Customer Reviews

Ship of Magic (Liveship Traders)

5 star:		(139)
4 star:		(45)
3 star:		(17)
2 star:		(13)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

I have never read a Robin Hobb book before but I liked the cover art on this one and decided to pick it up and see what it was about. The book jacket made it sound like it would be an adventurous read and it really was.

There are several stories going on in this book: Althea's quest to regain her ship, Kennit's quest to become a king of pirates, Ronica's quest to keep her family together, the serpents' quest for who-knows-what, the mystery of Paragon, the political intrigue surrounding Bingtown and, most compelling of all, Wintrow's story. All of these narratives are interwoven into one big,compelling, un-put-downable, can't-wait-for-the-next-volume, story.

Although it would appear that Althea's is the main story, I found the saga of Wintrow and Wintrow himself the most involving aspect of this book. Ms. Hobb has created in Wintrow a likeable, tortured young man who undergoes a tempering that is wonderful and sometimes painful to watch.

I enjoyed how such unsypat! hetic characters as Kyle and Kennit were not created as simple cardboard villains, instead one is a man who truly thinks he is trying to do right for his family (no matter how obnoxious or wrongheaded he really is) and the other a man who is consumed by ambition and not a little bit of self hate.

I highly recommend this book and look forward to the rest of the series with great anticipation. I also plan to seek out Ms. Hobb's other series of books.

"Ship of Magic" is a little over 800 pages long and tells a slo-o-owly developing story from the multiple viewpoints of a family of liveship traders, the liveship herself once she is awakened, plus various sea serpents, a pirate king, and other more peripheral characters--at least they're peripheral in "Ship of Magic" but this is the only the first book of a trilogy, 'The Liveship Traders.'

I've also read this author's 'Farseer Trilogy,' and once settled into one of her books, it is very hard to put down until the last page is read. I'm kicking myself because I didn't immediately order the two concluding books of this trilogy as soon as I started "Ship of Magic." If Patrick O'Brien had collaborated with Charles Dickens and written "Oliver Twist Goes to Sea in a Magical Ship," this book might have been the outcome.

All of the characters are minutely detailed and believable, even the would-be pirate king, who is a much nastier man than Gilbert and Sullivan would have him. He ends up performing glorious deeds by accident, and I wouldn't be surprised if his title turns out to be 'the Great Liberator' rather than 'King' by the end of this trilogy.

The man who does the most evil in this book is a merchant captain who believes that he alone knows the right course to steer, both for his liveship and his family. In fact, I wonder if "Billy Budd" was also an inspiration for "Ship of Magic." The relationships between the self-righteous captain, his unworldly son, and an evil Claggart-like second mate are almost pure Melville. The innocent boy is even accidentally responsible for the deaths of his shipmates, brought about when he tries to comfort a dying slave.

Merchants, pirates, slavers, and hunters (meat ships) are all brought to life in a fantasy setting that seems to draw on the 18th century British Empire for its inspiration. The trading port of Bingtown is only a few generations away from having been forcibly settled by convicts and debtors. The fortunes of its most prominent merchant families are bound to their liveships, which are sailing vessels partially constructed of wizardwood. When the well-respected Captain Vestrit dies in his prime, he wills his liveship 'Vivacia' to his priggish son-in-law rather than to his daughter.

Thus begins his family's precipitous decline, and the start of what promises to be a fascinating saga. I am very much looking forward to the arrival of "Mad Ship," the second book in this magical seafaring trilogy.

I've read one of Robin Hobb's books previously, that being Assassin's Apprentice. I quite liked it, but not enough to get the others in the Farseer series. This first book in her Liveship Traders series is a different story...it was imossible to put down, plunging the reader into a world of magic and mystery.

Hobb is not big on the action scenes, with few of her characters out for a brawl, but that matters little. The characters are the driving force of her novels, marvellously detailed and made completely believeable with their very human flaws and desires. Althea, the strongwilled young woman who walks away from the comfortable life she has known in order to win back her ship, Brashen, the essentially kind hearted sailor who seeks a better life, the mysterious carver Amber, Wintrow the young priest-in-training who is ripped away from his desired path, Kyle the ignorant and controlling captain of the Vivacia, and Vivacia herself. Hobb portrays the world around them with a wonderfully descriptive and vivid style...closing my eyes I can see the setting sun illuminating the lonely Paragon's profile, the coarse and seedy surroundings that are a sailors world, the sheer beauty and gracefulness of Vivacia...There are so many things happening within this world, and Hobb works the intricate subplots with the skill of a master weaver. 'Nuff said. If you like fantasy that is based on wonderfully real characters and compelling plot...go and get this novel. As for me, I can't wait to read the next volume of this series.

I have been reading sci fi/fantasy since I was 13 (I'm now 32!) and this is by far one of the best books I have ever read.

The characters are so well defined that you empathize with them and share all that they go through. This is even more amazing because although the story is told from the point of view of several characters, you are never lost nor do you struggle with the different viewpoint. You sink right into the reality of each individual, whether it is the strong and fierce heroine or the Satrap's (ruler's) courtesan who gambles her life on her political abilities in order to create a life of her own.

The world is brilliant, with a complex social system and political intrigue that is missing from most fantasy novels. The trials and the sacrifices that the Vestrit family endure in order to hold fast to their values and their way of life is to the point of heartbreaking. However, what they achieve through their perserverence is something that fills you with wonder and awe.

This book is a must read. I have given copies to all of my friends, and their reaction is the same as mine was after finishing each book, and the series: "wow."

Forewarning: I will not spoil any plot, so read on without fear.

I've only just finished this book, so I can only review from that perspective. Looking over reviews, people tend to be either absolutely impressed, or else disgusted. Both views have merit.

I decided to read this after being pleasantly surprised with Hobbs "Farseer Trilogy". Most people will agree that the strongest point was the character of Fitzchivalry, even moreso than the plot itself. Hobb certainly has a way of creating deep characters. However, in Ship of Magic, Hobb has changed from writing in first person to third. This is a double edged sword in that her writing seems to have matured greatly, and she can follow all of the many stories within. Unfortunately though, none of the characters draw you in like Fitzchivalry did. I didn't find myself caring much for Althea, nor did I seem to really dislike the "evil villian" figure in the way that I loathed Regal.

In terms of storyline, I'm rather disappointed. I feel that this could easily have been written in 400 pages rather than 800, without losing any of it's strength. The only real progression at all occurs in the first few and the final few chapters. There seems to be a WHOLE lot of inconsequential little events spread throughout. Considering that the next books in the series are even longer, I feel I may not read them for fear of wasting my time.

What storyline there is, some is interesting, most is not. I did like the story of Wintrow, a priest-in-training who is forced to leave that way of life and sail aboard Vivacia with his ignorant and controlling father. This story touches more on some real life moral issues such as religion, aspirations, and slavery. Also the comparatively small story of the abandoned liveship Paragon, although it goes absolutley nowhere, seemed like it had potential to unveil well. The pirate Kennit seems to be the "baddie", but as said before he doesn't seem to build up too much.

On the other hand, we follow Althea who has been betrayed by her family and kicked off her families liveship Vivacia. From that point on, her plot doesn't go very far, but stretches unnecessarily. Then there's the most tedious story of all, the household of the Vestrits. Very long and rather uninteresting. Not to mention the serpents, which for the most part seems totally unrelated, though I'm sure it'd be revealed late in the last book.

I suggest if you are intent on reading this series, read this before you buy the others, because you may, like me, find that you simply can't be bothered reading through it all for something that doesn't seem to be happening. There honestly doesn't seem to be some ultimate goal that this is leading to, and that makes it very hard to read and remain motivated and drawn into it. 2 1/2 stars.

Vivacia is a liveship - a seagoing vessel made of wizardwood sailing out of the trading hub Bingtown - that has magically come alive into self-awareness after the death of Ephron Vestrit, patriarch of the family that owns her. His youngest daughter, Althea, feels her it is her rightful legacy to command the Vivacia but the elders of the family, her mother, Ronica, and her older sister, Keffria, persuade Ephron before his death that it is in the family's best interests to give the captain's chair to Keffria's husband, Kyle Haven. This is the starting point for a story that, while set in a fictional world that includes the magic of liveships and wizardwood and the fantasy of sea serpents, is actually a monumental family saga in the finest sea-faring tradition of the 17th and 18th century British empire - merchants, slaves, pirates, meat hunting ships, strict codes of decorum and family behaviour, religion and the harsh justice familiar to readers of Dickens' novels that was meted out to those who defaulted on debt.

Hobbs' mastery of her plot lines is nothing short of extraordinary! With what is actually a relatively small cast for such a huge story, she has set up a multitude of plot lines and conflicts that realistically weave in and out of another with absolutely perfect pacing designed to keep any reader flipping pages at a breathless pace! Althea masquerades as a boy to establish legitimate sailing credentials and win back her right to the Vivacia. Kyle's son, Wintrow, struggles with his love of monastic life and a desire to become a priest while his father cruelly kidnaps him to a shipboard life on the Vivacia to push him into his stereotypical vision of manhood. Kennit, the pirate captain, refuses to recognize the love that his first mate, Sorcor, and the whore, Etta, offer him. Like Ahab chasing after his elusive white whale, he pursues his dream of becoming a king and captain of a liveship, no matter the cost to any around him. Wintrow's sister, Malta, is nearing womanhood with spoiled, profligate ways that threaten to pull the Kestritt and Haven families over the brink of bankruptcy. Ronica, now the matriarch elder, tries to hold her fractured family together and deal with their teetering contracts with the Rain Wild Traders.

The depth to which Hobbs has developed the characters of these people and pulled them off the page into reality will take your breath away. Can she maintain this level of suspense and excitement through the remaining two entries in The Liveship Traders trilogy? I don't know but I sure intend to find out just as quickly as I can get to the nearest bookstore!

And, for what it's worth, Hobbs has proposed some sort of underlying mythology that explains a relationship of some kind between the sea serpents and the liveships that remains unresolved as of the end of Ship of Magic. I am definitely looking forward to seeing what Hobbs has in mind! Unquestionably, a 5-star novel that can be recommended as one of the finest books I've read in my life.

Ship of Magic is a monster of a book (weighing in at 800+ pages) and the first I had read of Robin Hobb's, so I approached it with some trepidation. It is a Fantasy novel far removed from the norm. Instead of kings, castles and knights the action is set on the seas of pirates, traders and whalers. I suspect Robin must have considerable sea-faring experience as no amount of research could capture what it is really like to live and work on a ship and this book gives you that. The mysteries of the Bingtown Traders, their relationships with the dark Riverwild folk and the wonders of wizardwood, are teased out slowly - setting you guessing and thinking. With one book over, the reader is left feeling there is so much more to learn, despite the complex and detailed descriptions. It will not be to everyone's taste: there is no sign of a big dark menace threatening the world, there are no armies of wizards and knights, no quests and no magician's sons growing up as stable boys... This is different. There is conflict, yes - battles of wills between the stubborn and strong principal characters, including the Ships themselves. This is an adult book: issues such as slavery handled intelligently as well as realistically. This book is well deserved of praise. My only dislike was the author's attempts to portray how the sea-serpents functioned and thought, from their own point of view, perhaps I was not giving this a chance as it featured only slightly throughout the book. I will see how this develops in the future.

This was the first fantasy novel that I read and still the best by far in terms of originality, sensitivity towards the subject matter, and all-round writing talent. My fears were that it would be like all the 'traditional' fantasy that graces children's movies - goblins, magicians, magic frogs, etc. - but I gave it a go and was swept into Ms. Hobb's vividly conceptualised world that contained no goblins, no magicians and, believe it or not, no magic frogs whatsoever.

Hobb sets The Liveship Traders series in a land far to the south of the Six Duchies that were featured in her earlier Farseer series (which I also wholeheartedly recommend). It principally (but not exclusively) concerns Bingtown, a trader port that is part of the Satrapy of a corrupt and negligent Jamaillia, and Divvytown, an outlaw community in the Pirate Isles. The attention to realism was the first thing that grabbed me about Hobb's style; far from being an Emerald City in a Forgotten Forest, we have essentially a colony reminiscent of pre-Revolutionary America, pinned between aggressive foreign governments and an uncaring ruler, plagued by pirates, and struggling for credence and independence in a land far removed from their pre-colonial roots. Bingtown itself is very well thought out, a town where the Old Traders with their Bingtown traditions are being usurped by the New Traders who have bought their way into society from the dishonest Satrap. Indeed, the resistance to change of the Old Traders is highly reminiscent of the upper-crust British aristocracy of the late nineteenth century, social graces of as much importance as power and money, but infused with the aforementioned desire for autonomy.

The story line is contentious and moving and action-packed all at the same time, enough there to keep a mainstream action fan happy and even, perhaps, a Jane Austen enthusiast. Despite its fantastical setting, it deals with strong contemporary issues such as domineering parents Hell-bent upon control, the position of women in society, Government corruption, nepotism, and many more, and still has time for a few moral debates on the concept of slavery and the ethics of fair trade. Add to this an array of intelligent sea serpents questing after lost memory, pirates banding together in an attempt to form a Pirate Kingdom for outcasts and outlaws, and the night-time appearances of the mysterious Rain Wild folk, kinsmen of the Bingtown Traders, and it is certainly a novel which sticks in your memory long after you have finished reading it.

It is in the characters, however, where Hobb truly shines. She is surely in touch with both her masculine and feminine sides, because every single character is incredibly empathetically drawn. She has the power to put a feeling down on paper in such a way that you can feel it too. I was angry and bitter when main character Althea was cheated out of her heritage, I felt hurt and lost and slightly upset when Wintrow was coerced into obeying his father; I have known grown men who admit to crying at things Hobb has written, and that's something that can't be faked. You finish the novel knowing her characters, and even the 'baddies' like Kennit and Etta are painted in such a way that right and wrong becomes ambiguous. You understand them, and feel for them, and Hobb's talent for this is exceptional.

Overall, Ship of Magic is perhaps the best introduction into fantasy writing, even if it does overshadow every other fantasy novel you will read. This is epic writing on a grandiose scale, literary and heart-rending, intellectual and energetic. There is no other author who can so sympathetically draw you into a fully realised world of their own creation. I cannot recommend it enough.

This is the first book in The Liveship Traders trilogy (before The Mad Ship and Ship of Destiny).

Althea Vestrit is the 19-year-old daughter of a family of Bingtown Traders, the only community who can possess a Liveship, a magic vessel made of wizardwood, a precious and legendary ware. Always her father's favourite, she spent all her childhood on board the family's Liveship, the Vivacia, whom she's come to love more than anything.

Alas, the captain is very ill and is going to die soon. He has to be taken on board the Vivacia so that with his death, the third of a family member on the ship's deck, the latter can undergo her quickening. Althea knows that when the Vivacia awakens, she'll become hers to sail. Only at the last moment, she discovers that her mother and sister have convinced her father to leave the ship to Althea's brother-in-law, an execrable and authoritative Chalcedean, Kyle Haven. And as the Vestrits are crippled with debt, it won't be long until Kyle starts trading in the most profitable of goods, slaves.

Banned from her own deck, desperate to have to leave the only recently quickened and emotionally fragile ship to such a horrid fate, she decides to run away. Disguised as a boy, she'll work on a slaughter ship and try to gain a ship ticket, a token to prove Kyle she's tough enough to become the rightful captain of the Vivacia. Knowing the ship has to be comforted to sail safely, Kyle drags his 13-year-old son Wintrow from his monastery where he's studying to become a Priest of Sa, and forces him to work as deck hand. Soon though, Wintrow reluctantly admits his bond with the Vivacia.

Kennit, captain of the Marietta, is a pirate whose dearest dream is to become King of the Pirates. He knows that if he helps freeing slaves, he'll gain the reconaissance of their families and friends, the people of the Pirate Islands. With his first mate Sorcor, he decides to stop looting merchant ships and start chasing Liveships and attacking Slavers instead...

I read Robin Hobb's astounding Farseer Trilogy more than a year ago, and it instantly became my favourite series, the one to which I've compared everything I've read since. Knowing that the third and last book of The Tawny Man, the sequel to the Farseer, will only come out in paperback in more than a year from now, I have forced myself to wait until now to read Robin Hobb's other trilogy, The Liveship Traders. So you can imagine how much I expected, how much hope I'd placed in these books, how much I feared I wouldn't like them as much. But the only thing I can tell after reading the first volume is that it didn't disappoint me. At all. The story is tremendouly gripping, the descriptions fascinating, the characterization flawless. Everything Robin Hobb touches is gold. Don't overlook her!

I have been strictly a Fantasy reader for the last 23 years. After reading the Farseer Trilogy, I was anxious to read other works by Robin Hobb. I must say I was a tad bit leary of this title. It looked a bit "historical romance" to me. To my surprise, this novel turned out to be delightful! Robin Hobb, you have created a devoted fan of your work. I just ordered Mad Ship in the hardback edition. I only do that with authors I truly enjoy! Your work will be among that of Tolkien, Eddings, Weis & Hickman, Salvatore, and various other favs of mine. Thank you!