Reviews with content warning for Violence - Mad Ship

The last time I picked this series up was about ten years ago, and I can't even remember if I finished this one. I found the middle chunk of it so slow paced it was insurmountable.

This time, I deliberately relaxed through it and took it chapter by chapter, relishing the thoughtful characterisation and trying to pick up on those hints at the great mystery of this series that Hobb is so good at threading through her books. It was so much easier, and reading this with the eyes of an adult certainly tinted many parts with different colours- particularly parts to do with Malta.

As usual, no matter how the pace dawdles through 85% of the book, Hobb sure does body slam you right at the end. I'm hoping the final Liveship Traders novel is complete chaos, because I have only the tiniest clue where this is going.

Content Warnings

jeoonwoo's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Content Warnings

atalea's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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

4.5

The Liveship Traders is slowly becoming one of my all-time favourite series. Robin Hobb's character work is some of the best out there and this series really highlights that. All the characters undergo interesting developments in a natural way and you've got to love/hate her villains. I don't know how she does it, but I loved (almost) all the characters in the book and wasn't interested in all of the POV's.

Between the two, I do prefer Ship of Magic over Mad Ship because I felt more was happening in that book. In Mad Ship we take a slower pace. Mysteries of the world are slowly being unraveled. Most of the book felt like set-up for the conclusion of the story and focused instead in character development. I don't mind a slow burn (I mean that's Hobb in a nutshell), but it was only 3/4 into the book that things started going down, so it dragged a bit.

I am very interesting to see how Hobb will bring everything together in the end and can't wait to start the final book in this trilogy.

Content Warnings

skyeoak's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Content Warnings

kirstym25's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional 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

5.0

Content Warnings

mvanhaas's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark 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? It's complicated

5.0

Content Warnings

gunnaraj's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous funny mysterious 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

4.5

Content Warnings

poisonenvy's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense 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

5.0

Robin Hobb has very quickly become one of my favourite authors. Her prose is beautiful and engaging, her characters complex and nuanced, and her plotting is so layered and complicated that it's difficult to predict what will happen next, and yet every little piece falls into place perfectly.

Some of her characters I love, some of them infuriate me and make me want to slap them. One of my least favourite from last book developed in such a wonderful way in this book that she might be one of my favourites now.

The world building is brilliant: I want to learn everything I can about this Realm of the long passed Elderlings, and I cannot wait to read the rest of the books in this series.

I listened to a large chunk of this book on audio, and Anne Flosnik is an excellent narrator, who brings a lot of character and flavour to her narration. I could listen to her read a shopping list.

Content Warnings

More...