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alexhaydon's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Murder, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Sexual violence and Rape
kabrahams's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
5.0
Robin Hobb does it again! Rich characters, fantastic world-building, political intrigue, ancient magic in danger of being lost--in short, everything you want from a fantasy book and more. Malta's character growth was amazing, I loved the tree-house city in the rain wilds and learning more about the link between dragons and sea serpents. I love Althea and Wintrow so much, so of course neither of them get to be happy. The liveships are also such interesting characters themselves. Excited to keep reading and enjoying!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Rape
Minor: Suicide and Drug abuse
mariebrunelm's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Power dynamics shift and collapse in the second volume of the Liveship Traders trilogy. New characters are introduced, others disappear only to reveal worse dangers than the ones they embodied.
Robin Hobb's character writing shines particularly brightly in the sequel to Ship of Magic. I'm thinking of one in particular, whom I can't stand in book 1 but start to tolerate i' book 2 (and will end up loving in book 3). I can't even imagine the effort it must have taken to orchestrate such a masterful chorus of voices, but it works. Now that we are more familiar with names and characters, the deeper currents of the story start to move closer to the surface and big mysteries are glimpsed through the moving tide.
CW: closed spaces, sexual assault, slavery, rape.
Robin Hobb's character writing shines particularly brightly in the sequel to Ship of Magic. I'm thinking of one in particular, whom I can't stand in book 1 but start to tolerate i' book 2 (and will end up loving in book 3). I can't even imagine the effort it must have taken to orchestrate such a masterful chorus of voices, but it works. Now that we are more familiar with names and characters, the deeper currents of the story start to move closer to the surface and big mysteries are glimpsed through the moving tide.
CW: closed spaces, sexual assault, slavery, rape.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Rape, Sexual assault, and Violence
genny's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Guhhh.This was just excellent. The full truth about the dragons was slowly unveiled throughout the story; I already understood some of the links from the last book but everything came to light here (The Ringsgold chapter was masterful!). A+ character development, as expected...
- Malta. Never have I felt the urge to slap a child as strongly as when I read her POV - but that somehow changed and now all I want is to protect her. I actually feel bad for wishing she would learn a lesson. What?! 😆 I suspect I'll grow infinitely more fond of her in the next book.
- Out of all the "people" to be mad at, I found myself annoyed at Vivacia. And then eventually at Wintrow as well, because I hate that they're
siding with Kennit. I understand why, but I still hate it. Props to Hobb for making me accept a character's motivations even though I disagree with them. - I love all of the Vestrits, but I especially love Keffria and Ronica's brand of quiet yet unwavering resolve. This, after being so irritated by Keffria's naivety in Ship of Magic. Haha.
There's more but I don't want to turn this into an essay on every character. Suffice to say that I love reading about them all (though I can't get over the ickiness of Reyn and Malta's age gap). I'm already sad that there's just one book left - these characters have imprinted themselves onto my heart. And they're not the only good thing about the book! There's worldbuilding, atmosphere, plot threads sewn together flawlessly. 🥰 It's a long read, but not one page was wasted IMO!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Murder, Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, and Violence
Moderate: Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Fire/Fire injury
geekmom's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
How long has it been since I have read a trilogy where the second book is this good?!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Slavery, Rape, Drug abuse, Confinement, Child abuse, Animal cruelty, and Animal death
aseaoftomes's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
May 2021 reread
For those of you who don't know me, the Realm of the Elderlings (RotE) is a series that means everything to me. It's impossible to review something I love and adore as much as I do. Anything I say about this book won't encapsulate the overall feeling and story, so I'm not going to do my normal routine (fully).
This is the second book in the Liveship Traders trilogy and the fifth book in the overall RotE series and we continue to follow several characters, mostly from the same family (the Vestrits) with a few exceptions. This takes place in another part of the world - primarily Bingtown and we also get an added Rain Wild portion. As with the first book, it's full of feminism, pirates, dysfunctional families, political intrigue of a different kind than we had with Fitz and complex relationships of all kinds.
Every element I normally do in my breakdowns (writing, plot, characters and world building) is just phenomenal. Hobb's characters and world building in particular are some of the best I've read. It's not a simple act of reading these books, you live them.
For those of you who don't know me, the Realm of the Elderlings (RotE) is a series that means everything to me. It's impossible to review something I love and adore as much as I do. Anything I say about this book won't encapsulate the overall feeling and story, so I'm not going to do my normal routine (fully).
This is the second book in the Liveship Traders trilogy and the fifth book in the overall RotE series and we continue to follow several characters, mostly from the same family (the Vestrits) with a few exceptions. This takes place in another part of the world - primarily Bingtown and we also get an added Rain Wild portion. As with the first book, it's full of feminism, pirates, dysfunctional families, political intrigue of a different kind than we had with Fitz and complex relationships of all kinds.
Every element I normally do in my breakdowns (writing, plot, characters and world building) is just phenomenal. Hobb's characters and world building in particular are some of the best I've read. It's not a simple act of reading these books, you live them.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Blood, Death, Drug use, Gore, Grief, Medical content, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Murder, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, and Violence
achingallover's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Hobb is incredible, and I love this trilogy for all of it's characters but the women really make it. So much here that you gain on a reread and so much slots into place and is set up for the final book. (more detail to follow when I have time)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Blood, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence
cnohero's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Rape and Sexual assault
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