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thoughtsontomes's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I might raise this to 5 but this book does meander at times although the meandering is for the benefit of the character arcs and complexities and the characters in this series are outstanding. It’s a very slow paced book but this second installment really expands on the world and character backstories to the point that I enjoy every POV we get, even the more frustrating ones.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Slavery
Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, Misogyny, and Rape
jana_f's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual content, Slavery, Medical trauma, Murder, and Abandonment
roaming_enn's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, and Slavery
onalark's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Slavery
Minor: Homophobia and Torture
stephanieridiculous's review against another edition
2.0
It pains me to rate this so low, but I just strongly dislike this trilogy.
The world? So interesting and fascinating. The Liveships? Exactly what I want them to be. The Dragons? Such a great take on them. The Characters??? W I L D L Y hit or miss.
We're still strugglin' and strainin' over the vastness of the cast, many of which you aren't supposed to like & Hobb does a great job of making that the reality. Our female cast continues to be used and abused, brutally and on page, and the suffering of all is boiling over at this point. I so desperately want to love this trilogy, and I do appreciate what it adds to the Realm of the Elderlings in a grander scale, but this segment has unfortunately shifted where Hobb stands in my list of favorites.
I appreciate that the Realm is populated by cultures with wildly different values and systems, but I just can't fathom the need for so much sexual violence on page. It is possible, believe it or not, to establish the struggles of women - and make really powerful commentaries on those realities - without abusing them on page. And certainly without repeatedly showing us that women are most effectively subdued by raping them. It's so unimaginative & unnecessarily triggering for potential readers. The cost of using such situations absolutely does not pay off for me; it mostly feels like lazy writing to invoke an emotional reaction that I know for a fact Hobb is capable of producing without resorting to such base tropes. The ongoing establishment of unbalanced relationships, be that via power or age or a combination, is a growing concern for me with Hobb's writing, and it's a sad discovery that I missed my first time through the Realm books, but is now a glaring issue at every turn. This existed in Buck with Verity/Kettricken, but is now coming to full heights with Malta/Reyn and Kennit/Etta, and I know continues with other pairings in later books. It's creepy, and I don't like it.
I sincerely doubt I will ever recommend the Liveship Traders series to people, and when discussing Hobb's work at large I'll be encouraging people to just read the wiki and skip it when engaging with the Realm.
The good here is a small list, but worth pointing to - Amber as always, I adore. Matla coming into her own is great. More dragons? Yes, please. More Rain Wilds? Heck yea.
I am committed to finishing this series, but I just can't wait to move on to Tawny Man.
The world? So interesting and fascinating. The Liveships? Exactly what I want them to be. The Dragons? Such a great take on them. The Characters??? W I L D L Y hit or miss.
We're still strugglin' and strainin' over the vastness of the cast, many of which you aren't supposed to like & Hobb does a great job of making that the reality. Our female cast continues to be used and abused, brutally and on page, and the suffering of all is boiling over at this point. I so desperately want to love this trilogy, and I do appreciate what it adds to the Realm of the Elderlings in a grander scale, but this segment has unfortunately shifted where Hobb stands in my list of favorites.
I appreciate that the Realm is populated by cultures with wildly different values and systems, but I just can't fathom the need for so much sexual violence on page. It is possible, believe it or not, to establish the struggles of women - and make really powerful commentaries on those realities - without abusing them on page. And certainly without repeatedly showing us that women are most effectively subdued by raping them. It's so unimaginative & unnecessarily triggering for potential readers. The cost of using such situations absolutely does not pay off for me; it mostly feels like lazy writing to invoke an emotional reaction that I know for a fact Hobb is capable of producing without resorting to such base tropes. The ongoing establishment of unbalanced relationships, be that via power or age or a combination, is a growing concern for me with Hobb's writing, and it's a sad discovery that I missed my first time through the Realm books, but is now a glaring issue at every turn. This existed in Buck with Verity/Kettricken, but is now coming to full heights with Malta/Reyn and Kennit/Etta, and I know continues with other pairings in later books. It's creepy, and I don't like it.
I sincerely doubt I will ever recommend the Liveship Traders series to people, and when discussing Hobb's work at large I'll be encouraging people to just read the wiki and skip it when engaging with the Realm.
The good here is a small list, but worth pointing to - Amber as always, I adore. Matla coming into her own is great. More dragons? Yes, please. More Rain Wilds? Heck yea.
I am committed to finishing this series, but I just can't wait to move on to Tawny Man.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Trafficking, Medical trauma, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail
marymayne's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
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
4.75
Another great installment in the Liveship Traders.
I liked this one more than the first. The characters motivations were clearer, making even the bad or wrong decisions feel justified.
The plot was great, continuing the story, adding more twists and turns and unravelling the mystery further. It felt less in this book like bad thing after bad thing was happening, and there was less (although still some) sexual violence - which had felt excessive to me in the first book.
There were some pacing issues as other reviews have mentioned, the 2nd and 4th quarters were great and engaging, but the 1st and 3rd felt super slow, which made it hard to pick up sometimes ~ especially given it is 900 pages lol
Really excited to read the 3rd book!
I liked this one more than the first. The characters motivations were clearer, making even the bad or wrong decisions feel justified.
The plot was great, continuing the story, adding more twists and turns and unravelling the mystery further. It felt less in this book like bad thing after bad thing was happening, and there was less (although still some) sexual violence - which had felt excessive to me in the first book.
There were some pacing issues as other reviews have mentioned, the 2nd and 4th quarters were great and engaging, but the 1st and 3rd felt super slow, which made it hard to pick up sometimes ~ especially given it is 900 pages lol
Really excited to read the 3rd book!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Slavery
Moderate: Murder and War
laraloops's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
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
4.75
I really liked this book it's a good second book, building further on the themes and mysteries of the last book. There were revelations that were not super huge as they've been building even from the last trilogy (Assassin's Quest specifically) - the "parasites" the tangle was talking about about mid way through the book still caught me off guard.
For many people this was better than the first book - while I do like the action it had I felt like the way it climaxed felt more of a second book's climax, I didn't feel like it was as much of a climax as a preparation for the next book . That said I immediately got the third book and will keep reading it.
As with any Robin Hobb book the characters felt realistic and changed in their own ways. Wintrow is slowly getting more used to the pirate life, Kennit is continually being a piece of shit that everyone keeps interpreting as having a heart of gold (I find he is a very realistic depiction of men in power/men who have been abused and who fall back into the cycle of abuse). I love all the women in the Vestrit family. Malta especially grew in a realistic waythough I do continually feel uncomfortable with the fact she is continually referenced as adult/grown for her age at 13/14. I'm hoping it gets better in the next book but I am continually side eyeing Reyn . There was definitely more sexual violence in this book and those bits were harder to read through. I do not mind their inclusion though I feel like some parts could have been less descriptive - I feel like the way SA is included in Assassins Quest or even Ship of Magic did the job well enough without as much description. This is more of a product of the time and is more of a nitpick.
I found Kennit's point of view to be fascinating. The beginning had me actively wishinghe would survive and the line that he would not breathe again made me put down the book. Of course, ,by the end I was back to thinking maybe it would have been best if he stayed dead. He is undoubtedly a terrible guy with terrible thoughts and you can very clearly see the moments that his internal monologue conflicts with what he is actually feeling. The plans he has with Etta and Wintrow directly conflict with his actual feelings and he doesn't recognize it - his conversation with Etta later on in the book is so good at showing his actual feelings though his inner narration tries to convince him otherwise. His full backstory is not revealed yet, but his charm gives enough that you can guess what abuse he faced and it makes me worry for the next book.
One improvement in this book is that there is no Regal - a man who is terrible and continues to be terrible and in power. I felt at times in Farseer that he was just a villain and not much more than that (though I felt his end was very interesting). The closest too him is Kylewho by this time is squestered away and slightly worrying me with what he could be up to or convince people to do. or Satrap. The Satrap is the most like Regal and I feel the consequences of his actions have impacts on himself unlike Regal throughout most of the three books. He indulges in his vices and there are real consequences to his land and the Bingtown traders. In other words I feel that the antagonists are some of the most realistic we have seen.
I could continue on with this book, it may not be my favorite but it continually gives me things to think about. Unlike other fantasy books that I could not say much about other than to say they are good I feel this one has real weight to it that lends to literary analysis.
For many people this was better than the first book - while I do like the action it had I felt like the way it climaxed felt more of a second book's climax, I didn't feel like it was as much of a climax as a preparation for the next book . That said I immediately got the third book and will keep reading it.
As with any Robin Hobb book the characters felt realistic and changed in their own ways. Wintrow is slowly getting more used to the pirate life, Kennit is continually being a piece of shit that everyone keeps interpreting as having a heart of gold (I find he is a very realistic depiction of men in power/men who have been abused and who fall back into the cycle of abuse). I love all the women in the Vestrit family. Malta especially grew in a realistic way
I found Kennit's point of view to be fascinating. The beginning had me actively wishing
One improvement in this book is that there is no Regal - a man who is terrible and continues to be terrible and in power. I felt at times in Farseer that he was just a villain and not much more than that (though I felt his end was very interesting). The closest too him is Kyle
I could continue on with this book, it may not be my favorite but it continually gives me things to think about. Unlike other fantasy books that I could not say much about other than to say they are good I feel this one has real weight to it that lends to literary analysis.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, and Violence
Moderate: Sexual content
luise96's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
It was nice to delve deeper into these complex characters and the lore of the elderlings realm. It is quite a long book but I felt like the plot was consistently going with the same pace. Can‘t wait to find out what happens next!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Rape
irbix13's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, and Slavery
ameliabedelia96's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape and Sexual violence