Reviews

One thing I absolutely love about Robin hobb’s writing is that you get to see how the characters grow and develop—and the exact paths they took to get there. It’s a benefit to having books this long—they’re long enough for her to have room to do that. To have room for Malta to grow out of her childish petulance, and to see how that journey is hastened along by her family’s hardships. Room for Kennit to learn that building up can be just as ruthless as tearing down. Room for a priest to bend his god to another’s will. Room for a ship to remember. The time pushing inexorably on as it molds the characters into new shapes.
And as exquisite as the characterization was, the pacing of the plot was a little off. The most climatic moment of the book (

when Althea baits a sea serpent with a rapist and Malta takes the worst carriage ride of her life

) came a full 100 pages before what is technically the climax of the story. It felt like the book should’ve ended soon after that, and it was hard to garner as much enthusiasm for the second (somewhat less interesting) dramatic event.

Content Warnings

jackiescozyspace's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

claudiabookturtle's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

emtebbe's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

4.25

lizzgles's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful informative tense

4.0

nazahah's review against another edition

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4.5

this story is so grand, so intricate, and crafted with so much love. there were little details sprinkled throughout the first two books and i didn’t connect the dots until now!! i’m in awe. if only my seasonal (summer) depression didn’t have me in a chokehold i would’ve finished this immediately.

lakmus's review against another edition

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5.0

goddamit i love this series so much

Notes to self:
1. The first book was mostly positioning the pieces on the board, now the planned pattern of their dance is coalescing and we can see where this is going and boy am i psyched for the third act.
2. As promised by some trusted people, Malta is coming through and i am rooting for her. Rooting for pretty much everyone actually, except Kyle, who got exactly what he deserved. Also Selden is becoming a person, poor kid is not entirely traumatised, yay *tiny flag*
3. Kennit's conniving bastard plans going hilariously wrong because humans are better than he gives them credit for :D (Etta teaching Wintrow knives, in particular. God that was so funny.)
4. Love the tidbits of lore dropped about, whereby we learn that what we've figured out in the first trilogy was kind of wrong and that's *not* how that world actually works, and boy isn't that a lot like real life? Misusing magic because you nobody understands it is becoming my favourite trope because well, *vaguely waves at history of science* Also right along with the "apocalypse happened so long ago we forgot about it, humanity is stumbling through the consequences still" trope (looking at you, Broken Earth).
5. Kennit bringing Wintrow to the Oracle island like: boy, go find some cool knicknack on this magic beach and take it the magic man, he'll read your fortune.
Boy, finding a giant magic dragon-serpent covered in lethal poison goo: this one. i like this one. *proceeds to break him out of magic man's cage at nearly cost of his life, because this book is very clear about its stance on sentient being's right to autonomy*

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