A review by genny
Ship of Destiny by Robin Hobb

adventurous dark emotional medium-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

4.25

This book wrenched my heart out! One thing I can say is that the characters went through a huge transformation throughout the series, and Hobb manages to make their development believable. Malta, who I used to hate, became my favorite character by the end. Wintrow, who I used to root for and cherished like a baby, angered me so much that I wished for his death. An emotional excerpt from my reading journal:
"Fuck Vivacia. Fuck Wintrow, especially. Cowardly piece of shit. The only reason he believes Althea is because Etta does. He believes his own aunt not out of his own volition, but because the woman he has a stupid crush on told him to. And still he prances around like Kennit's lapdog."
Yeah, I was going through it. 😆 The priest is gone, and in his place is
a man who has bent his morals so much that he can even excuse rape. I'm disturbed by Hobb's repeated use of sexual assault as a plot device.
I appreciate that characters can develop negatively instead of all of them becoming better people. But it still hurt.

Plenty of readers feel conflicted about Kennit. I do not. The twist in his story was expertly done (honestly, I can't believe I didn't guess it sooner!), but as for Kennit himself...
he deserved far worse than what he got. I didn't want him to die a martyr or a legend. I wanted his allies to turn on him, all of his deceit unveiled, his reputaton ruined. I wanted him annihilated. Instead, we got the complete opposite.
I understand what Hobb was trying to do here, because it mirrors what happens all the time in real life. But man...I have never felt more betrayed.

I loved most of the other characters. Special shoutout to Ophelia and the Teniras, the most optimistic, unproblematic residents of Bingtown! 😅 I thoroughly enjoyed the chapters focusing on rebuilding the city with the Tattooed and Three Ships immigrants. Overall: incredible attention to detail, and solid groundwork for all of the later reveals to make sense. I'm bitter about some characters' fates in the end, but it's still an incredible trilogy. I won't be reading the rest of Realm of the Elderlings yet because I'm emotionally exhausted, but maybe when I've recovered...
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