Robin Hobb: Ship of Destiny (2000)

Edition: Voyager, 2000
Review number: 953

In the final volume in her extremely lengthy Liveship Traders trilogy, Hobb knits the complex threads of her narrative back together in a skilful and exciting way, even if some questions remain unanswered (notably that of why the success of pirates in attacking slave ships should coincide with agitation among the sea serpents, which are the events that motivate the entire trilogy).

Like the second book, The Mad Ship, Ship of Destiny contains few surprises; the major new element is the discovery of the origins of pirate leader Kennit. Most of the story concerns the four sided war between the satrapy of Jamailla, its virtually independent colony at Bingtown which is the home port of the live ships, the slavers of Chalced and the pirates. Much of the action takes place at sea, and it is clear that a major motivation of the novel is a desire to replicate something of the atmosphere of the novels about the eighteenth century British navy by writers like C.S. Forester and Patrick O'Brien in a fantasy context. Ship of Destiny succeeds best in reaching this aim, but it still for me falls somewhat short. The descriptions don't make me feel that Hobb has the feel for the details that Forester and O'Brien had.

As a trilogy, The Liveship Traders is less successful than Hobb's first, the Farseer series. It is less brutal, and has fewer surprises, and its second novel is a let down. Ship of Destiny provides an interesting ending, and there is much to enjoy here, but Hobb has proved already that she can do better.

Robin Hobb: The Mad Ship (1999)

Edition: Voyager, 1999
Review number: 903

The second of the Liveship Traders trilogy is Hobb's poorest novel to date, the only one in which the reader becomes conscious that it is very long. The story, like many mid-series fantasy novels, continues that of Ship of Magic without introducing any new elements and this, combined with the diffuse nature of the narrative (alternating between the main characters) is what makes it less gripping.

Some issues which are not perhaps properly thought out become more obvious in the novel, as there is less of interest to distract the reader. Structurally, the most important of these is that no particular reason is given why events coincide, the coalescence of the pirates as a nation opposed to the slave trade at the same moment that there is upheaval among the sea serpents. Unless these events are connected (which may of course be only established in the third part of the trilogy), there is no reason why they should coincide.

It is only at the very end, in the strange city of Trehang in the trees over the Rain Wild River that The Mad Ship comes to life, with scenes of some power in the ruined chambers of the Elderlings beneath it. This is Hobb back up to her usual standard, and so she hooks the persistent reader once more to get them to go on to the third volume.

Robin Hobb: Ship of Magic (1998)

Edition: Voyager, 1999
Review number: 786

Though set in the same world as the Farseer trilogy, Ship of Magic has almost a completely independent background; there are only two or three references to the places and events of those novels. The main part of the action is based in the port of Bingtown, home to the liveships. These are made of wizardwood, and come alive ("quicken") three generations after being built, having a special relationship to the family that commissioned them and abilities as ships which make them extremely valuable.

There are two important liveships in Ship of Magic. The first, the Vivancia, the magic ship of the title, is just on the point of quickening with the death of the current head of the Vestrit family, and will immediately become the focus of bitter feuding. The second is quite a dire warning of what might happen; Paragon is a still living ship which is being allowed to rot in Bingtown harbour because of a reputation for ill luck and madness. He (nicknamed Pariah) is a pathetic character, bitter about his fate and handicapped by blindness (after someone took an axe to the ship's figurehead).

Surrounding theses two ships are a fair number of characters, and the cast is rounded off by a group of pirates who want to capture a liveship. Despite the large number of people in the novel, Hobb manages to bring it alive and keep it from becoming confusing. It does initially seem to be less involving than the Farseer novels, but picks up reasonably quickly to convince this reader, at least, to continue with the series.