Customer Reviews

The Mad Ship. Robin Hobb (Liveship Traders 2)

5 star:		(89)
4 star:		(22)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

WOW... i enjoyed Ship of Magic so much that i didnt think it could possibly be surpassed by book two of the series, but i was wrong. In retrospect, book 1 was merely an introduction/set-up book. This book took the plot threads that were introduced in the first book, and completely twisted them in directions you wouldnt have guessed. In addition, it introduced a LOT (and i'm not kidding here) of new plot threads. Just when you finished reading a chapter and said to yourself "that must have been the major event of the book", you read the next chapter only to encounter an even BIGGER event! The whole last half of the book was like this.

Like the first book, the characterizations are superb. These characters really change with the ebb and flow of the story. The focus on main characters has shifted a little as well: Malta plays a much bigger role (i was put off by this at first), as well as Amber and Paragon. Kyle is nearly insignificant. Even Althea and Kennit have slightly different focus. Nevertheless, Hobb writes so well that you feel connected to each of the characters, even the so-called "bad" ones.

Before i picked this book up, i just assumed it would follow the logical path of the first book. Not so! By the time i finished this book, i was so blown away that the first book seemed insignificant (not in a sense that i enjoyed book 1 less however). A few things are resolved, but so many are left hanging that reading the conclusion is a must. Who knows where that book will take you (i'm not going to try and guess this time). I highly recommend that if you read the first book and enjoyed it, you immediately read this book.

Promises offered in the first installment are realized in this second part of Ms. Hobb's storyline. Admittedly, I was highly sceptical concerning reading about pirates and magic ships, yet I went ahead and read the first book based upon the strengths of her previous story-The Farseer Trilogy.

Set within the same microcosm and slightly to the south of The Six Duchies; the Liveship storyline is filled with characters who act for purely Human motivations. Simple altruism and done-to-death stereotypes have no place within Ms. Hobb's worlds. Characters grow, misery is suffered, death is doled, joy is fleetingingly achieved. Suffice to say, Ms. Hobb has created a world in where her populace has achieved a depth of reality yet to be rivalled.

As for the story itself; no bare bones with skeletal fleshing out for this one. No, sir. The storyline is so rich it's fairly portly with the opulance of her imagination. The details embedded within this complex tale connect the dots between all of the far-flung characters.

In short, what Ms. Hobb has provided for we- poor, suffering, blighted readers of science-fiction/fantasy-is a feast for our souls. One decadent in all aspects of character, setting and plot. My highest praise goes out to her.

This is one of those books where you just want to bang a couple of characters upside the head and shout, "Will you two just hop into the sack and get it over with!" Other than a certain frustration with the romantic pace, "Mad Ship" is hypnotic reading. Even for someone who has to wear an anti-nausea patch on her neck on a slow old tub of a ferry and who would certainly not care for weevils in her biscuits, author Robin Hobb makes me want to sing: "Whate'er the final harbor be /'T is good to sail upon the sea!"

There are no final harbors in "Mad Ship" as it is the second book in the trilogy "Liveship Traders." All of the characters who survived "Ship of Magic" are further developed, even (or most especially) the sea serpents who finally sort out who they are, but not where they're going---they don't actually figure that out until Book III. As I said, there are no final harbors in the middle book, just lots of pain and suffering and personal development. The main character from Book I, Althea Vestrit develops the least, merely bangs about on the high seas in an attempt to return to her liveship, Vivacia with whom she had mystically bonded. Vivacia herself falls in love with the pirate king ('it is it is a wonderful thing...') Kennit who has captured her. The pirate is also holding Althea's nephew, Wintrow (the somewhat wimpy would-be priest) hostage, along with Wintrow's hateful father (who doesn't develop at all, just remains despicable through all three books).

Althea's niece Malta, who was an absolute bitch (she could have played one of the Plastics in "Mean Girls") in Book I grows remarkably interesting in "Mad Ship," mainly through losing her father, her family's fortune, and (almost) her life. She has to flee Bingtown and live with the mutant Rain Wild River Traders in their tree houses and sunken Elder city. Here there be dragons and other fascinating creatures, and Malta and her brother Selden survive quakes, cave-ins, hallucinations, a whiny Satrap, and (in Malta's case) true love.

Paragon, the mad ship of the title unwillingly sails again, still uttering an occasional threat to murder his crew--not idle talk on his part as he did kill his first two crews. He tangles with the sea serpents, and with all of us readers who finally begin to realize what live ships really are. Author Robin Hobb brings it on slowly through 850 pages, but does not spoil her climax with too many hints.

Sail on, dear Reader to Book III, "Ship of Destiny." You won't be needing your anti-nausea patch.

I first learned about Robin Hobb's world in the Farseer Trilogy. I couldn't wait to start the Liveship Traders series. Ship of Magic expanded on the world of the Six Duchies and introduced: strange serpents on a search for their past, live ships 'quickened' from the lives of their owners, the mysterious Rain Wild Traders, and enough characters and substories to keep the reader challenged and interested.

Mad Ship continues the story, giving several characters the chance to grow through adversity. At sea, Captain Kennit takes on an air of 'Robin Hood', with enough ruthlessness to remain true to his nature; Captain Haven gets his just desserts; and Wintrow's epiphany allows him to grasp his true mission as a priest of Sa. In Bingtown, the negative influence of Jamilla and Chalced accelerates; the Traders community challenges foreign rule; and Malta evolves from 'princess' to heroine. Will her efforts bridge the new world with the world of the Elderlings?

Let the kids have their Harry Potter, Robin Hobb's Liveship Traders joins Anne McCaffrey's Dragonriders on my bookshelf.

One of the things I lament about good books is that they seem to end to soon, not so with this book. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed this book, and one of the reasons for this is because it ended so well. Althogh I am anxiously awaiting the next book in the series, I feel that reading this book was a good and satisfying reading experience. I highly suggest this book to anyone who wants to read a new author with a fresh perspective on the old fantasy regime. Good work robin, keep the books coming as quickly as you can.

"The Mad Ship" is as finely crafted a book 2 to its predecessor ("Ship of Magic") as one could hope for. All the plot threads in the first book are continued here with both an eye for detail as well as foresight towards the author's vision. If some of the serpentine plot ideas in Book 1 confused you, almost all your questions will be answered in "The Mad Ship" - but read carefully. I realised on my second round of this book that I actually "missed" a few key sentences which explain a lot. In fact, Robin Hobb excels at this - tiny details in the book can shed light on giant plot arcs in the entire story thus far. What could possibly be the relationship between the sea serpents, the wizardwood, the liveships, the wisps of memories, and the Rain Wild magic? The wonder is that Robin Hobb has created such an original story to tie up all these, without a hint of cliche.

Hobb's characterization continues to impress. Rarely does one encounter characters so real and so sympathizable. At risk of garnering "unhelpful votes" from Amazon readers, I would like to point out that Hobb strongly favors her female characters - with almost no exception, all of her female characters (even the big reptilian one) demonstrate intelligence, fortitude, maturity and above all, strong will. Seeing how they grow and develop, how they deal with life, is an education in itself. On the other hand, the male characters tend to be two-dimensional, straightforward, coarse, even crass; even where they are good, they tend to be naive. There are a few sentences which clearly show what the female thinks of the "only knows how to feed and breed" male.

I write the above as a statement, not as a criticism against the book. The fact remains that Hobb's characterization is first-class, and totally believable despite this "favoritism". In fact, what is most impressive is how Hobb turns an apparently "bad" character into a "good" one, an art only the best writers can achieve naturally.

In "Mad Ship", Hobb accelerates the pace of her epic saga of the Liveship Traders and significantly expands the breadth and scope of the canvas on which she dramatically paints the lives of her colourful characters.

The ancient traditions of Bingtown's old traders are under siege and a tariff revolt pushes Bingtown close to war with the Jamaillian government and their Chalcedean mercenaries. Internal strife and bickering between the Rain Wild families and the old and new traders make reaching a common, united front in the dispute near impossible. Satrap Cosgo, the self-indulgent and immature leader of Jamaillia is being held hostage up the Rain Wild River for his own protection and for use in negotiating a settlement to the escalating battle. At the same time, with the capture of the liveship Vivacia, Captain Kennitt establishes a growing reputation as the scourge of the ocean trade routes, a freedom fighter against the evils of slavery and Jamaillia's Public Enemy #1.

It is worth re-iterating the opinion that I expressed in my review of "Ship of Magic". Hobb's mastery of multiple plot lines that weave in and out of one another with exactly the right pacing is to die for. Her characters become so real that I swear I can hear them breathing as I turn the pages as quickly as I can manage. They mature, they change, they develop, they move, they live, love and die, they struggle, they whine, they moan, they celebrate, they laugh and cry, they succeed and fail - every aspect of their lives is astonishingly realistic. Just as it would be in the real world, it is difficult to determine whether events are driving their reactions or whether their actions are causing events to evolve. Of course, we know it is both!

Even as she becomes a more skilled sailor with every passing day, Althea develops the wisdom to acknowledge her one-time lover, Brashen Trell, to be a superior leader of men and grudgingly accepts his position as the Captain of the re-fitted liveship Paragon. Malta, the immature, self-centered and materialistic brat child of the Haven family, grows into an exciting, mature strong-willed woman who cares deeply for her family and struggles with her passion for Reyn, the scion of the wealthy Rain Wilds Khuprus family. She shares his dream of releasing "She Who Remembers", the only surviving dragon from her eternal prison inside the last remaining piece of wizardwood hidden in the old Rain Wilds city. Her missing father, Kyle Haven, now languishing in a prison of Kennitt's making, seems to have descended into the depths of a drooling madness as his hatred for Wintrow knows no limits! Even as they continue to hold Captain Kennitt on a hero's pedestal, Wintrow and Etta grow in strength and wisdom and display some stumbling confusion about their developing feelings for one another. Whether Kennitt's position of esteem will hold up through the third part of the trilogy remains unresolved and, indeed, it is clear that for now he treads an exceedingly narrow path between saint and egotistical psychopath! At the end of the story, it has become obvious that there is a deep and abiding relationship between Amber, the serpents, the dragon and the liveships, but its nature has become even more elusive and mysterious!

A phenomenal five star continuation of the epic tale which began in "Ship of Magic"! Hold onto your hats - "Ship of Destiny", here I come!

Paul Weiss

Robin Hobb follows up her successful "Ship of Magic" with volume 2 in the Liveship Traders Trilogy with the continuing adventures of all the characters introduced in the first volume. The novel, being part two of a trilogy serves to further the development of the characters while, at the same time, setting us up for the grand finale in book 3. And indeed it does. My copy of this book is 850 pages long, obviously quite lengthy for a casual reader. And when combined with two other volumes, each over 800 pages in length, some people may be scared off. However, for serious fiction readers such length is no problem and in fact, with a writer of Ms. Hobb's talent, we frequently wish we could spend even more time with the characters.

This novel boils down the myriads of plot threads in the first book into three basic parts. The first involves the crew of the Liveship Vivacia and its new captain, the pirate Kennitt, who continues to be one of the best-written "bad guys" I have yet encountered. Perhaps, Ms. Hobb's greatest talent as a writer is the believability of the characters. The good guys and bad guys aren't always easily recognizable and sometimes change roles as they respond to certain situations. Just like in real life. Sometimes the good guys stumble and make bad decisions. Once again just like in real life. That goes a long way in suspending our disbelief when we read fantasy stories.

The second plot thread centers on Althea Vestrit, and her attempts to get Paragon, the mad derelict liveship, launched in an attempt to rescue Vivacia from Kennitt. And, finally, the third plot line rests with those members of the Vestrit family that remain behind at Bingtown and are forced to deal with the rising political tensions that threaten to change their way of life forever. It is here that we see the biggest growth of characters as Malta, Althea's younger sister, transforms from a bratty young girl into a take-charge leader due to numerous events that force her to grow up in a hurry. All three plot lines relate to one another but have distinctively different approaches. For example, as much time is devoted to Althea's conflicting romantic feelings for Brashen, her one-time lover, as it is to her approach to launching Paragon. In fact, romance abounds throughout this book as all major characters struggle with their relationships.

In addition, we get to know far more about the sentient sea serpents that inhabit the waters around the ports. The first book used these creatures as a mere sideshow between major sections of the book and frankly seemed little more than teasers. But in this volume, they assume a much larger role, even entering into the action itself. Their future, and just how they relate to the dragons and to the very nature of the magical wizardwood that forms the liveships is more than just hinted at now. By the end of the book, I felt like I had most of what I needed to piece the puzzle together. Ms Hobb has left things just right to urge me toward picking up the third book in the trilogy right away.

Fundamentally, this novel is terrific. There are elements of romance, adventure, intrigue, political overtures, spoiled leaders, young love, sacrifice, mysterious magic, and conflicting loyalties. I found the beginning chapters a bit long and in places I was wishing the action would pick up a bit. It was almost as if the author were looking for the best way to approach the remainder of the story. My rating reflects this desire for a tighter editing process and I feel the book could have been done just as well with a hundred less pages or so. A couple of scenes seemed to simply add girth to the book rather than force the plot along or add depth to the characterization. But these are small matters and more than compensated for by the epic scope of the story. Part three, "Ship of Destiny" should provide a rousing finale.

"Mad Ship" is an extraordinary novel. That's about the only way to say it. As a sequel, it strikes just the right balance between keeping up all the old plotlines and introducing us to new people and places. Just like in "Ship of Magic", the writing is fantastic and the sense of adventure, mystery, and romance is very real.

"Mad Ship" begins with Althea returning home to Bingtown to learn that the Vivacia still hasn't returned. Of course, the ship is still in the hands of Captain Kennit, who appears to be facing death since he hasn't recovered from the serpent bite. The Vestrits finally learn what happened when Brashen, who saw the Vivacia when he was visiting the Pirate Islands, brings them the news. In this volume, we also get some passages told from the perspective of Reyn Khuprus, the Rain Wild trader, and we come closer to learning where the liveships come from and how this all relates to the fate of the great sea serpents. Yet another plotline follows one of the Satrap's advisors in Jamailla.

The really good thing about "Mad Ship" is that Hobb isn't content to simply keep doing what she did in "Ship of Magic". Instead, she brings out several new mysteries and takes the story in surprising directions. Some of the best scenes in this book come at the very end, when the differing plotlines are starting to come together, and the characters that we know so well show that they still have some surprises waiting for us. I really enjoy the unpredictability of Hobb's writing, and the sense that anything could happen at any time.

Some people might complain that this book is too long and that at the beginning, it moves too slowly. But the point that they're missing is that this is mostly a character-driven novel. Hobb includes a lot of passages that let us see into the minds of the characters and learn not just what they do, but why they do it. This is another one of the facets that makes her writing so special.

Hobb has a number of qualities that I apreciate, chief among them that she is not afraid to kill or hurt main caracters (something that adds an element of suspence never attainabull in for exempel the work of Eddings where main caracters are immortal). However previosly I have never considerd her more the good (three out of five).

The stoy that begun in "Ship of magic" unfolds and actually gains momentum. Unlike most second books that usually become nothing but setup for the third Hobb lets the plot unfold and brings it forward. This is not to say that she does not leave you with a cliffhanger but that the book contains a lot more then an ending meant to make you buy the next book (books).

Those who have read "The Farseer" books will recognize most of the caracters and many elements of the plot, but there are enough differences to make it acceptebull.

All in all this is an very good book, purhaps not good enough to buy in hardcover but good enough to borrow from somebody who buys hardcover and then buy in paperback.