The Mad Ship by Robin Hobb (The Liveship Traders: Book 2)

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Rating 9.9/10

A spell-binding story full of wonderful characters and intrigue.

The Liveship Traders series continues with the second book, The Mad Ship. Althea Vestrit continues her quest to reclaim her rightful inheritance, the liveship Vivacia. The Vivacia has been seized by pirates led by the enigmatic Kennit, a man who believes that destiny leads him to become King of the Pirate Isles. The Vestrit family are nearing financial ruin which leads them closer to the mysterious Rain Wild Traders who own the ship. Amidst these events the mad ship, Paragon is once again launched despite the history of death and despair that surrounds him.

The Mad Ship is another wonderful book by Robin Hobb; it builds upon the excellent Ship of Magic and further develops the storyline and the characters whilst adding exciting new plot lines. Robin Hobb is arguably one of the finest exponents of fantasy literature around today and the attention to detail within her books is highly impressive.

The reasons that I hold Robin Hobb’s work in such high regard are the multi-dimensional characters, staggering consistency and her complete understanding of how beautiful the English language can be when used correctly. The Mad Ship sees major developments in both the characters and storyline and in particular the greater detail offered on the Rain Wild Traders and the Satrapy of Jamelia. A refreshing aspect of these books is the strength and status of the females within the stories, no longer are they relegated to the roles of support players but are now major characters, pivotal to the story as a whole.

The Vestrit family, Wintrow aside can be somewhat irritating but this is yet again due to the quality of the writing that these characters are so believable and have the same flaws that make people unpopular in real life. I know that Robin Hobb herself grew up in a fishing community and I wonder if her real life experiences have aided her in making everything so realistic. Robin Hobb must be a great people observer and she gets behaviour spot on, if she means for them to be annoying then they are.

Mystery plays a large part in the Liveship Traders books, unanswered questions keeping you hooked till the very last page – Who are the sea serpents? What is there history, what are they and what can they become? The Rain Wild Traders, what is there story? Why are they disfigured? Why has Paragon had his face chopped to pieces? What happened when his entire crew died? These are the questions that kept me reading, looking forward to the answers. The answers do come, but not all in the same book. This is why Ship of Destiny is a must read when the reader expects everything to become clear.

Robin Hobb is fantasy writer right at the top of her profession. The Mad Ship builds upon the Ship of Magic and improves the trilogy even further, a spell-binding story full of wonderful characters and intrigue.

The Mad Ship: Book Two of The Liveship Traders (Amazon.co.uk)

Author: Robin Hobb
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Number of pages: 901
Publication date: 2008-02-04
Publisher: Harper Voyager

RRP: £8.99
Lowest new price: £3.36
Lowest used price: £1.61

The magic and mayhem continue in this thrilling second instalment of Hobb's new series.
Product Description

The Mad Ship (Liveship Traders) (Amazon.co.uk)

Author: Robin Hobb
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Number of pages: 901
Publication date: 2000-03-06
Publisher: Voyager

RRP: $16.50
Lowest new price: $5.94
Lowest used price: $3.24

The magic and mayhem continue in this thrilling second instalment of Hobb's new series. Althea Vestrit has found a new home aboard the liveship Ophelia, but she lives only to reclaim the Vivacia as her rightful inheritance. However, the Vivacia has been captured by the pirate, 'King' Kennit, and is acquiring a keen bloodlust. Meanwhile in Bingtown, the fading fortunes of the Vestrit family lead Malta deeper into the magical secrets of the mysterious Rain Wilds Traders. And just outside Bingtown, Amber dreams of relaunching the Paragon, The Mad Ship! The second volume in this superb trilogy from the author of THE FARSEER TRILOGY continues the dramatic tale of piracy, serpents, love and magic.
Product Description

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