve their goals and we feel for their failures, often seeing ourselves within them.

This is, fundamentally, a tale of the sea, albeit in a fantasy setting complete with magic ships and sea serpents. The ship board activity is well researched and fascinating to experience. This is a long book and is followed by two more long books in the trilogy. Where some see extra wording or too much detail or even refer to the "doorstop syndrome", I see a richness of character that is essential in understanding these people. Besides, I just like spending time with them.

While Ms Hobb provides splendid detail about some of the characters here, she only hints at others. We spend a little time with another liveship, Paragon, who is considered mad by the populace due to several incidents involving the deaths of his entire crew. It seems obvious that we are being set up for much more from Paragon, especially considering the title of the next volume, "Mad Ship". We also get tiny scenes involving what appear to be sentient sea serpents, but, quite frankly, I found them to be confusing and so relegated them to the recesses of my memory in order to dig them out again as they become more relevant in future books of the series. Ms Hobb also prepares us for a major role by the Rain Wild magicians and their interaction with another headstrong daughter of the Vestritts, Malta.

For those readers who prefer their plot lines wrapped up neatly, I would suggest they have all three volumes of this trilogy readily available. Not one of the major threads is resolved here. But for those who relish complex relationships that are not convoluted, this novel will be sure to please. I for one am searching my book shelf even now for number two of this fine trilogy.