Ship of Destiny (Liveship Traders, Book 3) [Hardcover]

Robin Hobb (Author), Stephen Youll (Illustrator), John Howe (Illustrator)

Book Description

Series: Liveship Traders | Publication Date: August 1, 2000

Robin Hobb has established herself as one of the masters of fantasy fiction And nowhere is that more apparent than in this powerful, poignant, swashbuckling epic of treachery, heroism, and humanity.  The rousing conclusion to the Liveship Traders trilogy, Ship of Destiny is the spellbinding story of a once-thriving city now reduced to shambles by raging war and rampant greed; of a glorious and mythic species on the brutal edge of extinction; and of the Vestrits, the clan, whose destiny is intertwined with both.

Bingtown is a city under fire from forces within and without. While accusations of conspiracy fly between the Old Bingtown Traders and the New, invaders attack the harbor, trying to take the city for their own.  Matriarch Ronica Vestrit bears witness to the destruction, but she is not the type of woman to simply surrender.  Even as she finds herself branded a traitor, she searches for a way to bring all the city's inhabitants together to stand against the Chalcedean threat.  But there is someone who cannot allow Ronica to succeed, no matter what the cost.

Far out on the stormy seas, Althea Vestrit, ignorant of all that has befallen Bingtown, continues her mission to track down and recover her liveship Vivacia from the ruthless pirate Kennit.  Serving as the Paragon's second mate under Captain Brashen, she faces peril beyond imagining... not just from her growing love for Brashen or their reckless scheme to regain the Vivacia, but from the unpredictable vessel Paragon himself, as he wrestles with his madness and plots his own deadly brand of revenge.

Yet Althea's bold scheme may be in vain.  For her beloved Vivacia will face the most terrible confrontation of all as the secret of the liveships is finally revealed.  This is a truth so horrifying, so shattering, it may destroy the Vivacia and all who love her, including the boy-priest Wintrow Vestrit, whose life already hangs in the balance...

A triumph of imagination and masterful storytelling, Ship of Destiny is an enthralling blend of intrigue and magic, drama and high fantasy.  It is the fitting conclusion to a tale that is bound to become a classic--by a beguiling author who is already deservedly revered.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Robin Hobb concludes her nautical fantasy epic with Ship of Destiny, set in the world of her Farseer series. It lives up to its predecessors, Ship of Magic and Mad Ship in every way: the characters continue to develop, the plot moves swiftly, and the setting is vividly realized.

Again, three generations of Vestrit women are at the heart of the story. Ronica, the matriarch, stands alone against accusations that her family is responsible for the chaos that has overtaken Bingtown. She fights to uncover treachery and maintain the Trader's Council. Her daughter, Althea, sails on the disturbed liveship Paragon, hunting for Vivacia, the Vestrit's liveship, now the flagship of a pirate fleet under Kennit, who is both ruthless and compassionate. Her granddaughter, Malta, has disappeared following an earthquake in the ancient treasure city by the Rain Wild River. Her fiancé, Reyn, and her brother, Selden, are trapped while seeking her. They are rescued by the dragon Tintaglia, whom they helped liberate. Reyn asks Tintaglia's aid in finding Malta, but Tintaglia has her own urgent mission to accomplish, one which will change everything. Hobb weaves these plot threads into an exciting and satisfying conclusion. This is an original trilogy well worth reading! --Nona Vero

From Publishers Weekly

One has to use a jeweler's loupe to find a flaw or a dull moment in this splendid conclusion to one of the finest fantasy sagas to bridge the millennium. True, there are moments in this third novel of the Liveship Traders Trilogy (Mad Ship; Ship of Magic) when things progress too easilyDthe folk of Bingtown, for example, seem to embrace diversity, equality and female empowerment too quickly to be believed. But otherwise, this book soars. Hobb weaves together multiple storylines: there's Althea Vestrit's quest for her family's liveship, Vivacia; the awakening of Paragon (the eponymous "ship of destiny"); the establishing of links between the liveships made of wizardwood and the sea serpents who, cocooned in wizardwood, mature into dragons; the appearance of the dragon Tintaglia; and the maturing of Malta Haven through rescuing the Satrap. Such a profusion of plotlines could have overwhelmed or slowed down the book, but Hobb handles them with such agility that the reader is likely to want not fewer but more stories. The most absorbing theme continues to revolve around Captain Kennit, his mistress, Etta (now carrying his child), and the conversion of Wintrow Haven into Kennit's heir as king of the Pirate Isles. (Kennit, perhaps the most interesting character in the trilogy, clearly was developed with a good deal of scholarship about the history of piracy.) This installment leaves nothing to be desired: the subplots advance in parallel; the nautical themes are handled splendidly; and the characters (including one of the more engaging and terrifying dragons in current fantasy) and world-building are of the very highest standard. Like its predecessors, this is a masterful achievement. Major ad/promo. (Aug.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 592 pages
• Publisher: Spectra (August 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553103237
• ISBN-13: 978-0553103236
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.7 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (115 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #273,706 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Robin Hobb lives and writes in Tacoma, Washington. Robin is best known as the author of the Farseer Trilogy (Assassin's Apprentice, Royal Assassin and Assassin's Quest.) Other works include The Liveship Traders Trilogy, the Tawny Man Trilogy, and the Soldier Son trilogy. The Rain Wilds Chronicles is now complete, published as Dragon Keeper and Dragon Haven. A story collection, The Inheritance, is now with the publishers and should appear in 2011. As of July 2010 the current work in progress is a tale another Rain Wilds story, one that continued the adventures of the Tarman Expedition. This untitled work will be published in 2012.

Robin Hobb also writes as Megan Lindholm.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A great series but we need more..., August 12, 2000

By A Customer

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This review is from: Ship of Destiny (Liveship Traders, Book 3) (Hardcover)

I've been somewhat depressed since finishing this last book in the Liveship series. It was a wonderful story and even though the author will return with more on Fitzchivalry, it's very hard for me to say good-bye to the characters in this novel! I've often thought that a third trilogy in this world that finally takes us into the Chalced States could fully explain it's evil history and bring about some force for revolution. Let's hope that Fitz will be joined there with Amber, Althea, Brashen, Clef, Ronica, Reyn and the ships!!

I'm also dissatisfied with the ending. Many details seem to have been rushed by in an effort to tie things up quickly. I can't believe that the reunion in Bingtown was not described. Neither was the reaction of the Bingtown folks to the news from Jamailla. Huge construction projects were undertaken in the Rain Wilds and only hinted at. A final conversation between Althea and Wintrow must have happened off the page and we can only guess at its contents. In fact, we don't hear Althea's voice much at all in the second half of the book. What happened to her passion? It would be different if she had had an opportunity for vengeance and chose forgiveness instead. I feel that she was robbed. Especially Kennit's lies wounded her and there is no final accounting or reparations. Why didn't she stand up and denounce him? Why didn't Brashen tell everyone what happened during the "truce". Why was Wintrow and everyone except the wizardwood charm/conscience taken in by Kennit's manipulations? Kennit may have begun to face the pain of his past, but he never acknowledges his current misdeeds and especially his lies. And it is just painful to read as one person after the next falls for his machinations. He never truly becomes whole without facing himself.

Still, this is one of the best trilogies I have read and my main complaint is that it's over! Please have some of these characters sail on!

26 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Little fall-off from a high beginning, August 23, 2000

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B. Capossere (Rochester, NY USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Ship of Destiny (Liveship Traders, Book 3) (Hardcover)

With so much being churned out in the way of epic fantasy, it's always a pleasure to come across something original and unique. I felt that way about Hobb's Assassin books and wondered if she'd be able to maintain such high standards in this latest trilogy. While I don't believe she quite got there (it is after all a pretty high bar she set herself), this series certainly stands on its own as quality fantasy, and its final book is a fitting conclusion (though one wonders if that word has been banned from the genre). The basic storyline is both original and interesting, and she manages to avoid the typical banalities of genre fiction. Hobb creates characters far more often than character types and then flings them out into her world on their own or in various twos and threes. Best of all, her characters are often conflicted over their motives and actions, allowing for a depth of introspection seldom seen in the genre. And nowhere is this better done than in her main character Kennit, who alternately has the reader pulling for his success and hoping for his well-deserved comeuppance. It is a tightrope act she attempts with this character and I at least would have to say she pulled it off. It is tough enough to evoke an emotional response in a genre where characters all too often barely squeak into two dimensions, let alone three, but here Hobb swings for the fence in an attempt to elicity a multiplicity of responses. And she connects fully. Not only with Kennit, but with others as well. It takes a brave soul to attempt a character made out of wood; it takes an excellent writer to make me care about that character. Is the final book as strong as the first? I personally don't think so but it doesn't tail off much. Does the book seem rushed toward the end as several readers have commented? Without a doubt. Some plotlines are all too neatly resolved (one of her characters tries to make a distinction between "coincidence" and "destiny", but I wasn't buying it myself) and some characters' roles/personalities change a bit too abruptly, but in a work that spans three good-sized novels and a dozen major characters, these turn out to be minor complaints, far outshadowed by the quality of the story and especially the characters. She's two for two in series and I look forward to her next work--I wouldn't even mind if it's another multi-book "epic".

33 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding Series Whose Conclusion Somewhat Disappoints, August 9, 2000

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Elyon (Mesilla, New Mexico) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Ship of Destiny (Liveship Traders, Book 3) (Hardcover)

After the strengths of the first two books, as well as the opening two thirds of this volume, I would have been willing to assert that this trilogy was one of the best works ever written in fantasy. In almost all respects, I continue to believe this. However, Hobb has somewhat sadly stumbled in the concluding hundred pages, appearing to rush to resolution, as if having once predetermined that this work would be a trilogy, she could not decide to extend it into a fourth book. This is truly unfortunate, has her conclusion appears rushed and, compared to the pages preceding, loosely wrapped up, with a resolution that is only barely satisfying.

After all the character and plot development that led up to this work, the final hundred pages seem precipitate. The main characters come together abruptly and in a way that is largely contrived, several are disposed of summarily, and everyone else lives happily ever after. While this type of fairy tale ending may satisfy some, I found the conclusion to Hobb's earlier Farseer Trilogy far more credible. Further, the disposal of the Chalcedians, the plot against Bingtown and the Satrapy of Jamaillia, the restitution of the Vestritts, and the rescue of the fortunes of the Wild River Traders, as well as Reyn and Malta's new identities, never reach full fruition, rather arbitrarily and hastily wrapped up as are so many other plot threads earlier so well developed and measuredly evolved, and Wintrow's fate in particular seems atrophied. Finally, the mystery of Maulkin's Tangle gets settled simply with a quick trip up the river.

While I continue to believe overall that this is one of the best works of fantasy that I have read, I nonetheless remain mildly disappointed in the ending. After the investment of time and energy, both by the author and myself, in setting up and developing a wonderful story, I can only wish that she had been willing to committ an equal amount of time and development to her ending, which would have provided the substantial balance needed to conclude this story fully. As is, the ending seems somewhat stillborn, with so much more that it could have offered. I can only say that I'm sorry.