Scan barcode
A review by lauraeydmann82
Ship of Magic by Robin Hobb
4.0
I have read these books before, a long time ago, but fancied reading them again, especially as I have the new books by Robin Hobb which are part of this world. I only remember bits of the books, so this was a good re-read.
The book takes place in a mystical world where a substance called wizardwood is used to make ships. These ships have figureheads that come alive or “quicken” after 3 generations of a family die on the decks. They also take on the personalities and memories of the 3 generations. They are owned by Trader families in Bingtown, and apart from the mystical fantasy element of the story, there is also a lot of politics with agreements between the Bingtown traders and other cities, whether or not slavery should be made legal, as well as the pirates who roam the shores.
We follow the story of the Vestrit family whose Liveship is quickened very early in the book. There are problems within the family straight away as we realise the boat has been bequeathed to the eldest daughter’s husband and tension’s begin to rise. The boat goes off on her maiden voyage as a Liveship with tensions onboard and an unhappy figurehead.
At home, we see the rest of the family dealing with the problems of debt, and an unruly teenager who gets herself in trouble by lying to both her grandmother and mother, and becoming the love interest of a Rain Wild Trader. The Rain Wild Traders are a strange and mysterious people who moved up the Rain Wild River and have become disfigured and unable to live for long.
Finally we also follow the story of Kennit the pirate, who wants to be King of the Pirate Isles, and plans to fulfil this by stealing a Liveship…
A good start to the trilogy, I really like these books, the characters are easy to believe and likeable. The mythology behind the books, the lore of the wizardwood, the Rain Wild Traders and the weird sea serpents which follow the liveships and eat the dead slaves thrown from the ships, is really interesting and I’m looking forward to the next book.
The book takes place in a mystical world where a substance called wizardwood is used to make ships. These ships have figureheads that come alive or “quicken” after 3 generations of a family die on the decks. They also take on the personalities and memories of the 3 generations. They are owned by Trader families in Bingtown, and apart from the mystical fantasy element of the story, there is also a lot of politics with agreements between the Bingtown traders and other cities, whether or not slavery should be made legal, as well as the pirates who roam the shores.
We follow the story of the Vestrit family whose Liveship is quickened very early in the book. There are problems within the family straight away as we realise the boat has been bequeathed to the eldest daughter’s husband and tension’s begin to rise. The boat goes off on her maiden voyage as a Liveship with tensions onboard and an unhappy figurehead.
At home, we see the rest of the family dealing with the problems of debt, and an unruly teenager who gets herself in trouble by lying to both her grandmother and mother, and becoming the love interest of a Rain Wild Trader. The Rain Wild Traders are a strange and mysterious people who moved up the Rain Wild River and have become disfigured and unable to live for long.
Finally we also follow the story of Kennit the pirate, who wants to be King of the Pirate Isles, and plans to fulfil this by stealing a Liveship…
A good start to the trilogy, I really like these books, the characters are easy to believe and likeable. The mythology behind the books, the lore of the wizardwood, the Rain Wild Traders and the weird sea serpents which follow the liveships and eat the dead slaves thrown from the ships, is really interesting and I’m looking forward to the next book.