Ship of Magic can be a stand alone book.but why would anyone want it to be with such superb entertainment to follow? ( The Mad Ship, #2 in the series, and Ship of Destiny, #3). These enormous trading vessels are built of wizardwood - a magical substance obtained from the dangerous Rain Wilds. They take-on and retain the memories of those who lived and died aboard them.

After three consecutive owners, from separate generations of the same family, die upon their decks, the ships become alive. Ship of Magic, the first installment of the author's Liveship Traders Trilogy, caught me up from the very first page and kept me reading well past midnight, every night, until I had completed this book and this series. Robin Hobb, an enormously talented writer, has a particular gift of imagination that transforms readers into addicts. I agree - but more so with fantasy fiction which is so dependent on the author's imagination and ability to tell a good tale. Now, one could argue that any good novel should possess the above criteria. I am a fan of fantasy novels, BUT only if the books are extremely well written, contain unique and compelling storylines, and are peopled by magical, well developed characters. The characterizations are consistently superb, and animates everything with love for and knowledge of the sea.Over to read a review of The Dragon Keeper)ĭown to read a review of Mad Ship #2 in The Liveship Traders)ĭown to read a review of Ship of Destiny #3 in The Liveship Traders) 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. For Althea’s young nephew, wrenched from his religious studies and forced to serve aboard the ship, the Vivacia is a life sentence. Now the fortunes of one of Bingtown’s oldest families rest on the newly awakened liveship Vivacia.įor Althea Vestrit, the ship is her rightful legacy. Martinīingtown 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.

“Even better than the Farseer Trilogy-I didn’t think that was possible.”-George R. The first novel in Robin Hobb’s beloved Liveship Traders Trilogy

The liveship trilogy