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brynalexa's review against another edition
- 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? No
5.0
The character work is amazing- you hate every character at one point or another but you know why they are the way they are.
The way Hobb takes on slavery, greed, coming of age, passion, religion, and probably other themes I’m not remembering, is expertly crafted.
When I first started I thought “why is she writing about men again?!” But she isn’t 😀
The ending was wrapped up so smoothly with a lot left to ponder on for the next book.
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
aseaoftomes's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
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.
Graphic: Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, and Murder
Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Drug use, Sexual content, Excrement, and Religious bigotry