Ship of Magic (The Liveship Traders, Book 1)

by Robin Hobb

Paperback, 1999

Status

Available

Publication

Spectra (1999), 832 pages

Description

Fantasy. Fiction. Literature. HTML: Bingtown is a hub of exotic trade and home to a merchant nobility famed for its liveshipsâ??rare vessels carved from wizardwood, which ripens magically into sentient awareness. The fortunes of one of Bingtown's oldest families rest on the newly awakened liveship Vivacia. For Althea Vestrit, the ship is her rightful legacy unjustly denied herâ??a legacy she will risk anything to reclaim. For Althea's young nephew Wintrow, wrenched from his religious studies and forced to serve aboard ship, Vivacia is a life sentence. But the fate of the Vestrit familyâ??and the shipâ??may ultimately lie in the hands of an outsider. The ruthless pirate Kennit seeks a way to seize power over all the denizens of the Pirate Isles...and the first step of his plan requires him to capture his own liveship and bend it to hi… (more)

Rating

(1525 ratings; 4.1)

User reviews

LibraryThing member fiveforsilver
I mostly liked it. There were some things I had trouble with - for example, it often takes a sentence or two for there to be a clue who each section is talking about (between the 6 or 8 or whatever main characters the book flipped between). As in, it's something like "He walked down the street..."
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Ok, which he? It could be any of three or four or five male characters, mostly in different cities. It's a little frustrating to have to go back and reread the first sentence(s) of the section to understand what was going on, because it started with "He" instead of the character's name and oh, now I know how it's talking about, so what was that again?

Other than that stylistic quirk, I liked it. I enjoyed most of the storylines, I cared about many of the characters, and I want to know what happens enough to go get the next books out of the library. I was surprised when some of the stories intersected and with some twists (not all - most I saw far in advance - but some).
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LibraryThing member Narilka
It took me a little while to get into this book. Hobb takes her time setting up the background before things get going. They finally do and it was an enjoyable read. The story follows one Trader family and their liveship. There are many threads being woven together between the family members and
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how they relate to each other. I'm looking forward to picking up where this one leaves off in the second book.
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LibraryThing member satyridae
I suspect I'd have liked this book far better had I read rather then listened to it. The narrator's breathy, portentous style made me annoyed. This book is told in a shifting perspective style, and for my money, there are about 6 too many viewpoints. There are not very many people to actually like,
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either. I shan't be going on with this series.
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LibraryThing member Sweet_Serenity
I adored this book. I read the Farseer trilogy before this. I loved the Farseer trilogy, but I also noticed quite a few flaws, as mentioned in my review for Assassin's Quest. This book plays to Hobb's strengths, and lessens her weaknesses. The main attraction of Hobb's work is her creative use of
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magic, and the heartfelt bonds beteeen characters. The drawbacks of the Farseer trilogy, were being trapped in Fitz' narrow point of view, and some not-so-stellar writing here and there.

Ship of Magic has a unique (as far as I know) theme. "Liveships," rare ships that are alive, and characters in their own rights. The bond between the ships and other characters are incredibly interesting.
The book is also from multiple perspectives, which allows the telling of different stories, and a more indepth look at cultural themes, compared to the Farseer trilogy, which was a bit simplified. It ponders gender inequality, religion, tradition v progression, and slavery. There is a marked difference in the points of view, and most of the characters we hear from (except Kyle) are likeable/sympathetic in their own way, and each begin with flaws. For Althea it was arrogance, for Wintrow it was naievete, for Kennit it was an inability to consider the worth and talents of others, and for Malta it was ignorance. It's a great experience, watching them all mature.
As for the writing, it was engaging, and if there were any flaws in it, I didn't notice them.

I definitely recommend this book, for fantasy lovers, lovers of great characters, and lovers of Hobb's other works.

*My main point of comparison is Game of Thrones. I can't resist comparing them, but I kept it apart from the main review to let the book stand on its own. Both are great series, but this one relies less on shock, war, and regal politics. Both stories have great characters, but Ship of Magic gives them more agency- they act, rather than being swept up in things they can't control. Ship of Magic is also more direct and nuanced in its representation of religion, slavery etc. In Game of Thrones the characters we hear from are more distanced from those themes, compared to Wintrow.
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LibraryThing member booklad
Wonderfully entertaining series about sentient ships, pirates, high court plotting, sea serpents, and a mysterious elder race. Battles, magic, intrigue, finely drawn characters, multiple plot lines all coming together to a very satisfying ending.
LibraryThing member xicanti
A seafaring tale centering around a merchant family and their sentient ship.

While set in the same world as Hobb's first trilogy, (The Farseer), this series stands on its own. (Though there is a suspiciously familiar character lurking in Bingtown...) I enjoyed the story quite a bit. It's mostly
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setup, but Hobb does a great job of weaving all the varied storylines together. As another reviewer mentioned, there was never a point at which I was waiting to get back to a good bit, because everything was good. I liked the characters, I appreciated the situations they found themselves in, and I absolutely loved all the seafaring stuff. (And how cool would it be to sail on a liveship?) I'm eager to dive into the next volume.

But, that said, I was a little disappointed in the book. Having read (and loved) The Farseer earlier this year, I don't feel that this book quite stands up to the high standards the previous series set. Partly, I think Hobb works better in first person than third; I liked these characters a lot, but I never came to care for them in the same way I did for Fitz. It seems that her editor really stepped back here, too; there were many places where the writing could have been tighter, and with Wintrow in particular I wished there had been less telling and more showing. I think I would've felt a lot more for him had I been able to piece together some of his story for myself.

Overall, though, this was very good. Recommended for fantasy fans who also like sea tales and don't mind plots that unfold slowly.
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LibraryThing member lisabecka
I loved the Farseer trilogy and had high hopes for this one, but was disappointed. The naval theme is innovative but many times the plot just trudged on without getting anywhere and I did not like any of the characters enough to really care what happened to them.
LibraryThing member willowcove
In the same universe as the 'Farseer' books, and just as good. A unique twist of where the ships' powers come from.
LibraryThing member yahalomi65
I couldn't stop reading the "Ship of Magic" from the first few pages onward. Robin Hobb has created a tale that is so vivid and realistic that I was loath to wrench my eyes away from its pages for more than a few minutes at a time. Robin Hobb has built an incredible, complex world, much of which is
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gradually revealed throughout the story, naturally and through the characters' perspectives.There isn't one simple conflict between good and evil or even two families. Bingtown is a colony, only now, they're being settled again by people who don't understand the land and customs--and worse, Bingtown has started following the customs of the mainland, even those that just a generation ago would have been too horrifying to contemplate. She introduces many, brilliant characters that are all starring in a spectacular fantasy story including evil, yet charming pirates, tough girls' running from home, a sinister island, sea snakes and a long forgotten tribe, that in reality is very much alive in the blood of some people in Bingtown...
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LibraryThing member AltheaAnn
This was the fist book I read by Hobb. Stylistically, she reminded me of Melanie Rawn, but a bit more modern and original. A great mix of nautical/piratical tales with epic fantasy
LibraryThing member RoseCrossed
Robin Hobb. I'm so glad I didn't miss out on this one! It has interesting, fully developed characters and an interesting plot line. The whole trilogy is good and worth reading.
LibraryThing member amusing.nickname
So, I am not one for ocean voyages, and I only read this because so many insisted I should, but I am now happy to say that I am going to become a pirate.. Well, not really, but the book, although sometimes tiresome in its description of sea voyaging had so much more going on that I tended to get
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over it quickly to move on to what was really going on.. magic! What are those Rain Wilders up to and who are the serpents really? I suspect book 3 shall hold the final answers! And can we get rid of Malta soon? She's driving me batty! Great book, just hope you don't get sea sick!
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LibraryThing member pwaites
From the back cover (because it’s actually accurate this time): Bingtown is a hub of exotic trade and home to a merchant nobility famed for its liveships—rare vessels carved from wizardwood, which ripens magically into sentient awareness. Now the fortunes of one of Bingtown’s oldest families
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rest on the newly awakened liveship Vivacia.

For Althea Vestrit, the ship is her rightful legacy. For Althea’s young nephew, wrenched from his religious studies and forced to serve aboard the ship, the Vivacia is a life sentence. But the fate of the ship—and the Vestrits—may ultimately lie in the hands of an outsider: the ruthless buccaneer captain Kennit, who plans to seize power over the Pirate Isles by capturing a liveship and bending it to his will.

I picked up Ship of Magic because I’d really enjoyed what I’ve read of Hobb’s Farseer trilogy. My major complaint with Farseer was the lack of female characters, and I was told that the Liveship Traders trilogy was better on this front. I found this to be true. Ship of Magic is an epic fantasy centered on the Vestrit family. Like many epic fantasies it follows a large number of characters and has many different viewpoints. However, unlike many epic fantasies, Ship of Magic actually has multiple female characters, and all of its characters, male and female, are well written.

Robin Hobb is cruel to her characters, but it sure makes for interesting reading. Throughout all of Ship of Magic, most of the characters are stressed, depressed and in terrible situations. Wintrow, my favorite character, is a prime example. He loved his life at the monastery, and the last thing he wanted was to be forced upon the family ship. He’s miserable there, and things just get worse.

Not only were the characters amazing, the world building was too. Bingtown is a relatively new settlement that has started to age and change. I felt that there were many parallels to the American colonies and England, which makes me wonder if the next two books will bring war.

I’d recommend Ship of Magic to anyone interested in epic fantasy or active female characters.
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LibraryThing member nnschiller
Set in the same world as the Farseer books, I found Ship of Magic to be a big step forward for Robin Hobb in several ways. The characters are excellent. She has chosen excellent characters and they move about in her plot line moving things forward in a satisfying way. The narrative is complicated
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to the point of being convoluted. I didn't really have a problem with this, she is writing an epic and is starting threads that will be addressed in future books. Some patience is required.

Still, the reason to read this is not for satisfying resolution to conflict or wrapping up of plot threads. The reason to read this is for the characters. Specifically, In Captain Kyle she writes an excellent example of a selfish and power hungry man who has no idea that he is either selfish or power hungry. In the relationship between Kyle and his son Winstrow we see the balancing of different models of masculinity. Hobb shows us quite a bit about gender politics and strives to get into the head of her characters rather than showing simple "white hat / black hat" dichotomies.

The book is worth reading for just that, but it does deliver on a few other vectors, as long as one is willing to give up on resolution and simply read to be immersed in the world and the characters.
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LibraryThing member Akhena88
Finally sat down and slogged my way through the ending of this book. Great concept, detailed world but the book just couldn't hold my interest. Don't think I'll read the next ones.
LibraryThing member abatishko
This is an outstanding book. The setting is definitely something refreshingly different from your typical fantasy. As you might guess from the title, everything is very centered around ships and sailing.

As is typical for many books, the author flips back and forth between a couple major story lines
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and a few minor ones. However, unlike most books where there are some story lines you just have to read through in order to get back to the "good stuff", in this book you can't wait to get back to all of the story lines. They're ALL "good stuff".

Hobb develops some interesting characters, and presents them with some situations that develop very nicely, and there seem to be many places where the plot has a lot of potential, but goes a slightly different direction than you expected, but is still better off for taking the different route.

This book actually brought me to the stage of being unable to put it down when I was only about a quarter of the way through (leaving me with a couple late nights). Usually with a good book that happens when I have about a quarter of the book left. I'm very much looking forward to reading the next two books in the series, although perhaps I should get some sleep first... 5/5
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LibraryThing member eenerd
Big, fat, sprawling, gorgeous sea story. Rich characters, great dialogue, and a complex tale that keeps you enthralled from beginning to end. Not like high fantasy though, more like great historical fiction with just enough magic to throw some cool twists along the way. Hobb is an absolute master
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storyteller!
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LibraryThing member suzemo
This is yet another fanastic Robin Hobb novel. It's a bit slower than many good fantasy novels, because there are is a lot of character development, something that Hobb excels at. My only issue with this book is that you really need to have the next book on hand, and while I do enjoy reading
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multiple book series, I dislike it when series books don't end without a little resolution, almost requiring you to start right back into the next novel.
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LibraryThing member gilroy
I wanted to like this book. I had people recommend Robin Hobb to me as a great writer before. So I tried once, failed. This, my second attempt, determines if I keep going. I wondered as I listened to the audio if the good of Robin Hobb writing is in the actual reading. The audio sufffers from being
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unable to adequately show the POV shifts when they happen. Not enough of a noticeable gap.

The early story suffers from so much backstory and information dump, it hides the actual plot from progressing. I'm sure much of the detail offered is relevant in some way, but the presentation leaves much to be desired.

Then I reached the scene that made me want to chuck the MP3 player across the room. I can take only so much, but an overbearing, abusive, controlling, self absorbed bastard like Kyle Haven is portrayed in this book, I can't take it. It links to too many bad memories, which means it isn't a good book to me.

Through all of this, it didn't help that the way the narrator chosen by Tantor to read this book annoyed me. The way she drew out the final syllable of words, sounding like she was running out of breath. Ugh. Just not good form for me. So for me, done with this author.
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LibraryThing member Ben_Harnwell
It has been a while since I read this series but I really enjoyed them.
The Magic of Hobb's world is mythical and just out of touch of most. The Live Ships are mysterious and drive you as well as the character development and flow of the book/s.

LibraryThing member wishanem
Fun, dramatic, and mysterious! Like "Pirates of the Caribbean" in a more Fantasy setting with a more complicated and slower plot. The book's biggest flaw was that it really doesn't wrap up many of the storylines. By my count there are seven major plot threads set up in this book, and while two of
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them brought to a satisfying conclusion the remainder are hanging open and waiting for another book.

By far the best character in this book is its analogue to Jack Sparrow. He's not as silly or witty as Sparrow, the charming, self-centered, and fundamentally evil Captain Kennet is entertainingly forced by his circumstances to do heroic things. By the end of the book he has won the allegiance and even love of a handful of decent people without ever doing anything that wasn't motivated by selfishness, suspicion, and arrogance.

Fun vocabulary in this book:
asperity - Harshness
athwart - From the side of
attar - Essential oil of rose petals
avidity - Extreme eagerness or enthusiasm
bagnio - A brothel
benightedness - Intellectually or morally ignorant
chupped - An onomatopoeic exclamation (to make a sound like "chup")
clew - The lower or after corner of a sail
davit - A small crane on board a ship
lambent - Aglow
marline - A light two-stranded rope
marlinespike - A pointed tool used to separate strands of rope
prate - To talk foolishly or tediously about something
purl - A knitting stitch made by putting the needle through the front of the stitch from right to left
shimshay - A two-wheeled open horse-drawn carriage.
sinecure - From Latin "sine cura" meaning "without care", and referring to a position requiring little or no work but giving the holder status or financial benefit.
squamous - Covered with scales
transom - The flat surface at the stern (rearmost portion) of a vessel
weltering - To move in a turbulent fashion
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LibraryThing member leslie.98
While I liked the idea of ships made sentient and being bonded to members of its owner family, this book didn't capture me the way The Assassin's Apprentice trilogy did earlier this year. None of the characters really appealed to me, or more accurately, even those such as Althea that I sympathized
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with had aggrevating qualities.
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LibraryThing member 3j0hn
Terrible things happening to awful people. But somehow it's still good. That's the magic of Robin Hobb.
LibraryThing member librisissimo
See OS Card's favorable review of the Liveship series. The original Farseer book didn't grab me a decade or so ago, but the Tawny Man reboot was ok, need to finish it with Fool's Fate.
LibraryThing member cafcaflt
I've only read this trilogy 3 times. Enjoyed it just as much every time. Such a great twist on dragons.

Awards

P.E.A.R.L. (Nominee — Science Fiction — 1999)
Endeavour Award (Finalist — 1999)

Language

Original language

English

Original publication date

1998

Physical description

832 p.; 4.14 inches

ISBN

0553575635 / 9780553575637
Page: 1.4047 seconds