Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read.

Start by marking “Ship of Magic (Liveship Traders, #1)” as Want to Read:

Other editions

Enlarge cover

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Open Preview

Ship of Magic

(The Liveship Traders #1)

Robin Hobb (Goodreads Author)

4.13 · Rating details · 66,016 ratings · 2,766 reviews

From the author of the classic Farseer trilogy, Ship of Magic is the first part of the Liveship Traders. Set in a land bordering the Six Duchies, Robin Hobb begins her epic of pirates, talking ships, magic, sea serpents, slave revolts, dashing heroes and bloody battles.

Wizardwood, the most precious commodity in the world, comes only from the Rain Wilds. But only a liveship ...more

Get A Copy

Paperback, 880 pages

Published September 10th 2015 by Harper Voyager (first published March 1998)

More Details... Edit Details

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Reader Q&A

To ask other readers questions about Ship of Magic, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

Before They Are Hanged by Joe Abercrombie

Fantasy Books for Adult Males

219 books — 80 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

Showing 1-30

Average rating 4.13 ·

Rating details

· 66,016 ratings · 2,766 reviews

More filters

Sort order

Start your review of Ship of Magic (Liveship Traders, #1)

Sep 14, 2020 Regan rated it it was amazing

Truly one of the best books I have ever read

flag 778 likes · Like · see review

Feb 11, 2018 Petrik rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: Character driven fantasy fans

Shelves: favorites

4.5/5 stars

Color me impressed, just the first book in the Liveship Traders trilogy alone is already better than the entire Farseer trilogy.

Don’t get me wrong, the Farseer trilogy certainly has its charm but the third book of the trilogy, Ass Quest, was a massive disappointment for me. Fortunately, that didn’t stop me from giving Hobb another try because this was just utterly fantastic.

Ship of Magic, the first book in the Liveship Traders trilogy—which is also the second out five subseries within ...more

flag 344 likes · Like · see review

Jun 02, 2020 Muhtasin Oyshik rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 5-star, 801-900-pp, read-in-2020, fantasy

Ship of Magic (Liveship Traders,#1 Realm of the Elderlings,#4)
description

As a big fan of Hobb's writing, I wasn't disappointed by this book at all!
Ship of Magic is not just one of the best fantasy books I've read but one of the best fiction books I've ever read. I was reluctant to leave Fitz after finishing the first trilogy. But it turns out that I enjoyed Ship of Magic even more. As this is only the first book of a trilogy, it makes for even higher praise. Now I would surely look forward to finishing t ...more

flag 243 likes · Like · see review

Sep 30, 2018 Em Lost In Books rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 4-star, massive-tomes, 2018, 2020, 1990-99

**Reread - Loved it more this time around specially all those small things that I let slip first time enhanced the reading experience. And there were so many moments "Ah! You shouldn't have done this, you fool!! Now be ready to face consequences."**

4.5*

I can't believe she wrote this masterpiece after that messed up Farseer finale...

I read Assassin's Quest back in 2016 and lost every hope of getting back to Realm of Elderlings. But then I wrapped up Twany Man in August this and now I am a faithfu **Reread - Loved it more this time around specially all those small things that I let slip first time enhanced the reading experience. And there were so many moments "Ah! You shouldn't have done this, you fool!! Now be ready to face consequences."**

4.5*

I can't believe she wrote this masterpiece after that messed up Farseer finale...

I read Assassin's Quest back in 2016 and lost every hope of getting back to Realm of Elderlings. But then I wrapped up Twany Man in August this and now I am a faithful Hobb fan. So it was time to start Liveship Traders, everyone's favorite Hobb books. I knew I will not be disappointed and she delivered in best possible way, giving us the talking ships, and characters who are trying very hard to prove themselves.

Story follows three main characters Vivicia - the ship, Wintrow, and Althea. Althea was ignored in favor of her elder sister to be the captain of the Vivicia. Since the elder sister is married, the responsibility was given to her husband Kyle, who was an arrogant fool, greedy, and cruel. Althea leaves her home to prove to her family that she was the worthy captain for Vivicia. Kyle brought his eldest son, Wintrow, who was in a monastery to be raised as priest, aboard Vivicia to train him as a sailor and bond with the Livship. But Kyle’s plan backfired when he soon realized that Wintrow was not what he wanted him to be, thus forcing Wintrow in to a life of hard ship on the ship. Vivicia, a newly quickened ship, tried her best to bond with Wintrow but the boy always maintained his distance and soon there was a wall between them, and a lot of pain, sadness. There were tons of other characters too but their story was intertwined with Vivicia, Althea, and Wintrow in one way or the other.

The first thing that I noticed about this book was multiple PoVs. I had a difficult time getting used to these sudden switches initially but once I got to know the characters, the ride was smooth. Hobb always put her characters in difficult situations so that they learn and when the time comes they were not helpless and readers get something spectacular in their stories to admire and adore. And I have to say there was only misery in this book; perhaps in next book or the book after it, all the hard work, learning, regret, pain, struggle would pay off. For now it was all tears and anger.

Just like Fitz’s story, Hobb here has woven a web with secrets, lies, desperation, madness, and magic that is very tangled and complicated for now. It will be interested to see all these knots coming undone and perhaps we will get a happy ending. Hell I want one for Vivicia! ...more

flag 164 likes · Like · see review

Dec 15, 2014 Sean Barrs rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, 4-star-reads

This was good, but it wasn’t as good as Robin Hobb's Farseer books.

Fitz is an excellent narrator, and an excellent focal point for a series, though this uses several point of view characters. Some are great and some are, unfortunately, as dry as dust.

Wintrow was by far my favourite character in this series. He is torn between two lives. As a young boy he was sent away from home and raised as a priest; it’s a life he has gotten used to, but circumstances demands that he returns to his former li ...more

flag 143 likes · Like · see review

Feb 11, 2020 Melissa ♥ Dog/Wolf Lover ♥ Martin rated it really liked it

Shelves: own, paperback, audio, fantasy-all

This book was awesome! I love the concept of the liveships!!

Mel 🖤🐶🐺🐾

flag 130 likes · Like · see review

Nov 29, 2011 Marie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: reviewed, fiction, fantasy, borrowed, world-building

Final verdict: a great antidote to A Game of Thrones, with brilliant, complicated characters.

My friend introduced to me to Ship of Magic because I'd been complaining about annoying stupid characters. She recommended Robin Hobb in general, but Ship of Magic especially, primarily for Althea Vestrit, our primary protagonist.

One thing I want to point out is that I would have never picked this up on my own. Not for the title, not the cover (yes, I'm disproportionately attracted to pretty covers--the ...more

flag 115 likes · Like · see review

Jan 22, 2020 Gary rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This book is now one of my all time favorites. Hobb was already an accomplished writer when she produced her last trilogy, and the characters of Fitz and the Fool rank with some of the most engaging and rounded characters I have seen in literature.
Then along came this book. Wow. The books in this trilogy run around 200 pages longer than those in the last series, and the author needs every single word. Typically, when something is this large there are at least some segments I skim. (I have deve ...more

flag 94 likes · Like · see review

Jun 10, 2018 ❄️BooksofRadiance❄️ rated it really liked it

Shelves: favorites, adult-fantasy-sci-fi

4.75 ⭐️

THIS BOOK IS SO GOOD IT’S INSANE!!!

Greatness. Absolute greatness.

flag 67 likes · Like · see review

Oct 16, 2019 James Tivendale rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy

The Liveship Traders is the second trilogy in Robin Hobb's The Realm of the Elderlings saga. After a couple of false starts, I ended up loving The Farseer Trilogy. I adored the tale of The Fitz and the Fool so much that I carried on following their narrative, probably incorrectly as this chronologically is set before those events. I read The Tawny Man trilogy next and I don't imagine that I am the only person who has followed this route. I was then ready to jump straight into the final The Fitz The Liveship Traders is the second trilogy in Robin Hobb's The Realm of the Elderlings saga. After a couple of false starts, I ended up loving The Farseer Trilogy. I adored the tale of The Fitz and the Fool so much that I carried on following their narrative, probably incorrectly as this chronologically is set before those events. I read The Tawny Man trilogy next and I don't imagine that I am the only person who has followed this route. I was then ready to jump straight into the final The Fitz and the Fool trilogy but a top reviewer and friend, Petrik at Novel Notions told me that I'd be missing out on so much if I did. He is one of the only reviewers I truly trust so I took his advice and I haven't been disappointed. It was actually truly interesting reading it in the order I chose. There is one main character from the first trilogy who is featured but under a different guise and we also visit the treasure beach that Fitz frequented with Prince Dutiful. That is one of the handful of times that the trilogies cross over in Ship of Magic.

Being used to the emotionally focused and truly dedicated "warts and all" first-person perspective of Fitz, the way this novel was presented was a major shift. Hobb's writing is as elegant, poignant, and admirable as ever, yet having so much of my heart invested in FitzChivalry it did take a while to get on board (no pun intended) with these
new players.

I analysed that their were three main characters here, however; Hobb presents the events so that we also get the views of the surrounding players also. My favourite character introduced here was Wintrow. If Fitz pulled at your heartstrings I think Wintrow will be a similar emotional burden on your mind for the drama and what fate has in store for him. He was a priest-in-making who was taken away from his monastery and tutors. His grandfather, a famous captain of the Liveship Vivcacia is close to death. Against his oath but forced by the will of his father he is sourced away from the calling of Sa, of which his life is dedicated to. He is needed on Vivacia as he is a blood family relative to the Vesrits. The Liveship, just quickened, should have been passed to Alethea, Wintrow's Aunt, not her sisters husband, Kyle Haven. Kyle is the closest that readers will get to a Prince Regal here. Aletha travelled under her fathers flag from when she was a child and was always told and under the impression that the Livership would become her possession and friend. Her mother, and her father's ailing illness and loss of wit aided to assign the living vessel to probably the worse possible person.

After Aletha and Wintrow, the other main player is Captain Kennit. A dark, charming and handsome pirate that has a Wizardwood charm on his wrist that talks, and he also wants to be the King of all pirates. He also wishes to commandeer a Liveship. He decides to strike a deal with his first mate that that every time they try to take a Liveship they have to free the cargo from a slaver vessel.

Ship of Magic was slow going to begin with. I wanted to see more of Amber but, for very good reasons she was always on the fringes in this entry. That being mentioned, there were some extremely memorable scenes when she conversed with Paragon "The Mad Ship".

As a quick aside, I devoured 25% of this book via audible and I found the narrator excellent. The majority of what is presented here was as brutal as it was unpredictable yet I did predict the ending.

I enjoyed following the majority of the point of view perspectives. Except that of Malta, but I'm sure her character ARC will become truly important. It was written well so I have no issues against Hobb going down that avenue, however; she is presented as a spoilt 12-13 year old brat. The happens here hint that she will have importance with the Rain Wild traders going forwards so I am interested to follow her events.

Next to me right now I have the second novel in this trilogy and also Mark Lawrence's The Girl and the Stars both winking at me saying "read me next." - The fact that I've gone straight on to read The Mad Ship, over Lawrence, one of my favourite author's unreleased book speaks volumes.

The last 50% of this narrative is sublime. I'm not saying that I prefer it yet over The Farseer Trilogy as the Fool and the Fitz have a place in my heart. The ambitious change in style and direction, focusing entirely on an area that has only been briefly mentioned beforehand is a masterclass in itself. I'm not sure how all the pieces of the fantasy puzzle will fit together but I can't wait to endure the adventures, heartache, love, and the also foreboding influence of fate with Fitz, the Fool, Wintrow, Alethea, and Kennit. Also, whoever Hobb throws into the mix in her next few tales. You could start reading Hobb's world here and still have a stunning experience. I'm currently reading to find out every single thing her mind has envisioned throughout this excellent saga. ...more

flag 58 likes · Like · see review

Nov 12, 2017 Lema rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy, favorites

Step aside Pirates of The Caribbean, Robin Hobb is the crowned queen of maritime fiction and she's here to stay!
Allow to say that I can't believe I've been putting off starting Robin Hobb's work for the last couple of years just because it's a little bit on the heftier and slow burning side. OH MY GOD I'VE BEEN SUCH AN IDIOT! Well, better late than never and all that rot..
I was thinking about saying that getting to this book was worth the time it took me to read through the Farseer trilogy, but ...more

flag 57 likes · Like · see review

Mar 01, 2014 Kaora rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: good-fantasy-series, favorites

I was a huge fan of Robin Hobb ever since I read her story Homecoming in Epic.

And while I loved her Farseer series, this has surpassed those as my favorite books.

Vivacia is a liveship, a boat made of wizardwood, that after three deaths of family members on board comes to life. Liveships are the only ships that can make the journey up the river to the Rain Wilds in order to do trade, and are extremely valuable.

This book follows several points of view, including a pirate named Kennit, Althea the ...more

flag 53 likes · Like · see review

Sep 14, 2019 Deborah Obida rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, favorite-books, adult

The man who worries about what will next be happening to him loses this moment in dread of the next, and poisons the next with pre-judgement.

If there was ever a book that exceeded my expectations due to its uniqueness its this book, this book is one of those books you didn't know you needed till you read it. There is a praise by The Times written on the cover of this book As addictive as morphine, and I couldn't agree more.

I know its wrong to compare but I just cannot help myself, this book ...more

flag 52 likes · Like · see review

May 25, 2015 Kaitlin rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: my-sff-faves

This book was fabulous! I read it as a part of the #TBRTakedown Readathon and as a Buddy Read. It's a little bit on the slow side for sure, but actually it's a very interesting story and the characterisation and development of this was seriously fantastic. It's a slow story which is made up mostly from the introduction of various characters (mostly Traders) and developing our understanding of them and their ways. It's set in a different part of the world from the Farseer Books and it's set on th ...more

flag 48 likes · Like · see review

Mar 22, 2012 Mpauli rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: genre_fantasy, orga_read-in-2015, genre_epic-fantasy

A very, very character-driven book. It reads almost like a classical family drama ala The Buddenbrocks. Despite the plot being rather on the back-burner I pretty much enjoyed all the characters and their development.
Maybe not a book for everyone, due to its slow pace but I really enjoyed it, which was surprising, cause I normally prefer plot heavy books.

flag 48 likes · Like · see review

Dec 13, 2010 colleen the convivial curmudgeon rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: group-read, fantasy

12/21/10

I'm about 75% through with this book, and I'm finding it frustrating.

As others have said, it's very much a character-based book, and I can dig character-based books if I like the characters, but I'm having a hard time really latching onto anyone that I don't want to smack upside the head.

Actually, no, I do like some characters (Brashen and Paragon, for instance) - but the ones I do like we don't seem to spend enough time with, while we spend far too much time with the likes of Kyle and ...more

flag 42 likes · Like · see review

Oct 26, 2014 Bradley rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

It started slow for me until I realized that nothing much was going to happen until the extended family all had their say.

That being said, the plot started weaving and the world started blooming. So many bad things started happening to everyone so slowly that I wondered if I, too, was slowly being boiled alive.

That's the effect this novel had on me. It's very long, and its very detailed. If you like immersive fantasy and especially nautical fantasy, then you'll love this.

Edit 7/5/16

Looking back ...more

flag 42 likes · Like · see review

May 04, 2016 Amy | littledevonnook rated it really liked it

Shelves: adult

I think this could be the one of the best fantasy books I've read so far this year - I can't wait to see what the rest of this trilogy holds!

This series is set in the same world at the Farseer Trilogy and so far I am enjoying it a lot more! Unlike the Farseer books The Liveship Traders follows a larger group of characters - from land to sea we are given a whole host of exciting people to share adventures with.

One of our main characters is a young lady named Althea. She lives aboard her families ...more

flag 52 likes · Like · see review

Jan 15, 2018 Victoria Rose rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, favorites, epic-fantasy, badass-ladies, maritime, 2018-faves

JEEBUS I love you Robin ❤️ Full review to come when I have the time to flail properly!

Reasons to love Ship of Magic:
+ Talking ships
+ Mean, handsome pirate captain who sets his skin on fire for angst reasons
+ Almost cried 20% in
+ Character development like a boss
I just cannot COMPREHEND how Hobb is able to make each and every character so multi-faceted?! Like even vile Kyle is doing what he thinks is right.

flag 36 likes · Like · see review

Mar 31, 2009 Kat Hooper rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobook

2015 re-read

Originally read in 1995. Still awesome.

flag 35 likes · Like · see review

Jul 27, 2015 Helene Jeppesen rated it really liked it · review of another edition

If you're looking for a great and original fantasy story with a big set of characters and an amazing world building, then this is it. Robin Hobb is a master at creating suspenseful stories with vivid and interesting characters that you feel a connection to. In this book, you even feel a connection to the ships!
What I especially like about Robin Hobb's books is that she makes fantasy accessible to me. I'm not the biggest reader of fantasy, but when I do read it I want to be enchanted with the wor ...more

flag 33 likes · Like · see review

Jul 11, 2017 Sade rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

It will never cease to amaze me how writers can take words, spin it and make you care about characters that exist only in books, make you care about the words these characters utter, how because of words on a page, you're rooting for a character to be better, stronger, braver. It's awe inspiring and just amazing.

Robin Hobb is one of those writers that weaves magic with her words. and it's curious, it's not like her books at least the few i've read have an insane amount of gore or are especially

...more

flag 32 likes · Like · see review

Jun 26, 2019 Anthony rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 7-kingdoms-challenge, sf-group-2018, series, time-traveler-challenge, fantasy

Another master class given by Robin Hobb in characterization, pacing, plotting, stakes, and emotional truth, all delivered in her clear, brutal, graceful prose. I marvel at the skill with which she pivoted from a first-person narrative in The Farseer Trilogy to that of this novel, which is told with multiple viewpoints, all convincingly and humanely brought to life, even the most despicable or complex of them. It had been a while since I was this satisfied with a book, and I am grateful.

flag 34 likes · Like · see review

Mar 01, 2018 Scott Hitchcock rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Recommended to Scott by: Niki Hawkes - The Obsessive Bookseller

Shelves: epic-fantasy

A big thanks to Niki and Bill who convinced me this was worth reading in spite of the Farseer trilogy which while well written drove me crazy but Fitz might be the worst protagonist, EVER!

4.5*'s

This book had all the elements I love in fantasy. Smart and real characters who weren't black and white. They all had motivations which led them to both good and bad decisions.

Different types of magic and magical creatures and you weren't just told about them, you were made to feel them. What they were ...more

flag 28 likes · Like · see review

Apr 27, 2018 Ferdy rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, multiple-pov, magic

2.5 stars

Not as good as the Fitz books, mainly because bar a few characters there was hardly anyone to properly root for or to even feel mildly connected to. There were way too many characters and POVs, and it felt like ages before things really kicked off, it was a really slow start.

Pretty much everyone was unlikeable, even the characters that were meant to be likeable were mostly unlikeable. And they were quite a few boring characters as well, mainly Wintrow, Althea and Brashen.. they did get 2.5 stars

Not as good as the Fitz books, mainly because bar a few characters there was hardly anyone to properly root for or to even feel mildly connected to. There were way too many characters and POVs, and it felt like ages before things really kicked off, it was a really slow start.

Pretty much everyone was unlikeable, even the characters that were meant to be likeable were mostly unlikeable. And they were quite a few boring characters as well, mainly Wintrow, Althea and Brashen.. they did get somewhat interesting by the end but it took too long to get there.

Loved Kennit and the pirates, they were fantastic. The whole idea of liveships was brilliant too. Best of all though was Paragon, he was the most interesting and easy to root for, loved everything about him.

I was really expecting the ship Vivacia to be an amazing character, but she was rubbish, as soon as she quickened all she did was whine and bitch, she had no endearing qualities about her. She had no loyalty to anyone, she flip flopped between Althea, Wintrow and Kennit so easily, and even though she was a ship she somehow managed to be a vapid, shallow, attention seeking twit who latched on to whoever paid her the slightest bit of attention.

Wintrow was too thick for words, his every decision was idiotic. Worst of all was his sanctimonious, holier than thou religious talk, he really did think he was better than everyone else, despite being useless and dull. And it was hilarious how he judged anyone who was stuck in a difficult decision for not doing this or that or for not thinking one way instead of another, he always had some superior answer to everything, but as soon as he was in an impossible situation himself he couldn't muster up any solution to get himself out if it. No, he just did daft thing after daft thing and dug himself deeper into trouble.

Althea's family were dicks, talk about screwing her over. Althea spent half her life training to take over her family's liveship, that was all she cared about, she had her dad's support and knowledge, she understood the work and would have made a decent captain and ultimately helped the family out of debt. But her awful mum engineered things so Althea wouldn't inherit the ship all so she could control her and marry her off to some rich guy who could help the family. Then she stupidly gave the inheritance to Keffria instead, the doormat eldest daughter who was completely controlled by her slimy husband.. WTF was she thinking? It was disturbing how cool she was with betraying Althea all so she could manipulate and control her into being the dutiful daughter. She was only sorry after she realised her son-in-law wasn't going to do things her way and was taking over as head of the family and could now control her as well as the household, then it dawned on her what a big mistake she made and what a horrible position she was in now. The hypocrite got what she deserved, she fucked over Althea well and truly, then got all regretful and upset when all her careful plans to get Althea under her thumb backfired and she ended up being the one at the mercy of her slimy so -in-law. She had no right to act all outraged when the tables turned on her and it was impossible to feel any sympathy for her situation after she treated her daughter the way she didn't want to be treated herself.

Brashen was meant to be the good guy who was down on his luck and had it hard but everything about him pissed me off. I mean, the guy bitched about Althea's attitude and offered her little sympathy or support on the day her dad died, her inheritance was stolen from her and her family betrayed her. There was no kindness, only judgement at how Althea was acting and behaving. Seriously, the guy had no compassion whatsoever. Everything was about him and his pain, I just didn't care about him at all.

Last of all, the serpents were terrible, I felt like dozing off in their parts, they had relatively short POVs but they felt so long and drawn out. They didn't fit in with the rest of the story/characters, and I didn't see the point of their particular arc.
...more

flag 27 likes · Like · see review

Jan 27, 2011 Kat rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, rad-badass-heroines-or-heroes, wow-re-read-material, high-fantasy, intriguing-fucked-up-men, all-nighters, binnengehaald, terrific-covers, pirates

March 2014: Buddy read with Kat, Damian and Em. Ooooooh, Kennit! If I had to choose between you and Toreth, I'd have to chop myself in half.:')

Yep, I still stand by my hysterically enthusiastic review from a few years ago *happy sigh*.

__________________________

2011 fan squealing below :p:
Woot woot..Wow, this trilogy is incredible.
I mean, I've re-read these bible-sized books three to four times. And I keep discovering new bits and pieces, new clues in this extremely rich, yes epic, (now that I March 2014: Buddy read with Kat, Damian and Em. Ooooooh, Kennit! If I had to choose between you and Toreth, I'd have to chop myself in half.:')

Yep, I still stand by my hysterically enthusiastic review from a few years ago *happy sigh*.

__________________________

2011 fan squealing below :p:
Woot woot..Wow, this trilogy is incredible.
I mean, I've re-read these bible-sized books three to four times. And I keep discovering new bits and pieces, new clues in this extremely rich, yes epic, (now that I'm on a superlatives-roll: MINDBLOWING) story.

Sure, Hobb's first trilogy was such an intense reading experience. I was quite young when I discovered the first Farseer book and I felt like I could almost crawl into Fitz's skin and live his life with him. And Night Eyes' life! I forgot to study. I started missing my train station. I had to wait for half an hour on the opposite platform, in the cold, not minding. I skipped meals so I could keep reading (which is a highly unusual thing for me to do) etc etc..you get the picture?

Now The Liveship Traders trilogy is a little different, mostly because Hobb no longer focuses on one character, but introduces a whole bunch of three-dimensional ones. I know how some reviewers keep missing Fitz, but I personally found these books even more compelling.

If you like straight forward fantasy books with a main character going on a quest, Hobb's books are probably not for you. As I mentioned, she introduces many, brilliant characters that are all starring in a spectacular fantasy story including evil, yet charming pirates, tough girls' running from home, a sinister island, sea snakes and a long forgotten tribe, that in reality is very much alive in the blood of some people in Bingtown...
I particularly liked that, although Hobb definitely makes sure to add plenty of tragedy, drama and torture to The Liveship Traders as well, she didn't go overboard this time. If Fitz had been a real person, the poor fellow would probably have been dead and buried six times already after everything Hobb cooked up for him.

Fans of Fitz will enjoy the references and clues to him, that Hobb included in this trilogy. Although reading her first trilogy before this one is not necessary, I would recommend doing so because, let's face it; you'll probably want to do so anyway afterwards.

I just wish Hobb would write a trilogy starring pirate Kennit...hey, a girl can dream! ...more

flag 26 likes · Like · see review

Jan 31, 2020 Aaron rated it really liked it · review of another edition

***4.5 stars

This was a buddy read with a group from Epic fantasy books.

I went into this book expecting to enjoy it because I enjoyed the Farseer trilogy. Hobb’s writing is great. In this book even when events weren’t moving along quickly the writing was so good that it kept me wanting to read. There were parts when I was ready for the plot to move along. Looking back I realize that Hobb was using that time to develop the characters so it doesn’t bother me anymore. The plot was interesting with ...more

flag 25 likes · Like · see review

Aug 29, 2020 Wanda rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: z-1990s, female-authors, read-in-2020, reading-project, public-library, speculative-fiction, pirates-arrr

I've been looking forward to this book and returning to the world of the Farseer Trilogy. Imagine my surprise at how completely different this story was. Oh, there was a reference to the appearance of dragons at some point in the recent past, but there was otherwise no overlap.

The Liveships are a wonderful idea—with their frames made from wizardwood, they eventually gain some level of sentience & personality. Once quickened, the ship is able to assist its captain and crew. As the book progresses I've been looking forward to this book and returning to the world of the Farseer Trilogy. Imagine my surprise at how completely different this story was. Oh, there was a reference to the appearance of dragons at some point in the recent past, but there was otherwise no overlap.

The Liveships are a wonderful idea—with their frames made from wizardwood, they eventually gain some level of sentience & personality. Once quickened, the ship is able to assist its captain and crew. As the book progresses, we learn more about the mystical bond between a Liveship and the family that commissioned it. Mystery seems to be a detriment to the current situation, as the uninitiated don't appreciate the needs of these amazing beings for a living link to their owners. And it is made clear that there is a definite link between the production of Liveships owned by the Bingtown traders and the Rain Wild River people, with their disfigured faces and their great wealth. There is a mysterious contract which both sides must adhere to, blood or gold.

You can read the book just as a tale of family dynamics, a family business having difficulty with the process of succession, or you can interpret things more deeply. What to make of Kyle Haven, who desperately wants to be a respected patriarch but doesn't realize that control doesn't mean lording it over everyone else in the family. He criticizes Althea as spoiled and then turns around and makes his own daughter, Malta, infinitely worse. A man who is willing to transport slaves and expects slavish devotion from his family & crew. I can't help disliking the man, but also find myself pitying him.

Also interesting are the sea monsters that plague those who sail the oceans. They seem to be merely predators, but we are privy to some of their thoughts in short vignettes and we watch their behaviour shifting during the course of the book. Their ultimate fate (and their relationship with the ship Vivacia) is merely hinted at in this volume.

I will definitely be reading on when I get a chance. What happens to Althea? Does the mad ship Paragon make nice with anyone? Do Althea and Brashen find their way back together? (That's a foregone conclusion, I would guess). What does Malta make of her Rain Wild River suitor? Will Wintrow ever recover some kind of relationship with his family? Or will a pirate conquer the Vivacia's heart?

Hobb leaves us with so many interesting questions. She is very skillful at manipulating my emotions and leading me on to the next book.

Book number 377 of my Science Fiction & Fantasy Reading Project.

Cross posted at my blog:

https://wanda-thenextfifty.blogspot.c... ...more

flag 24 likes · Like · see review

Nov 18, 2015 Emma rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, favorites, magic, re-read, epic-fantasy

Even better on a reread! This is the trilogy that some Hobb fans put off reading. I did myself for a long time. But it really does have a magic all of its own and of course this time round, understanding how it all fits together in the Realm of the Elderlings, means the foreshadowing is easier to spot. Such a cast of characters! And character depth and development for them all- through this book and the trilogy

flag 29 likes · Like · see review

Jan 29, 2017 Emily rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: sci-fi-fantasy, ships-and-seafaring

I have very mixed feelings about this book. At this point, I'm invested - to the tune of 800 pages - and I liked the world and the general direction the series seems to be going in. Even with 800 pages, though, it felt like Hobb ran out of room to truly develop the world, and because this is a trilogy the characters end up at (what I hope is) the nadir of their fortunes at the end of the book. All of it feels a little incomplete. I'll end up reading on, but before I do:

Things I Really Liked
- The ...more

flag 25 likes · Like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

topics	posts	views	last activity
Play Book Tag: Ship Of Magic-5 Stars (POLLS)	3	14	Jan 30, 2020 04:20PM
Favorite Robin Hobb trilogy?	12	90	Jan 14, 2020 11:46PM
SciFi and Fantasy...: "Ship of Magic" Full Discussion Spoilers	47	293	Aug 07, 2019 04:02PM
SciFi and Fantasy...: "Ship of Magic" First Impressions no spoilers	98	330	Aug 07, 2019 10:11AM
Fantasy Buddy Reads: Ship of Magic [May 25, 2019]	117	69	Jun 17, 2019 01:23PM

Readers also enjoyed

See similar books…

Genres

Fantasy

5,579 users

Fiction

509 users

Fantasy > Epic Fantasy

239 users

Fantasy > High Fantasy

218 users

Adventure

172 users

Science Fiction Fantasy

128 users

Fantasy > Dragons

123 users

Fantasy > Magic

109 users

Adult

107 users

Adventure > Pirates

91 users

See top shelves…

About Robin Hobb

Robin Hobb

80,930 followers

** I am shocked to find that some people think a 2 star 'I liked it' rating is a bad rating. What? I liked it. I LIKED it! That means I read the whole thing, to the last page, in spite of my life raining comets on me. It's a good book that survives the reading process with me. If a book is so-so, it ends up under the bed somewhere, or maybe under a stinky judo bag in the back of the van. So a 2 st ...more