Originally posted over here at NerdSpan.
Ship of Magic (The Liveship Traders, Book 1) by Robin Hobb. Bantam Books 1998. 685 pages (hardcover). Fantasy.
Ship of Magic is a good start to a fantasy trilogy. It begins with the awakening of the Tangle, a group of sea serpents, and is a storyline woven throughout the book (and I would guess the entire trilogy) quite nicely. It brings you into the Liveship and Farseer universe tinged with mystery and magic unknown.
This book tells the tales of a wide cast of characters, though its main concern is the Vestrit Family of Bingtown, a lively trading port in a land south of the Six Duchies. Bingtown is a center of exotic trade and home to merchant nobility famed for its liveships. Liveships are vessels carved from wizardwood, which “quickens” magically into awareness after three generations of sailing. The Vestrit family fortunes rest on their newly awakened liveship, Vivacia.
For Althea Vestrit, the ship is her rightful destiny unjustly denied her and she will risk anything to reclaim it. Althea’s nephew Wintrow, who was pulled from his life of priestly training to take her spot, sees his time aboard Vivacia as a life sentence. The fate of the Vestrit family and their liveship may lie in the hands of an outsider, the ruthless and power-hungry pirate, Captain Kennit.
The story can sometimes be slow-going, but overall it was enjoyable. Having read the Farseer Trilogy beforehand, I knew immediately some of the references the characters spoke of, like the “red war” or the “mountain barbarians.” If you’ve also read them, you’ll be familiar with other references, too.
The first fifty pages were hard for me to get into mostly because Hobb’s style is a little different in this one. Instead of focusing on one or two main characters, like in the Farseer books, Hobb deals with up to ten main characters and their interwoven storylines. Of course, the Vestrit family plays a huge role in the story, but so do other characters.
My favorite characters are Brashen and Paragon, from the very beginning. There is no contest for my affections, honestly. Althea’s and Wintrow’s sections were good, as well, but I was drawn immediately to the relationship between Brashen and Paragon, and the information their interactions give the reader. I have high hopes for the characters, Brashen, Etta, Kennit, and even another liveship named Paragon. The Liveship Traders Trilogy is a very different one from the Farseer, though they take place in the same world. I see them colliding soon, but not before you get through The Rain Wild Chronicles and The Tawny Man Trilogy.
If you’ve read and enjoyed The Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobb, you’ll like The Liveship Trader Trilogy too. If you’ve read George RR Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series, you’ll enjoy Robin Hobb (who also writes as Megan Lindholm, FYI). If you like fantasy at all, give Hobb a try. She’s fantastic and won’t disappoint.
The story can sometimes be slow-going, but overall it was enjoyable. Having read the Farseer Trilogy beforehand, I knew immediately some of the references the characters spoke of, like the “red war” or the “mountain barbarians.” If you’ve also read them, you’ll be familiar with other references, too.
The first fifty pages were hard for me to get into mostly because Hobb’s style is a little different in this one. Instead of focusing on one or two main characters, like in the Farseer books, Hobb deals with up to ten main characters and their interwoven storylines. Of course, the Vestrit family plays a huge role in the story, but so do other characters.
My favorite characters are Brashen and Paragon, from the very beginning. There is no contest for my affections, honestly. Althea’s and Wintrow’s sections were good, as well, but I was drawn immediately to the relationship between Brashen and Paragon, and the information their interactions give the reader. I have high hopes for the characters, Brashen, Etta, Kennit, and even another liveship named Paragon. The Liveship Traders Trilogy is a very different one from the Farseer, though they take place in the same world. I see them colliding soon, but not before you get through The Rain Wild Chronicles and The Tawny Man Trilogy.
If you’ve read and enjoyed The Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobb, you’ll like The Liveship Trader Trilogy too. If you’ve read George RR Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series, you’ll enjoy Robin Hobb (who also writes as Megan Lindholm, FYI). If you like fantasy at all, give Hobb a try. She’s fantastic and won’t disappoint.
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