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4.27 AVERAGE
4.27 AVERAGE
adventurous
slow-paced
adventurous
challenging
emotional
sad
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
adventurous
emotional
sad
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
Having loved the Farseer trilogy, I didn't expect to enjoy the beginning of this the Liveships trilogy. The blurb on the back made the whole idea of sentient trees and ships a bit ridiculous. By the time I was 100 pages in I was hooked. Hobb makes the characters to well rounded and interesting that it was a struggle to put this book down and do other things. I started the next one straight after finishing this one!
"Ship of Magic" is the first book in a new Robin Hobb trilogy, dealing with Liveships, politics, pirates, and coming of age. Liveships are built from wizardwood and quicken after three generations, making the figureheads of the ships to persons who can speak, act, and feel, which is a truly fascinating concept. When Althea's father dies, she is supposed to inherit the family liveship, the Vivacia, but her unfair, bossy, bully of an uncle gets the ship instead and Althea runs away, while the uncle forces his son who was destined to be a priest to stay on the ship. The unfairness and violence in this book made me quite uncomfortable just like how likely rape and sexual violence are touched upon. I know that Hobb does things like that on purpose to make us feel uncomfortable, but it doesn't feel challenged enough and I'm not sure that a younger version of myself would've really felt that a lack of consent was a problem here. I don't know. Anyhow, we also meet Amber (aka the Fool <3 from the Fitz books) and another interesting characters, such as an asshole pirate named Kennit, a blind and mad ship called Paragon, Ronica Vestrit the matriarch of the family, an asshole uncle who should die already, a priest who no longer can be a priest, a drug abusing love interest who should just leave, and many more complex and not all quite likeable characters. The political dimension of the story is also quite interesting, how trade works (both with other countries as well with the Rain Wilds) and how life in Bingtown changes through time. Prepare to really hate characters and then end up liking them. It's weird!
4 Stars
4 Stars
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
definitely one of the best character driven stories i’ve read. i blew through this, each time i stopped reading, i was impatient to get back to everyone! the tragically dogged young priest whintrou, the fiercely daring (and thoughtless) sailor althea, the exasperated matriarch ronica, the otherworldly riverwilde clan, the cold but inadvertently kind pirate kennit…and the ships; vulnerable vivacia, angry and tenderhearted paragon and the gossipy but wise ophelia.
this is essentially a family drama, telling the story of the vestrid’s, generational traders, part of a small group of traders sailing only from bingtown on live ships, vessels less wood and sail and more living breathing old gods in the shape of ships, with their own wills, personalities, triumphs and failures. the impact of being bound to and benefiting from lives and livelihoods interdependent on living ships is the underpinning of this story. the various abandonments, misuse, misunderstanding and self centered (even if well intentioned, like whintru) motivations that each of the characters take on themselves, others and the ships forms both the character arcs and the plot.
there are sea serpents too, though their story is far less complex in this first book than the ships and people.
also, omg, malta is an unbelievable and total conniving and utterly selfish brat. a straight up sociopath at 13! the fact that hate reading each of her latest potential family and community ending antics were some of my favorite parts of reading this book, speaks to hobbes ability to write engaging and memorable characters.
i’ve read the first 3 books in the farseer world (fitz/the assassin trilogy) and they are good books, but so far the start to this next set piece of the story and these characters is GREAT. love it so much. on to the next!
this is essentially a family drama, telling the story of the vestrid’s, generational traders, part of a small group of traders sailing only from bingtown on live ships, vessels less wood and sail and more living breathing old gods in the shape of ships, with their own wills, personalities, triumphs and failures. the impact of being bound to and benefiting from lives and livelihoods interdependent on living ships is the underpinning of this story. the various abandonments, misuse, misunderstanding and self centered (even if well intentioned, like whintru) motivations that each of the characters take on themselves, others and the ships forms both the character arcs and the plot.
there are sea serpents too, though their story is far less complex in this first book than the ships and people.
also, omg, malta is an unbelievable and total conniving and utterly selfish brat. a straight up sociopath at 13! the fact that hate reading each of her latest potential family and community ending antics were some of my favorite parts of reading this book, speaks to hobbes ability to write engaging and memorable characters.
i’ve read the first 3 books in the farseer world (fitz/the assassin trilogy) and they are good books, but so far the start to this next set piece of the story and these characters is GREAT. love it so much. on to the next!
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes