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From Amazon
Robin Hobb concludes her nautical fantasy epic with Ship of Destiny, set in the world of her Farseer series. It lives up to its predecessors, Ship of Magic and Mad Ship in every way: the characters continue to develop, the plot moves swiftly, and the setting is vividly realized.
Again, three generations of Vestrit women are at the heart of the story. Ronica, the matriarch, stands alone against accusations that her family is responsible for the chaos that has overtaken Bingtown. She fights to uncover treachery and maintain the Trader's Council. Her daughter, Althea, sails on the disturbed liveship Paragon, hunting for Vivacia, the Vestrit's liveship, now the flagship of a pirate fleet under Kennit, who is both ruthless and compassionate. Her granddaughter, Malta, has disappeared following an earthquake in the ancient treasure city by the Rain Wild River. Her fiancé, Reyn, and her brother, Selden, are trapped while seeking her. They are rescued by the dragon Tintaglia, whom they helped liberate. Reyn asks Tintaglia's aid in finding Malta, but Tintaglia has her own urgent mission to accomplish, one which will change everything. Hobb weaves these plot threads into an exciting and satisfying conclusion. This is an original trilogy well worth reading! --Nona Vero --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
From Publishers Weekly
One has to use a jeweler's loupe to find a flaw or a dull moment in this splendid conclusion to one of the finest fantasy sagas to bridge the millennium. True, there are moments in this third novel of the Liveship Traders Trilogy (Mad Ship; Ship of Magic) when things progress too easilyDthe folk of Bingtown, for example, seem to embrace diversity, equality and female empowerment too quickly to be believed. But otherwise, this book soars. Hobb weaves together multiple storylines: there's Althea Vestrit's quest for her family's liveship, Vivacia; the awakening of Paragon (the eponymous "ship of destiny"); the establishing of links between the liveships made of wizardwood and the sea serpents who, cocooned in wizardwood, mature into dragons; the appearance of the dragon Tintaglia; and the maturing of Malta Haven through rescuing the Satrap. Such a profusion of plotlines could have overwhelmed or slowed down the book, but Hobb handles them with such agility that the reader is likely to want not fewer but more stories. The most absorbing theme continues to revolve around Captain Kennit, his mistress, Etta (now carrying his child), and the conversion of Wintrow Haven into Kennit's heir as king of the Pirate Isles. (Kennit, perhaps the most interesting character in the trilogy, clearly was developed with a good deal of scholarship about the history of piracy.) This installment leaves nothing to be desired: the subplots advance in parallel; the nautical themes are handled splendidly; and the characters (including one of the more engaging and terrifying dragons in current fantasy) and world-building are of the very highest standard. Like its predecessors, this is a masterful achievement. Major ad/promo. (Aug.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
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Most helpful customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Worth reading, enjoyable, but... and worth it in the end,
By Daffydd (Ontario, Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Ship of Destiny: The Liveship Traders (Mass Market Paperback)
Robin Hobb's Assasin Apprentice trilogy is on my short list of books to reread, so I looked forward to this second series by an author that seemed very capable.I have previously reviewed one or each of the first two books in this trilogy, 'Ship of Destiny' being the closing volume. I see the average rating is 4 stars and I agree with that result, and, I recommend the series as a whole. But why does this volume lose a star? Well, twice after reading a fair portion of the book I put the book down and read something else; though I read the last half of the book through the last time I picked up the book. It just seemed looooooong. It took time to tell each part of the story without the parts seeming like they were about to come together (and I found it a little startling when they did) almost like you're reading overlapping stories that weren't moving toward a payoff. But was it too long? I can't say how it could have been edited down, or even if it should be (IT is still a 4 star book!) And it was rewarding in the end how the different story parts were resolved, the reader is left with a vision of how the part of the world in the story changed and might continue, what the course the lives of the characters might take... Actually, I really appreciated the ending for it gave a sense of what foot the story's 'ever after' would get off too. PS. It's been a while since I read the other reviews, but I remember one or a few that seemed to comment to be discontent with the number of strong female characters. As a guy, I didn't have any problem with this, and there are sufficent strong/important male characters, and there are 2 main Liveships the play equal roles in this closing volume; one a female Vivica and the one a male Paragon. Also, one bit of wisdom I heard once comes to mind. 'If men had to go through child birth, the human race would end within a generation', so, let's not discount which is the stronger sex.
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the best books I've ever read....,
By Thistle Brown (Bellefontaine, OH USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Ship of Destiny: The Liveship Traders (Mass Market Paperback)
.... and I not only read a lot, but I'm married to a much awarded writer -- and he loves Hobb as much as I do. How anyone can fault this writer is beyond me. I've just started the first Tawny Man volume in that trilogy. Hobb's use of language is superior and her few errors -- considering she's written over 3-million words in about ten years -- are insignificant. Her language gift also has her inventing words, as well as remarkably asute names. And lest anyone think she makes up her stories out of whole cloth, she has a considerable education and research in natural history, the sea and sailing (her husband had to have helped and bless him and her for that), an alternate universe with peoples and languages to fit... well, I could go on. I do not read fantasy, but I'm nuts about Robin Hobb whose mythology/religion/sexism is right on, along with what she's invented to bolster this threesome. Her sense of military history and armament is extraordinary and she had to steep herself in same.Her I-Dea of Skill and Wit and just plain human and other animals feelings/emotions/thinking is second to none. This fantasy is really not so fantasy-ish, but a call to recognize the way our world really works or doesn't. Nancy Eckert
3.0 out of 5 stars
The trilogy deserved a better end,
By
This review is from: Ship of Destiny: The Liveship Traders (Mass Market Paperback)
The first two books were excellent and imaginative. The idea behind the story is terrific. But this last book was very unsatisfactory. The end was too unrealistic. Some characters' ideas sounded too modern to me, all the feminism and the democracy.Less romance would be nice too, I don't like Danielle Steele. I'm sorry but a lot of that was not only completely unnecessary but also annoying, especially the parts involving Brashen and Althea. And I used to think characters surviving against all odds were OK but George R. R. Martin spoiled me. I also agree with a previous review that the series could be trimmed down a lot. A lot of details weren't very relevant to the overall picture. She focused too much on what the characters were thinking and less on what was happening. Sometimes she could have let the characters' actions speak for themselves. It would have made the story a lot shorter and more enjoyable.
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