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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)
User reviews
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).
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
As is typical for many books, the author flips back and forth between a couple major story lines
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
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.
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.
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