A review by cmak
The Mad Ship by Robin Hobb

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

4.5

A lot of the questions from Ship of Magic, especially in regards to the world’s lore.  It also made me kinda like Malta (how is that possible?!?).  Another enjoyable(?) (can that word truly be used in conjunction with Robin Hobb?  It’s odd to say that watching people go through so much trauma is enjoyable...) book.

There are explanations for some of the things that happened in the Farseer trilogy in this book that I appreciated, specifically regarding Verity/the dragon in Assassin’s Quest.  It was funny hearing the dragon talk about her opinion of elderlings putting their lives into stone statues to try to mimic her life for a short period of time. Also, it is interesting that Althea, arguably the main character from the first book, is not included in Amber’s fortellings.  The “nine-fingered” one has done his task of releasing She Who Remembers, and Malta (with the help of Reyn) has released the dragon who will protect the serpents so they can cocoon.  It was interesting seeing Amber’s own confusion that Althea was not fulfilling either of these roles.  Maybe she did follow the wrong sister, but for the better as I think Paragon will continue to play a major role in the next book.
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