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storygrover's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
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
5.0
dkadastra's review against another edition
4.0
Solid end to the series. There were definitely things I didn't love, but it was a satisfying conclusion and it definitely set things up for the next series.
Spoiler
Cool how they managed to tie in Fitz and the Foolcarrie_bize's review against another edition
5.0
Toller Abschluss einer abwechslungsreichen und spannenden Reihe. Ich mochte besonders, dass man mehreren unterschiedlichen Charakteren folgen konnte und nicht nur einen einzigen, wie bei der Weitseher Trilogie.
Besonders hier im letzten Band klären sich noch mal einige Fragen auf und viele Erzählstränge führen logisch zusammen.
Man verbringt in fast 3.000 Seiten Gesamtwerk so viel Zeit mit den Figuren und ihrer Entwicklung, dass man selbst den Eindruck hat, Teil der Familie zu sein.
Ich werde diese Reihe sicher oft empfehlen.
Besonders hier im letzten Band klären sich noch mal einige Fragen auf und viele Erzählstränge führen logisch zusammen.
Man verbringt in fast 3.000 Seiten Gesamtwerk so viel Zeit mit den Figuren und ihrer Entwicklung, dass man selbst den Eindruck hat, Teil der Familie zu sein.
Ich werde diese Reihe sicher oft empfehlen.
raiju01's review against another edition
5.0
What a journey!
The conclusions in this book are just so good, happy, sad, and frustrating ones all. God this was a good trilogy.
The conclusions in this book are just so good, happy, sad, and frustrating ones all. God this was a good trilogy.
emfiander's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I'm having a difficult time deciding how I feel about this book, and especially how I feel about it relative to the other books in this series—I think probably because the highs were higher and the lows were lower. I will say overall I felt it was a very satisfying conclusion to the trilogy, with a sufficiently epic ending that tied everything together really well. For the last ~250 pages of the book, I could not put it down.
That said, this is the first Robin Hobb book I've read (having read the Farseer Trilogy and this trilogy) where I reallllllly struggled with the pacing. Usually I'm a big fan of her slower, detailed, immersive writing. Her greatest strength is her ability to get inside the minds of her characters, creating layered, complex people who feel strikingly real, and doing that well, at the level that she does it, takes time. It's layering a million small moments on top of each other to paint a full picture. And while that approach worked brilliantly in a series like the Farseer Trilogy, which is almost more of a character study of Fitz than a straightforward narrative, it starts to break down in a more plot-focused story like Liveship Traders. There's just too much going on, too much that needs to happen for the story to move forward and resolve, that tying up every loose thread in that layered, immersive way takes forever. Honestly, I think it's probably one of those books that will be better on reread, because then you're not anxiously waiting to find out what happens and you can savor the ride a little more.
Finally, I wanted to talk about the way this book highlights rape. I won't go into spoilers, but I just wanted to say that as a survivor of rape, I really appreciated the way it was handled and discussed in this story, and saw a lot of parallels with my own experiences. I liked that we got to see the way that sort of trauma can shape a person, and I felt like it was a frank exploration of what it's like to go through something like that—and that's really refreshing to see, for me at least. It's important to talk about these kinds of serious and traumatic events, and fiction can be a really healthy way to process and understand them. I feel like fantasy in particular has a problem with authors throwing in rape/sexual assault to make their story more graphic and/or realistic, but only really focusing on the violence of the moment and then just sort of glossing over the aftermath—in other words, using rape as a gratuitous plot device without any deeper care for the subject. This is not one of those books. (All that said, I'm approaching this as someone who has worked through my own trauma around this subject and can appreciate a frank discussion about it. If that's not where you're at yet, I would recommend treading very lightly with this book, because it comes up A LOT. It's definitely a major theme.)
That said, this is the first Robin Hobb book I've read (having read the Farseer Trilogy and this trilogy) where I reallllllly struggled with the pacing. Usually I'm a big fan of her slower, detailed, immersive writing. Her greatest strength is her ability to get inside the minds of her characters, creating layered, complex people who feel strikingly real, and doing that well, at the level that she does it, takes time. It's layering a million small moments on top of each other to paint a full picture. And while that approach worked brilliantly in a series like the Farseer Trilogy, which is almost more of a character study of Fitz than a straightforward narrative, it starts to break down in a more plot-focused story like Liveship Traders. There's just too much going on, too much that needs to happen for the story to move forward and resolve, that tying up every loose thread in that layered, immersive way takes forever. Honestly, I think it's probably one of those books that will be better on reread, because then you're not anxiously waiting to find out what happens and you can savor the ride a little more.
Finally, I wanted to talk about the way this book highlights rape. I won't go into spoilers, but I just wanted to say that as a survivor of rape, I really appreciated the way it was handled and discussed in this story, and saw a lot of parallels with my own experiences. I liked that we got to see the way that sort of trauma can shape a person, and I felt like it was a frank exploration of what it's like to go through something like that—and that's really refreshing to see, for me at least. It's important to talk about these kinds of serious and traumatic events, and fiction can be a really healthy way to process and understand them. I feel like fantasy in particular has a problem with authors throwing in rape/sexual assault to make their story more graphic and/or realistic, but only really focusing on the violence of the moment and then just sort of glossing over the aftermath—in other words, using rape as a gratuitous plot device without any deeper care for the subject. This is not one of those books. (All that said, I'm approaching this as someone who has worked through my own trauma around this subject and can appreciate a frank discussion about it. If that's not where you're at yet, I would recommend treading very lightly with this book, because it comes up A LOT. It's definitely a major theme.)
fisherjam's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
allisoon's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
fruitcd's review
Tore through this series because it was just so gripping and interesting. Loved Farseer trilogy, but Liveship just takes it to another level!! There are so many characters, settings, relationships, and plotlines that are all significantly developed and expertly woven together into a really satisfying story. SCREAMED once I realized that Amber was actually the Fool ! A less talented/confident writer would have had it be a big ~reveal~ at the end, but Hobb wisely allows it to stay in the background, which just makes it more fun for the reader to piece together on their own!
Ultimately decided that despite my personal discomfort with the amount of onpage graphic sexual assult in this series, it was thematically relevant and important to the narrative instead of just being gratuitous/for shock value. One of the major themes of this series is the patriarchy, and Hobb spends a lot of time investigating rape as a power fantasy and an instrument of control. Furthermore, she explores how the violence the patriarchy inflicts on women feeds into cycles of abuse, fear, and the desire for power, which are the other major themes of the series. Still not sure how to feel about the ending to Althea's arc (there's definitely a charitable and uncharitable way to interpret her ending), but overall I do feel that it was well done and tasteful.
Ultimately decided that despite my personal discomfort with the amount of onpage graphic sexual assult in this series, it was thematically relevant and important to the narrative instead of just being gratuitous/for shock value. One of the major themes of this series is the patriarchy, and Hobb spends a lot of time investigating rape as a power fantasy and an instrument of control. Furthermore, she explores how the violence the patriarchy inflicts on women feeds into cycles of abuse, fear, and the desire for power, which are the other major themes of the series. Still not sure how to feel about the ending to Althea's arc (there's definitely a charitable and uncharitable way to interpret her ending), but overall I do feel that it was well done and tasteful.
kat7890erina's review against another edition
5.0
The LiveshipTraders Trilogy is incredible. Treat yourself!