Ratings20
Average rating4.5
“A truly extraordinary saga . . . The characterizations are consistently superb, and [Hobb] animates everything with love for and knowledge of the sea.”—Booklist As the ancient tradition of Bingtown’s Old Traders slowly erodes under the cold new order of a corrupt ruler, the Vestrits anxiously await the return of their liveship—a rare magic ship carved from sentient wizardwood, which bonds the ships mystically with those who sail them. And Althea Vestrit waits even more avidly, living only to reclaim the ship as her lost inheritance and captain her on the high seas. But the Vivacia has been seized by the ruthless pirate captain Kennit, who holds Althea’s nephew and his father hostage. Althea and her onetime sea mate Brashen resolve to liberate the liveship—but their plan may prove more dangerous than leaving the Vivacia in Kennit’s ambitious grasp. Praise for Robin Hobb and the Liveship Traders Trilogy “Fantasy as it ought to be written . . . Robin Hobb’s books are diamonds in a sea of zircons.”—George R. R. Martin “A major work of high fantasy, reading like a cross between Tolkien and Patrick O’Brian . . . one of the finest fantasy sagas to bridge the millennium.”—Publishers Weekly “Rich, complex . . . [Hobb’s] plotting is complex but tightly controlled, and her descriptive powers match her excellent visual imagination. But her chief virtue is that she delineates character extremely well.”—Interzone
Reviews with the most likes.
Wow, what a story. The pieces are coming together, but the way they do is fantastic.
Executive Summary: I really enjoyed this book. I rated book 1 in this trilogy as a 4 as well, but on a scale of 10 book 1 would be an 8 and this would be a 9. There was a lot of setup in the first book that wasn't necessary in this one so the over-reaching story really started to pick up steam.
Full Review
This book does suffer a bit from “middle book syndrome”, but not that much for me to mind. The ending of the book seems reasonable for a book boundary, but would leave me frustrated if I didn't know there was another book to follow.
I learned answers to a lot of the questions I had from the first book, while adding new questions to be answered by the final book. Some things became more clear, but I feel there is still a lot to be revealed.
There is a lot of great character development in this book. Malta in particular who I wanted strangle every time she showed up in book 1 seems to finally growing up a little in this book. Ms. Hobb has always seemed to love to torment her characters and does an excellent job depicting growth in the face of this adversity.
I'm eagerly looking forward to finishing the final book in the trilogy.
Overall I really enjoyed this books. It was not my favorite of the series but it was still really good. Some characters I didn't like in book 1 started to show major improvement. The ending of the story, I feel, was an amazing set up for the third book and I can't wait to read it.
Really should've read this trilogy before the Tawny Man Trilogy but reading it after the Tawny Man Trilogy is really it's own fun too.
Series
3 primary booksThe Liveship Traders is a 3-book series with 3 primary works first released in 1997 with contributions by Robin Hobb and Ewa Wojtczak.
Series
16 primary books21 released booksThe Realm of the Elderlings is a 20-book series with 16 primary works first released in 1985 with contributions by Robin Hobb, Megan Lindholm, and 16 others.
Series
3 primary booksDie Zauberschiffe is a 3-book series with 3 primary works first released in 1997 with contributions by Robin Hobb.