A review by kaora4
Ship of Magic by Robin Hobb

5.0

I was a huge fan of Robin Hobb ever since I read her story Homecoming in Epic.

And while I loved her Farseer series, this has surpassed those as my favorite books.

Vivacia is a liveship, a boat made of wizardwood, that after three deaths of family members on board comes to life. Liveships are the only ships that can make the journey up the river to the Rain Wilds in order to do trade, and are extremely valuable.

This book follows several points of view, including a pirate named Kennit, Althea the daughter of the last sailor to die aboard Vivacia, her sister Keffria, her nephew Winthrow, and various others. Some I loved, some I hated.

I also really enjoyed the addition to the world she has created in Farseer. While some of the places in the Farseer trilogy are mentioned, this takes place in a different area, and I was fascinated by the magic and depth of this world she has created.

To get some perspective, this is an almost 900 page book that I finished in about 5 days. All other books were placed on the backburner to be picked up at a later date, because I could not put this one down.

I quickly became invested in the characters, and love watching as events shape their lives and personalities in a very believable way. Even characters I hate with a passion can become favorites in the span of a few pages.

Highly recommended.