Honestly, this is one of the best books I have ever read and certainly will be one of the top books of this year so far for me. I am so happy that after disliking the final Farseer book I continued on with Hobb's work because this book has sealed her as a fabulous and key writer in the Fantasy genre for me. She's a fantastic writer, and I think that the progression between the first trilogy and this one is utterly incredible in the difference. This is once more the continuation of the Vestrit Fa...

I’m really starting to like Captain Kennit; he’s such a rogue in a most fortuitous situation. He now has control of the ship Vivacia. Who would have though it? He just seemed to be full of false confidence with a heightened sense of unjustified arrogance. But, it turns out, he is actually quite skilful. He reminds me a little of Jack Sparrow in his deceptive uselessness. And now he finds himself competing with his young protégée, Wintrow, for the love and esteem of the vessel. What did you just

The Mad Ship (Liveship Traders,#2 Realm of the Elderlings,#3) by Robin Hobbloved the writing style and the story. Book 2 in this series reinforced the idea for me that Hobb has no qualms with really putting her characters through some hardships. It seems like every time I think that things are really going to have to turn around, she manages to squeeze a little more pain into their lives. Open your eyes. This horrible mess is your life. There is no sense in waiting for it to get better. Stop p...

Review to follow soon. Amber = awesome

Queen of fantasy 👑Full review to come!

*** 4.44 ***An amazing story, beautiful prose, complex characters, but I feel there could have been about a quarter edited out... At least. Sometimes I miss the brevity of the writing in the forties and fifties... I know the more detail the better chance for the reader to connect with the character, but sometimes less is more. Nevertheless, I am looking forward to reading the next book in the series:-)

I’m really loving this trilogy!! Mel 🖤🐶🐺🐾

A wonderful sequel filled with spectacular characters’ development but unfortunately, it had a few pacing issues.Plot-wise, I honestly don’t have a lot of things to say about The Mad Ship. Same as the first book and pretty much all Hobb’s books that I’ve read so far, character developments and relationships took the utmost priority here. There is nothing wrong with it, in fact, I loved it most often than not. However, there are a few pacing issues with this book that made me deduct my rating. Le...

The Mad Ship picked up right where Ship of Magic ended so I didn't have to wait much before I found myself between the action. And by action I didn't mean the pirate battles or some wars but the planning and plotting to win a LivShip's heart. Hobb did a wonderful job with every story arc that she gave us in first book but here I will talk about my favorite ones i.e. Malta, Kennit, and Paragon. Malta was the character I hate to love but she changed herself so much here that it was hard for almost...

Goodness gracious, this is one of the best books that I’ve ever read in my life. I kept walking around my house last night repeating, “And THAT is how you freaking write a book.” Absolutely fantastic.

While I enjoyed the first one, I didn’t overly adore it and was a tad hesitant going into this one. But this ended up being the book that ensured Hobb’s title as “favourite author” for me, because the level of intricacies and complexity to this book just blew my mind. Seeing the varied plot lines weave together had me in awe, but even more so the character development. Hobb made me change my mind completely about half the cast, before I even realised it had happened because it was just so natura...

Look forward, not back. Correct your course and go on. You can’t undo yesterday’s journey. Even though almost nothing happened plotwise, I love it. This book focused mainly on character development and world building. I really love the way things are progressing for the characters even though not all are positive, I love that the characters just refused to give up. You cannot simply discard parts of yourself because they are painful. Acknowledge them and go on. The writing is awesome, Robin

This is definitely one of the best fantasy books I have ever read. It's the 2nd/5th book in the series, so it is hard to talk very much about this in much detail but suffice it to say, there is not a single plot line or character arc I was not interested in in this book, which is quite a feat given that we have about 5 threads going with ~20 main characters. Thematically, this is a powerhouse, and I cannot wait to find out how this trilogy endsCW: slavery, SA

The second book in this trilogy has the Vestrit family members all over the place.Althea is in the Ophelia and doing a good job at it but her thoughts are all about recovering her ship Vivacia. She dreams of being able to be back on her ship and sailing her. Ronica and Kefrria are trying to deal with the loss of their family fortune and keeping their house and holdings the best way they can.Malta is still behaving like an obnoxious and selfish kid but as the story progresses, I can see hints of

Simply incredible. Somehow improves upon the first book, which was easily a 5/5 Check out my new youtube channel where I show my instant reactions to reading fantasy books seconds after I finish the book. WOW! I loved everything about this book, and am shocked that it took me this long to get to it. I had no idea how much I needed a fantasy pirate series in my life, and simultaneously saddened that I think I'm probably reading the pinnacle of this type of book that will likely never be...

I've put off writing this review for a while just cos it seemed almost impossible to write something coherent and basically befitting for the 2nd book of this marvellous series. While i don't have many negative views on this book because awesome... i did feel it was long winded at times especially when it came to the serpents (Like i'm so eager to know what happened but lawd have mercy can we speed it up with all the secrecy?) or when someone was thinking about something, like a long ass never e...

This series has drawn me in. These books came along at a perfect time in my life. I have had a chunk of downtime from work, and I have become totally immersed in these characters and this world. I am surprised I didn’t discover this author long ago, but I am also glad. They say everything happens for a reason and maybe it’s true. The timing of my running across this series and the way it worked together with my life has been an amazing experience. This author’s ability to create living and brea...

=》I can't believe that I finished a 906 pages long book just in 3 days. This is a first. I also have been binge reading this epic high fantasy trilogy. Another first. Lots of Robin Hobb fans claim "The Liveship Traders" trilogy to be her best work. Never have anything sounded truer than this statement. This trilogy is a gem. I feel like a whole new world has been opened in front of my eyes. I love how character focused, atmospheric, tragic and emotional these books are. If they don't stir all di...

Another 5 stars for a book by Robin Hobb. Shocker I know!The Mad Ship is the sequel to Ship of Magic. The Vestrit family liveship, Vivacia has been taken by the self proclaimed pirate King, Kennit. When Althea discovers that the ship that she should have inherited has been captured, she sets out with Brashen Trell and the Paragon, a ship who has lost 2 crews previously and been beached ever since.There are so many story lines running through this book I'm not sure how Robin Hobb keeps them strai...

Wonderful. I actually enjoyed this even more than the first in the series. Robin Hobb weaves such a tale..I am completely caught up in the characters and the world she has created. I love the way her characters grow and develop over time.Re read. April 2019. LOVED it! Amazing, the turn about in Malta through this book and how Wintrow is equally involved in the destiny of the serpents. I really felt for Paragon as he begins to remember who he really is. I was hardly breathing when the wizardwood