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_leitmotif_ 's review for:
Ship of Magic
by Robin Hobb
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!