Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3645 in Books
• Published on: 1999-03-01
• Binding: Paperback
• 896 pages

Amazon.co.uk 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

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...

Customer Reviews

Very entertaining
I thought this was a very entertaining and engaging read, and will definitely be reading the rest of the trilogy. One warning - if you find the first chapter difficult or offputting, I recommend you persist, because the rest of the book is a great improvement. It's unfortunate it has such a bad start - awkwardly written and difficult to follow - however what follows is packed with great characters and storylines. So don't be put off!

The start of another excellent Robin Hobb epic
Having read the Robin Hobb Assassin and Tawny Man series i had come to the conclusion that Hobb is a fantasy writer fit to be compared to such luminaries as Tolkien and George R R Martin.Any lingering doubts i may have had dissipated on reading the first instalment of the Liveship trilogy. Hobbs creates wonderful characters and unlike say Tolkien who painted his characters in vivid black and whites,Hobbs manages to invest hers with dichotomous characteristics that give them more discernible human traits( The people populating these novels are acknowledged as human) For instance Kyle Haven , is a stubborn mendacious bully with a violent temper, but he is also a hardworking family man , devoted to his wife and with a strict moral code-though it could be argued his moral code would,nt stand much scrutiny.
Kyle Haven is the father of Althea , a member of the Vestrit trading family who run their "Liveships" from the "Cursed shore" settlement of "Bingtown". Their liveship " Vivicia" is made of wizardwood- a very valuable substance that ensures that when the ship "quickens" it becomes a sentient being . This occurs when Ephron Vestrit dies, and his daughter Althea assumes she will inherit the ship and is mortified to find the ship has been given to her sister who has in turn passed it on to her husband Kyle Haven , who is set that his son ,Wintrow, who had originally been slated to enter the priesthood will in turn inherit Vivacia from him. Kyle Haven has in turn decided to use the ship to transport slaves- a trade that Ehpron always abhorred- as they are the most profitable cargo , in order to pay off debts the Vestrit,s owe to to the mysterious "Rain Wild Traders" . the providers of the lIveships.
Elsewhere roguish pirate Captain Kennit has ambitions to unite the pirate hordes with him as leader. He attacks slave ships and liberates the slaves in order to ferment popular support for his cause. But most of all he covets a liveship and he means to capture one no matter what it takes-putting his crew and his own life on the line in dangerous seas alive with sea serpents.
Althea sets out to prove her sea-worthiness by disguising herself as a boy by taking a job aboard "The Reaper"- a slaughter vessel. This is nasty dangerous work but there is the added complication of Bashren-the former first mate of VIvicia but sacked by Kyle Haven-who is also a member of the crew giving her secret away. There are numerous sub-plots seething away not the least of which is Havens other daughter Malta being a precocious spoilt brat and causing tension with the Rain Wild traders and thus putting the Haven,s precipitous buisness dealings on even choppier waters.
I thought it impossible for Robin Hobb to equal the six books books about Fitz , the royal bastard , but Ship Of Magic , set in the same world as the Assassin and Tawny man series, is every bit as good and promises ,almost unbelievably, to be better. Every character is wonderfully drawn , the writing and the plotting are superb and most importantly for a fantasy serie it feels like a world fully realised. Fantasy is a genre given short shrift by the purists yet done well ,or as is the case with Robin Hobb exceptionally well , it is genre that cover all facets of the human condition- even it,s often done with elves, goblins, dwarfs , dragons and sea serpents. You will never read a better example of this than Ship Of Magic. Consequently i cannot wait to read the next installment

Liveship review
Another master piece from my favourite fantasy writer of the age! These books are easily underappreciated if you read them directly after the Farseer books. They are far bittier and follow several characters in intertwining story lines.
What stands these books apart is how each character develops and grows, characters you hate at the start become you're favourite at the end. She manages to write characters that are more balanced and complete than any other author I have discovered in fantasy writing.
Once again Hobb has created a world and filled it with characters, incorporated masses of magic and mythical creatures and yet all of this seems believable. The real power of Hobbs writing is how she manages to explain complex ideas in a logical and straightforward way.