Robin Hobb - The Liveship Traders

To be fair this one should have gone up a while ago but I guess best things come to those who wait etc. You don't have to wait until the bottom of the post for my two cents.. though you can if you're in to antic-ip........ation) because frankly the Gnu loves this series. In fact, if he had any say in it, he might marry this series and have lots of little Liveship babies but we're getting ahead of ourselves... We'll take the series as a whole just because.

Book info: (for Ship of Magic):

• Paperback: 896 pages
• Publisher: Voyager; New Ed edition (1 Mar 1999)
• Language English
• ISBN-10: 000649885X
• ISBN-13: 978-0006498858

Synopsis:

Gripping first instalment of a new series from the author of The Farseer Trilogy. Wizardwood -- a sentient wood. The most precious commodity in the world. Like many other legendary wares, it comes only from the Rain River Wilds. But how can one trade with the Rain River Traders when only a liveship, fashioned from wizardwood, can negotiate the perilous waters of the Rain River? A liveship is a difficult ship to come by. Rare and valuable, it will quicken only when three family members, from succesive generations, have died on board. The liveship Vivacia is about to undergo her quickening, as Althea Vestrit's father is carried to her deck in his death-throes. Althea waits with awe and anticipation for the ship that she loves more than anything in the world to awaken. Only to find that her family has other plans for her...And dark, charming Kennit, aspiring pirate king, also lusts after such a ship: he well knows the power of wizardwood, and has plans of his own...


Amazon review:

Robin Hobb, author of the Farseer trilogy, has returned to that world for a new series. Ship of Magic is a sea tale, reminiscent of Moby Dick and Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin series in its details of shipboard life. It is also a fantasy adventure with sea serpents, pirates and all sorts of magic. The "liveships" have distinct personalities and partner with specific people, somewhat like Anne McCaffrey's Brain ships and their Brawns, though these are trading ships and have full crews.

Hobb has peopled the book with many wonderfully developed characters. Most of the primary ones are members of the Vestritts, an Old Trader family which owns the liveship Vivacia. Their stories are intercut with those of Kennit, the ambitious pirate Brashen, the disinherited scion of another family who served on the Vestritt's ship, and Paragon, an abandoned old liveship believed to be insane. The sentient sea serpents have their own story which is hinted at as well.

Though Ship of Magic is full of action, none of the plot lines is resolved in this book. Readers who resent being left with many questions and few answers after almost 700 pages should think twice before starting, or wait until the rest of the series is out so that their suspense won't be too prolonged. But Hobb's writing draws you in and makes you care desperately about what will happen next, the mark of a terrific storyteller. --Nona Vero --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.


Reviews:

Yes, as a rarity in recent posts, this does read as an original work and that's the first thing most reviewers pick up on. It is also, as one reviewer so eloquently pointed "a story that grabs you by the shorts and gives you an atomic wedgie". Another important point is that, unlike the initial Farseer (IMHO) it doesnt leave you hanging or wallowing in almost unrealistic and certainly unsatisfying endings (hurrah for the Tawny Man though) and indeed "All the different plots and characters got interwoven into a great and believeable finale, leaving me very satisfied." I have to disagree with Foothills however - that "this is a complex book with a cast of thousands, lots of complex relationships, and pots of action. I had to read it slowly; as always, Hobb is extremely hard on her characters, and small doses go down better." half of the joy of Hobb's writing is that she tries to drown you in to the worlds and the characters she creates.


My two cents:

This was without a doubt (IMHO again) far superior to the Farseer Trilogy. Possibly because it deviates so far from the traditional fantasy material, possibly just because Robin Hobb is really getting in to her swing or just letting herself go but it's a wonderful read that draws you in without feeling like a light read that you could take to the beach and not really concentrate on. So much so that there are elements in the style and story telling that permeate the Tawny Man series which was concluded after this one.

Just writing this makes me want to read them all over again.