Customer Reviews

Mad Ship: The Liveship Traders

5 star:		(67)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is the fifth Robin Hobb novel I've read (and as yet haven't read any of material as Megan Lindholm) and enjoyed the book immensely. Why then only 4 stars? My true score for the book is 4 and a half. (We need to Make Amazon allow for half star ratings!!!) Length! Having recently read this 800+ page fantasy and recently a 1000 page fantasy, I am starting to feel novels should hit an approx 600 page max. Obviously this is a very personal bias. Thus the three 800+ page books of the series could have been 4 600 page books, and though it felt long (to me), there wasn't any part that I'd edit out.

There a few slowing intertwining plotlines. What was very satisfying was having the story line develope one plotline, then shift to the other plotline. Your thinking, NO, I want ot read more about this part of the adventure with these characters; but while reading the other storyline the very same attachment happens, and suddenly you aren't willing to go back to the first story thread you didn't want to leave, because this other part of the story has been just as good, just as involved, and... you end up not really wanting to put the book down.
More Hobb? I am getting myself a copy of the third book of this trilogy (the local bookstores were sold out) and I am becoming eager to read the third trilogy in the same world as that takes us readers back to the assassin's apprentice of the first trilogy.
Very recommended!

I'm only adding my voice of praise for this book to bring up the average rating to the level I feel it deserves. Not since George R.R. Martin's "A song of ice and fire" have I read a series with such character depth and panoramic vision. Many nights I'd curse, roll over, turn my reading light back on to read "just one more chapter".

This is the second book in The Liveship Taders trilogy (after Ship of Magic and before Ship of Destiny).

After being banned from the deck of the slaughter ship the Reaper because she's a woman, without her well-deserved ship ticket, and after breaking up with her companion Brashen Trell, Althea Vestrit is hired as mate on board a Bingtown-bound Liveship, the Ophelia. And when the ship betrays her secret to Captain Tenira, Althea fears she'll be given the sack again. Luckily it doesn't happen and soon the crew and ship rally to her cause, promising they'll help her gain her rightful heirloom, the Liveship Vivacia, back.

But not so far on the seas, the Vivacia has just been boarded by Kennit's gang of pirates and her crew taken prisoners, thanks in part to the rebellion of the slaves that made up her cargo. In exchange for his life and that of his father, Wintrow will have to heal Kennit gangrenous leg stump. The situation seems desperate.

And all the while in Bingtwon 12-year-old Malta, Wintrow's sister and Althea's niece, is waiting for her father to return with his precious cargo that is supposed to help her family pay off their debts to the Khuprus of the Rain Wilds, her suitor Reyn's family. But since she's opened Reyn's courting Dreambox, she's been having troubling dreams about a dragon pleading for her help.

Parallelly, Amber the beadmaker is making scandalous plans to buy the Paragon, a abandoned Liveship who is believed mad, and his majesty the Satrap Cosgo of Jamaillia and his court are on their way to Bingtown.

Once again Robin Hobb has wrought a wonderful epic tale of ships and serpents, love, magic and intrigue. The more pages you turn, the more you realise her world is a truly enchanting and mysterious one, where characters never stop growing in depth, especially young and capricious Malta who matures a lot in the course of this book. Robin Hobb writes so terrifically well, her stories flow so naturally that you wish they'd never end.

"Mad Ship" is an extraordinary novel. That's about the only way to say it. As a sequel, it strikes just the right balance between keeping up all the old plotlines and introducing us to new people and places. Just like in "Ship of Magic", the writing is fantastic and the sense of adventure, mystery, and romance is very real.

"Mad Ship" begins with Althea returning home to Bingtown to learn that the Vivacia still hasn't returned. Of course, the ship is still in the hands of Captain Kennit, who appears to be facing death since he hasn't recovered from the serpent bite. The Vestrits finally learn what happened when Brashen, who saw the Vivacia when he was visiting the Pirate Islands, brings them the news. In this volume, we also get some passages told from the perspective of Reyn Khuprus, the Rain Wild trader, and we come closer to learning where the liveships come from and how this all relates to the fate of the great sea serpents. Yet another plotline follows one of the Satrap's advisors in Jamailla.

The really good thing about "Mad Ship" is that Hobb isn't content to simply keep doing what she did in "Ship of Magic". Instead, she brings out several new mysteries and takes the story in surprising directions. Some of the best scenes in this book come at the very end, when the differing plotlines are starting to come together, and the characters that we know so well show that they still have some surprises waiting for us. I really enjoy the unpredictability of Hobb's writing, and the sense that anything could happen at any time.

Some people might complain that this book is too long and that at the beginning, it moves too slowly. But the point that they're missing is that this is mostly a character-driven novel. Hobb includes a lot of passages that let us see into the minds of the characters and learn not just what they do, but why they do it. This is another one of the facets that makes her writing so special.

In the Farseer trilogy that is, and in the Tawny Man series as well. Fool's errand and Golden Fool (which hasn't been released in the poor USA yet) are excellent books and Golden Fool in particular is a five star work. But these Liveship books, which I'm only reading because Tawny Man converges the Farseer and Liveship trilogies just don't match up. Above all they lack the proper characterization. Not that they're stock characters, but outside of Reyn and Paragon none of them make any sort of dent on me. Althea remains bland as butter, Malta's supposed growth may be of interest to someone who is particularly obseesed with coming of age stories but she interests me not a bit. Brashen, Kennit, Wintrow, all "wipe under the carpet" characters. Amber remains enigmatic but doesn't shine. The story gets bogged down too often, with the single upside being the development of the snakes and the release of Tintaglia. Maybe they will make it interesting in the final book. The human characters are failing in making these books work, and there just isn't enough interesting material to keep this reader going. There's action alright, but there's also soooo much talk, especially among the women characters. Like in book one, the discussions between the Vestrit women remind me of a visit to a beauty parlor. Again, the only positive element is the revelations about the snakes/dragons in this book, which is why I'm reading it after all, and why I'm not giving it two stars. But I have to agree with the consensus amongst Hobb fans that her Liveship trilogy is her weakest work.

Robin Hobb follows up her successful "Ship of Magic" with volume 2 in the Liveship Traders Trilogy with the continuing adventures of all the characters introduced in the first volume. The novel, being part two of a trilogy serves to further the development of the characters while, at the same time, setting us up for the grand finale in book 3. And indeed it does. My copy of this book is 850 pages long, obviously quite lengthy for a casual reader. And when combined with two other volumes, each over 800 pages in length, some people may be scared off. However, for serious fiction readers such length is no problem and in fact, with a writer of Ms. Hobb's talent, we frequently wish we could spend even more time with the characters.

This novel boils down the myriads of plot threads in the first book into three basic parts. The first involves the crew of the Liveship Vivacia and its new captain, the pirate Kennitt, who continues to be one of the best-written "bad guys" I have yet encountered. Perhaps, Ms. Hobb's greatest talent as a writer is the believability of the characters. The good guys and bad guys aren't always easily recognizable and sometimes change roles as they respond to certain situations. Just like in real life. Sometimes the good guys stumble and make bad decisions. Once again just like in real life. That goes a long way in suspending our disbelief when we read fantasy stories.

The second plot thread centers on Althea Vestrit, and her attempts to get Paragon, the mad derelict liveship, launched in an attempt to rescue Vivacia from Kennitt. And, finally, the third plot line rests with those members of the Vestrit family that remain behind at Bingtown and are forced to deal with the rising political tensions that threaten to change their way of life forever. It is here that we see the biggest growth of characters as Malta, Althea's younger sister, transforms from a bratty young girl into a take-charge leader due to numerous events that force her to grow up in a hurry. All three plot lines relate to one another but have distinctively different approaches. For example, as much time is devoted to Althea's conflicting romantic feelings for Brashen, her one-time lover, as it is to her approach to launching Paragon. In fact, romance abounds throughout this book as all major characters struggle with their relationships.

In addition, we get to know far more about the sentient sea serpents that inhabit the waters around the ports. The first book used these creatures as a mere sideshow between major sections of the book and frankly seemed little more than teasers. But in this volume, they assume a much larger role, even entering into the action itself. Their future, and just how they relate to the dragons and to the very nature of the magical wizardwood that forms the liveships is more than just hinted at now. By the end of the book, I felt like I had most of what I needed to piece the puzzle together. Ms Hobb has left things just right to urge me toward picking up the third book in the trilogy right away.

Fundamentally, this novel is terrific. There are elements of romance, adventure, intrigue, political overtures, spoiled leaders, young love, sacrifice, mysterious magic, and conflicting loyalties. I found the beginning chapters a bit long and in places I was wishing the action would pick up a bit. It was almost as if the author were looking for the best way to approach the remainder of the story. My rating reflects this desire for a tighter editing process and I feel the book could have been done just as well with a hundred less pages or so. A couple of scenes seemed to simply add girth to the book rather than force the plot along or add depth to the characterization. But these are small matters and more than compensated for by the epic scope of the story. Part three, "Ship of Destiny" should provide a rousing finale.

went through the first two volumes, and collapsed during this one. reminds me of Jordan and his wheel, why does it take 100 pages and 5 chapters for one scene to unfold, and 600 pages for a 10 page story to be told?
the dreaming snakes are so boring, just like the wheel, turns on and on, or like the rock: rolls and rolls, but not much moss
The assassin series was much more efficient... I don't mind descriptions and feelings but repetition and lack of imagination shows too much in this one, Hobb really labored hard to conclude this series...

I've read a few other reviews & only one touched upon the subject, briefly, that book 2 is practically just a huge elaboration on book 1 (my words, not his/hers) It is undoubtedly, still a wonderul read, but I had horrible de-ja-vu right throughout the book & you are left feeling no closer to resolution than when finishing the first book. I also had to keep checking the cover to make sure that I was reading book 2 & not book 1, that's how similar they are. There are some new things in book 2, but it really wouldn't hurt to skip it & go straight to the 3rd book. Now Ship Of Destiny - book 3 is an absolute must!!!! Twists & turns that you never see coming - so refreshing to finally read something where your totally surprised at the outcome of each storyline, but then, that's another review....

This book was very enjoyable to read, as was the first one. But, unlike the Farseer series where I felt everything Fitz was feeling, I don't feel attached to any particular character in this series. Althea is flighty with a huge chip on her shoulder, Brashen is a drug addict, Wintrow is easily brainwashed, and Malta matured way too fast towards the end of the book. Maybe Hobb intended it this way, but I wouldn't feel truly sad if any character died.
The so-called villains in the book are not as well conceived as the Farseer trilogy, either. Kennit comes across as a selfish man driven by profit and power, but not the truly evil person Prince Regal was. Kyle seemed to be the primary villian of the series, and a good one, but apparently Hobb became bored with him. Malta was also on her way to becoming an excellent villainess, but instead she suddenly came of age.
The series is worth reading. The characters are well developed, if a bit unlikeable and wishy-washy. The story concept is very original and the political issues in the book are very complex, if a bit hard to follow.

This is the part where you experience twists in the plot, high adventure and great build-up that one simply can't stop! At the end of this book, I was yearning so badly for the grand finale in book three that I couldn't stop thinking of it.

The build-up was superb as you learn more about the relationship between the characters, the rise and fall of Kennit, the political play between teh Satrap and Bingtown, and most of all, the mysteries surrounding the Rain Wild forest and Paragon.

What is his relationship with Kennit? How did the two crews he carried die at sea, making him insane as he is? Is he truly insane? And about Vivacia and Wintrow... what is happening to her relationship with him, while Kennit seduces her with his temptations....

Mad Ship sets a faster pace for the series leading to a climatic finale to be found in the third and final book of the series. A great continuation and highly recommended!!