This was good, but it wasn’t as good as Robin Hobb's Farseer books. Fitz is an excellent narrator, and an excellent focal point for a series, though this uses several point of view characters. Some are great and some are, unfortunately, as dry as dust. Wintrow was by far my favourite character in this series. He is torn between two lives. As a young boy he was sent away from home and raised as a priest; it’s a life he has gotten used to, but circumstances demands that he returns to his former li...

Final verdict: a great antidote to A Game of Thrones, with brilliant, complicated characters.My friend introduced to me to Ship of Magic because I'd been complaining about annoying stupid characters. She recommended Robin Hobb in general, but Ship of Magic especially, primarily for Althea Vestrit, our primary protagonist. One thing I want to point out is that I would have never picked this up on my own. Not for the title, not the cover (yes, I'm disproportionately attracted to pretty covers--the...

Ship of Magic (Liveship Traders,#1 Realm of the Elderlings,#4) As a big fan of Hobb's writing, I wasn't disappointed by this book at all! Ship of Magic is not just one of the best fantasy books I've read but one of the best fiction books I've ever read. I was reluctant to leave Fitz after finishing the first trilogy. But it turns out that I enjoyed Ship of Magic even more. As this is only the first book of a trilogy, it makes for even higher praise. Now I would surely look forward to finishing t...

Truly one of the best books I have ever read

DNF at 50%.I think I'm officially giving up on Robin Hobb. I wanted to love her and her books but after reading the Farseer trilogy and half of this book... I'm not enjoying myself.Nothing in here is gripping me. Not the writing, not the story, not the characters, not the world... nothing.

Hands down, this is going to be one of my favorite books of 2022. Although I've heard that books 2 and 3 are even better, so it will probably be the entire series. Oh. My. Goodness. From the very first chapter I was in love with Hobb's writing. I had read the Farseer Trilogy, so I already knew Hobb could write and deliver a 5 star read. This book was way beyond 5 stars. The prose is exquisitely beautiful while never feeling like purple prose or overwriting. Hobb writes in a way that completely s...

The Liveship Traders is the second trilogy in Robin Hobb's The Realm of the Elderlings saga. After a couple of false starts, I ended up loving The Farseer Trilogy. I adored the tale of The Fitz and the Fool so much that I carried on following their narrative, probably incorrectly as this chronologically is set before those events. I read The Tawny Man trilogy next and I don't imagine that I am the only person who has followed this route. I was then ready to jump straight into the final The Fitz

After finishing The Assassin's Quest, I was ready to put a brake on the series and squeeze a few other audios before I resumed it. That thought lasted about 3 minutes before I dived back into the world of the Six Duchess and now Bingtown. At the core of the storyline, we have the Vestrit family. They own the ship Vivacia which is made of wizardwood. In order for Vivacia to quicken, three successive generations have to die on board the ship. Althea, the youngest daughter, dreams of inheriting the...

This book is now one of my all time favorites. Hobb was already an accomplished writer when she produced her last trilogy, and the characters of Fitz and the Fool rank with some of the most engaging and rounded characters I have seen in literature. Then along came this book. Wow. The books in this trilogy run around 200 pages longer than those in the last series, and the author needs every single word. Typically, when something is this large there are at least some segments I skim. (I have deve...

This book was awesome! I love the concept of the liveships!! Mel 🖤🐶🐺🐾

**Reread - Loved it more this time around specially all those small things that I let slip first time enhanced the reading experience. And there were so many moments "Ah! You shouldn't have done this, you fool!! Now be ready to face consequences."**4.5*I can't believe she wrote this masterpiece after that messed up Farseer finale...I read Assassin's Quest back in 2016 and lost every hope of getting back to Realm of Elderlings. But then I wrapped up Twany Man in August this and now I am a faithfu...

Step aside Pirates of The Caribbean, Robin Hobb is the crowned queen of maritime fiction and she's here to stay!Allow to say that I can't believe I've been putting off starting Robin Hobb's work for the last couple of years just because it's a little bit on the heftier and slow burning side. OH MY GOD I'VE BEEN SUCH AN IDIOT! Well, better late than never and all that rot..I was thinking about saying that getting to this book was worth the time it took me to read through the Farseer trilogy, but

The man who worries about what will next be happening to him loses this moment in dread of the next, and poisons the next with pre-judgement. If there was ever a book that exceeded my expectations due to its uniqueness its this book, this book is one of those books you didn't know you needed till you read it. There is a praise by The Times written on the cover of this book As addictive as morphine, and I couldn't agree more.I know its wrong to compare but I just cannot help myself, this book

robin hobb has no right to be this amazing at storytelling

4.5/5 starsColor me impressed, just the first book in the Liveship Traders trilogy alone is already better than the entire Farseer trilogy.Don’t get me wrong, the Farseer trilogy certainly has its charm but the third book of the trilogy, Ass Quest, was a massive disappointment for me. Fortunately, that didn’t stop me from giving Hobb another try because this was just utterly fantastic.Ship of Magic, the first book in the Liveship Traders trilogy—which is also the second out five subseries within...

4.75 ⭐️ THIS BOOK IS SO GOOD IT’S INSANE!!!Greatness. Absolute greatness.

Possibly the best pirate book ever written Check out my new youtube channel where I show my instant reactions to reading fantasy books seconds after I finish the book. I was sad to learn upon finishing the Farseer Trilogy that the next trilogy in the Realm of the Elderlings moved on to entirely different characters in a distant part of the world. My sadness was quickly dashed when I realized that this book exceeds everything I previously read in the series and left me ravenous for more...

I AM SO HAPPY TO BE READING MORE HOBBLast year I read The Farseer trilogy and fell in love with Hobb’s writing, character work and world-building. The Liveship Traders trilogy is one of my priority series to read and finish in 2022. I have frequently heard that The Liveship Traders is even better than Farseer, which made me excited to read it. So what did I think? Firstly, let me start by saying that judging only from Ship of Magic, I can’t see any reasons why this book couldn’t be a good starti...

I was a huge fan of Robin Hobb ever since I read her story Homecoming in Epic. And while I loved her Farseer series, this has surpassed those as my favorite books.Vivacia is a liveship, a boat made of wizardwood, that after three deaths of family members on board comes to life. Liveships are the only ships that can make the journey up the river to the Rain Wilds in order to do trade, and are extremely valuable.This book follows several points of view, including a pirate named Kennit, Althea the

asdfghjasdgfajsldfhajk!! I'm conflicted...... On one hand, the whole world, writing, and the expansion itself in this universe felt more connected and majestic to me, moving on from The Farseer Trilogy. On the other hand, however......Imagine adult Fitz's naivety and stubbornness in being open minded- all split between all the characters in this book....well the main ones anyways. There were some good moments for sure and the lore behind the story, as well as the explanation of a different ki