Reviews with content warning for Death - Ship of Magic

I approached this book with a lot of trepidation, as I didn‘t finish The Farseer Trilogy. Assassin's Apprentice was too much of a coming-of-age story, focused on one person. And it was depressing. I finished, but never picked up the sequel. Which is a bummer, as it seems to be Hobb‘s most beloved character.

This one here is very much a coming of age story as well, at least for Althea, Wintrow and Vivacia. But I liked the world much better, with it‘s sailors, pirates, conscious ships and the mysterious Rain Wild Traders (already looking forward to the Rain Wild Chronicles). The various port cities were fun to read about. The „whaling“ ship and it‘s trip to its hunting destination was really well drawn. And the descriptions of the slave trade and the slaver ships were fascinating as well. Having the different characters on different paths and plots really gave Hobb ann excellent opportunity to show off the Cursed Shores.

Althea really is a spoilt brat at first. Things happen. Wintrow was not love at first side either, but he started to grow on me. Those two are probably my favourite characters. Although Kennit, Amber and Paragon developed nicely as well along the course of this doorstopper. I am really looking forward to all of their continued adventures in The Mad Ship. I feel really invested in the liveship Vivacia as well and so hope that she will have a HEA at the end of the third book…

The plot developed slowly, but that is to be expected in a book of nearly 900 pages, followed by two equally hefty tomes… Patience was needed—something in short supply for me when reading books. I want a speedy plot and action. But here it didn‘t really bother me all that much. I knew I was in for the long haul, with 2689 pages across 3 books. And I really became invested in the lives of the characters—as opposed to the Farseer Triolgy, where I didn‘t really care all that much.

Not so fun:
The questing serpents were really odd parts of the narrative from the start, I enjoyed their chapters the least. But I guess they really are serving some greater purpose.
And Malta really annoyed me. I think I know what is in store for her, including a very rude awakening. I hope it will make her a better person.

The secret of how liveships are made and where their wizardwood comes from will hopefully be revealed eventually. I also hope that something will come of that wooden pendant that Althea received from Amber!

Well done, Ms. Hobb. I can‘t promise to read everything—I might make a wide turn around Fitz—but for now I am at least partially sold…

Content Warnings

kaziaroo's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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bluejay21's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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gladiolus17's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

I listened to this on audiobook so sorry for any misspellings!

Writing style

I could’ve done without the overt dialog tags, but other than that, no problems here.

Plot

Plot feels almost like a drama, each with their own character arc. I think the book blurb did the book a disservice, because the only arc that was completed was Kennet’s and Wintrow’s, which makes me feel like they are the main characters. The other characters’ arcs ended with a section foreshadowing the future with them. Because of this, I felt like Althea was overshadowed by Kennet and Wintrow.

Kyle was such an asshole and a believable villain. They say everyone is the hero of their own story, and I Kyle believed he was doing the right thing.

As well, I wasn’t sure why Althea and Brashen started having sex, maybe it was just animalistic passion? I didn’t feel any love or chemistry between them, so I felt this was a weak part of the story.

Characters

Captain Kennet.

My first impression was that he’s very toxically masculine, and has an interesting way of handling his crew by showing no weakness. I like his wrist charm, especially since he doesn’t ward magic, but just alerts Kennet to any danger. It’s also quite entertaining the way it makes jabs at Kennet.

After I read the scene with Etta and the sex workers, I thought he is such an asshole! And it’s because he’s depressed and needs to fill the void with his ambition!

Deep inside I feel like there’s a chance for him to be good, but it’s overshadowed by his depression and assholery.

Wintrow

My first impression was that he is a kinda passive character, but compelling in a quiet way. He does stand up for himself, which I like.

In the end he stole my heart. He finally became a man and figured out who he was.

Althea

I admire her ambition for becoming a sailor and was gripped by the way she stood up to Kyle. I was rooting for her to get back the Vivacia the whole time. I did feel like her arc paled against Wintrow’s, but I was happy to see her turn into the sailor she’s always dreamed of.

Molta

Although I understand her reasoning, I hate this little girl with a passion. Rotten to the core. I hoped she’d get better.

Liveships

I love each and every liveship, and, just like the other characters, was fascinated and fearful of them. I felt so sorry for the horrible things done to Vivacia and Paragon, and I was tickled with Ophelia and her personality.

Not sure if we needed the sea serpents’ POV, I would’ve rather it been explored in a successive novel.

Setting

I liked how the mention of the slave trade affected the locals with morals. They just can’t compete with free labor, and that’s why they’re having financial troubles. I never considered how hard it would be to be morally good in a capitalistic society when if you don’t accept slavery, your family will die.

Bingtown itself was such a mysterious place, along with their neighbors the Rainwilds.

Dialog

Wintrow’s dialog seems too old for him, but maybe that’s on purpose.

I adored all the liveships’ dialog. They’re all a little off-kilter and mysterious.

Intellectual value

I never read a book that explored slavery and the effects it had on people in this way, so my mind felt broadened and I enjoyed the ride this story gave me.

Personal enjoyment

I personally enjoy more compact books and I needed a little more tie up in the end to feel satisfied. I’d be okay with a few loose threads, but I feel there were too many with Amber, Paragon, Althea’s egg necklace, the sea serpents, and Brashen’s arc.

Overall, I was entertained because each character had a goal and reasoning behind what they wanted and were ambitious to get it. As well, the world in the story nearly never gave them what they wanted.

Content Warnings

rabbitreid's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

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rayreyes's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

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wolfthorn's review against another edition

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adventurous dark sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

It's taken me 19 days, but I've finally finished this book. All 897 pages of it. It wouldn't have taken me so long if I'd not switched to reading something else part-way through! I am rather glad to be done with it, it is so incredibly grim. The entire book is full of misfortune and there's only one truly happy moment that I can think of. There are so many irritating characters, even the main two - Althea and Wintrop - are annoying. I think possibly the Vivacia is about the best character in the whole book. But the most infuriating bit was the fact that the book just stopped. It didn't finish with some parts of the storyline resolved, no, it just ended. Grrr. I don't know if I will read the second book. Part of me wants to see Althea get her ship and Kyle get the comeuppance he truly deserves, but I don't know if I can deal with any more misery. Especially not another 850 pages of it.

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mariebrunelm's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective tense medium-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

The first time I read The Liveship Traders trilogy, I was baffled by the complexity of the narrative and how different it was from the Farseer trilogy. I know a few readers who have preferred Liveship Traders because of its variety, and I certainly praise that, but I've always felt a deeper attachment to Fitz and the Fool. However, re-reading Liveship made me realise just how stunning this book was. Yes it's complex, but I appreciated it a lot more knowing from the first pages who was whom and I loved the hints at where the story was going. I hadn't realised the first time round how the whole 800-page volume was about slavery. It's certainly obvious, but I'd been so focused on understanding what was happening the first time that it had slipped my attention.

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