meowmixxer's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
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
5.0
mebius's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
informative
mysterious
tense
slow-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
Something constant in The Realm of the Elderlings - great worldbuilding and stupidity of most characters. After Farseer trilogy I didn't thought that someone can compete with Fitz, but Wintrow up there. Spent half a year basically being in captivity I think it's enough time to lose childish naivete but apparently not. If only problem was with him I could somehow understand. But Ronica and Keffria being constantly outwitted by thirteen year old is laughable...
- Malta, did you steal the box?
- No, I didn't
- Oh, ok we believe you and won't search your room, even though you lied to us multiple times before.
At least Althea and Brashen were grown up and smart, I hope it won't change in the next book.
P.S. I hope I'm wrong, but I'm afraid that Althea and Vivacia won't be together again, or we will get token reunion by the end of book 3. All praise her mother wisdom thinking that she knows better what her daughter need and screwing everything to put her in place (what can be better for woman to be married off and start popping children one after another).
And my another hope that story won't get skewed to include more Wintrow chapters to show us his growth...
- Malta, did you steal the box?
- No, I didn't
- Oh, ok we believe you and won't search your room, even though you lied to us multiple times before.
At least Althea and Brashen were grown up and smart, I hope it won't change in the next book.
P.S. I hope I'm wrong, but I'm afraid that Althea and Vivacia won't be together again, or we will get token reunion by the end of book 3. All praise her mother wisdom thinking that she knows better what her daughter need and screwing everything to put her in place (what can be better for woman to be married off and start popping children one after another).
And my another hope that story won't get skewed to include more Wintrow chapters to show us his growth...
rep2342's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
gogerman's review against another edition
2.0
Robin Hobb books usually rank 4+ stars for me, but this one just didn’t have the same spark. I have to finish books once I start, and will probably read the whole series out of curiosity, but I’m going to need a break. Catch me skipping ahead to the Tawny Man trilogy because I miss those characters.
boredpanda's review against another edition
5.0
Another awesome book by Robin. I can't even begin to try to summarize this book. Suffice to say it's bigger than The Farseer Trilogy. It's very nautical and there are many points of view. The world building and character development is brilliant as usual.
Did I mention there are serpents? Lots and lots of serpents.
kankoa's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
veronica87's review against another edition
4.0
This was my first Robin Hobb book and it was a highly enjoyable experience. It's a truly character driven story that offers insight into the hopes and dreams of several well written characters. Some I really liked right away and others earned my never-ending enmity. And the whole concept of liveships presents an intriguing plot point that is not without some moral questions. I look forward to following these characters on their respective journeys.
justjoel's review against another edition
4.0
Ship of Magic by Robin Hobb is the first book in the Liveship Traders trilogy, which is book 4 and the beginning of the second trilogy in the author’s interconnected Realms of the Elderlings series. It was originally published in 1998.
This is only the second Robin Hobb book I have read, and I was unaware until after I’d started it that it was somehow related to the Farseer trilogy, else I probably would have finished the former before starting this. However, while the stories may take place in the same world, it doesn’t feel like you have to read the first trilogy before diving into this one. I just usually prefer to read in publication order to see how the author’s writing progresses.
In this book, you are following the viewpoints of multiple characters. I usually don’t have problems with this type of book, but I did have a little uncertainty as to who was who at the beginning of this massive (832 pages) novel.
Objectively, I can see Hobb was establishing the characters and setting up their story arcs, but it felt like it took just a little too long to get going.
Althea Vestrit begins the story on the liveship Vivacia. Liveships are a form of magical sailing vessel, bound to members of a particular family. The liveships are made of wizardwood, an enchanted substance that allows the ships to be sailed through the caustic waters of the Rain Wild River (which will eat through the hull of regular ships) enabling the Bingtown Trader families exclusive access to trade the exotic and magical goods of the Rain Wilders.
Liveships have a prow sculpted from wizardwood which becomes sentient after being “quickened,” which occurs after 3 generations of the same family have perished aboard the liveship. The wizardwood retains the knowledge of the sailors who have perished on their decks, and they share a bond with the family members.
Althea knows Vivacia inside and out, having been practically raised (much to her mother’s dismay) aboard the ship. Her brother-in-law Kyle, who is married to her older sister, Keffria, is returning to port after a trading mission. When they arrive home, Althea learns her beloved father, who had sent Kyle on this journey in his stead because he was feeling ill, is dying.
The family hurries Ephron Vestrit to the ship so that his passing will quicken Vivacia as he will be the third generation to perish aboard her. Althea is devastated at losing her father, even if it means Vivacia will be quickened and she will inherit the ship she loves second only to her father.
But Althea is shattered to not only lose her father, but to learn that in her absence her mother talked her father into giving Vivacia to Keffria, who has no knowledge or desire to captain a trading vessel, live or otherwise. Instead, Keffria gives the ship to her husband Kyle, a hothead who had confined Althea to her quarters for the last part of the journey home.
Broken by loss, Althea leaves home and begins a quest to regain what she feels is her rightful inheritance.
There are other major characters the story follows, and Hobb is fairly merciless to all of them. They don’t always make the smartest or best decisions, and bad things often happen to them as a result. This goes a long way toward making the characters feel real and making the reader care about their situations. Except Althea’s niece, Malta. That girl needs to be set on fire with an accelerant.
It was interesting watching Hobb weave the various storylines together. Despite the book’s massive size and knowing going in that it was a trilogy, it could and should have been a little longer, as it did not have a proper ending. It just left a lot of dangling questions unanswered.
While I enjoyed the book enough to continue the series, I do prefer each book to have a distinct beginning, middle, and end. This feels more like The Lord of the Rings where a singular massive work was chopped into three pieces so as not to break the printing presses. I did not like the multiple cliffhangers, and, truthfully, they felt more like abrupt endings rather than cliffhangers.
Because of the slow start and the loose endings, I give the book 4 out of 5 stars.
This is only the second Robin Hobb book I have read, and I was unaware until after I’d started it that it was somehow related to the Farseer trilogy, else I probably would have finished the former before starting this. However, while the stories may take place in the same world, it doesn’t feel like you have to read the first trilogy before diving into this one. I just usually prefer to read in publication order to see how the author’s writing progresses.
In this book, you are following the viewpoints of multiple characters. I usually don’t have problems with this type of book, but I did have a little uncertainty as to who was who at the beginning of this massive (832 pages) novel.
Objectively, I can see Hobb was establishing the characters and setting up their story arcs, but it felt like it took just a little too long to get going.
Althea Vestrit begins the story on the liveship Vivacia. Liveships are a form of magical sailing vessel, bound to members of a particular family. The liveships are made of wizardwood, an enchanted substance that allows the ships to be sailed through the caustic waters of the Rain Wild River (which will eat through the hull of regular ships) enabling the Bingtown Trader families exclusive access to trade the exotic and magical goods of the Rain Wilders.
Liveships have a prow sculpted from wizardwood which becomes sentient after being “quickened,” which occurs after 3 generations of the same family have perished aboard the liveship. The wizardwood retains the knowledge of the sailors who have perished on their decks, and they share a bond with the family members.
Althea knows Vivacia inside and out, having been practically raised (much to her mother’s dismay) aboard the ship. Her brother-in-law Kyle, who is married to her older sister, Keffria, is returning to port after a trading mission. When they arrive home, Althea learns her beloved father, who had sent Kyle on this journey in his stead because he was feeling ill, is dying.
The family hurries Ephron Vestrit to the ship so that his passing will quicken Vivacia as he will be the third generation to perish aboard her. Althea is devastated at losing her father, even if it means Vivacia will be quickened and she will inherit the ship she loves second only to her father.
But Althea is shattered to not only lose her father, but to learn that in her absence her mother talked her father into giving Vivacia to Keffria, who has no knowledge or desire to captain a trading vessel, live or otherwise. Instead, Keffria gives the ship to her husband Kyle, a hothead who had confined Althea to her quarters for the last part of the journey home.
Broken by loss, Althea leaves home and begins a quest to regain what she feels is her rightful inheritance.
There are other major characters the story follows, and Hobb is fairly merciless to all of them. They don’t always make the smartest or best decisions, and bad things often happen to them as a result. This goes a long way toward making the characters feel real and making the reader care about their situations. Except Althea’s niece, Malta. That girl needs to be set on fire with an accelerant.
It was interesting watching Hobb weave the various storylines together. Despite the book’s massive size and knowing going in that it was a trilogy, it could and should have been a little longer, as it did not have a proper ending. It just left a lot of dangling questions unanswered.
While I enjoyed the book enough to continue the series, I do prefer each book to have a distinct beginning, middle, and end. This feels more like The Lord of the Rings where a singular massive work was chopped into three pieces so as not to break the printing presses. I did not like the multiple cliffhangers, and, truthfully, they felt more like abrupt endings rather than cliffhangers.
Because of the slow start and the loose endings, I give the book 4 out of 5 stars.
charlotekerstenauthor's review against another edition
Magical birth control belly ring
d_rod22's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0