Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Ship of Magic by Robin Hobb

22 reviews

nadia's review

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adventurous emotional mysterious 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

My first 5⭐️ fiction read of 2022 and my favourite book of the year so far!

The last Hobb I read was in July 2020 and when I started this one I berated myself for leaving her books for so long, given how much I loved the Farseer Trilogy!

I was so immersed in this world, loved the variety of characters and storylines, and all of the different aspects covered. I'm so curious to see what happens next!
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kabrahams's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

5.0

Going into this knowing we wouldn't be following Fitz, I wasn't sure how much I'd like it. But as soon as I started reading, I started asking myself, "Is this the best Robin Hobb book yet?" The characters, the many interweaving plots, the new types of magic--amazing! My heart broke so many times for Wintrow and Althea. I hated Kyle more than I've hated many a villain. And after being disappointed by my pirate books I now know that THIS is exactly what I'm looking for in a pirate book. Can't wait to read more of liveships, sea serpents, pirates, traders, wizard wood, arranged marriage, ancient pacts, and whatever other goodness Robin has in store for us in the rest of this trilogy!
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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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genny's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This was so good. I knew going in that the Liveship Traders trilogy is very well-loved, so I had high expectations. Hobb did not disappoint (this was my first book by her!). The worldbuilding is there and you can see the overarching plot forming nicely, but the character work is where this book really shines. Every conversation is gripping and there wasn't a POV that I didn't enjoy (except maybe for the serpents, but those chapters were short and I'm sure they're important, haha). Yes, some of the characters were incredibly frustrating (Malta!! Kyle, the bane of my existence!) but I was still invested in where the story would take them. All I want is to protect Wintrow! 😩

It was daunting to pick up an 800+ page book but the length truly is justified. I'm eager to continue with the next book as there was no resolution at all here - the threads of the protagonists' fates just begin to connect towards the end. 
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szuum's review against another edition

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adventurous dark slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

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thebookfinch's review

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense 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

4.5

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lynnoleum's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I would give this book a six out of five if I could. Absolutely smashing and riveting. Characters who you can absolutely relate to, love and hate. Hobb has a real gift in immersing the reader so deeply in the character's perspective that gets you empathizing even with the most annoying and terrible characters. It was extremely plotty, with many threads left to pull on to sustain a second or third book and which I shall start on soon. 
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aseaoftomes's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional inspiring mysterious 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
February 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 first book in the Liveship Traders trilogy and the fourth book in the overall RotE series and we 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 in this first book and Bingtown is home to merchant families - traders who own these magical ships called liveships (ships that come to life after the third generation of a family member dies aboard the ship). 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.
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