Library of a Viking's Reviews > Ship of Magic

I AM SO HAPPY TO BE READING MORE HOBB

Last year I read The Farseer trilogy and fell in love with Hobb’s writing, character work and world-building. The Liveship Traders trilogy is one of my priority series to read and finish in 2022. I have frequently heard that The Liveship Traders is even better than Farseer, which made me excited to read it. So what did I think?

Firstly, let me start by saying that judging only from Ship of Magic, I can’t see any reasons why this book couldn’t be a good starting point to The Realm of the Elderlings. This book has some VERY minor hints to the events in The Farseer trilogy. However, the whole cast is new, and this story is set far away from the events in The Farseer trilogy. However, my opinion about the reading order might change when I have read the other two books.

That being said, I LOVED this book so much. It is definitely one of my favourite reads of 2022 and is arguable my favourite Hobb book. It is baffling how talented Robin Hobb is. While The Farseer trilogy is a single first-person POV story, The Liveship Traders is told through multiple third-person POVs. Although the writing style is different, Ship of Magic has some of the best characterisations and writing I have read. Hobb’s prose truly speaks to my soul!

Not surprisingly, Hobb is able to craft some of the most compelling and complex characters I have come across in fantasy. Hobb does a terrific job fleshing out each character and making them feel realistic and compelling. Consequently, Hobb has crafted some of the most despicable characters I have come across. I can’t even start to describe the feelings Kyle evoked in me. A horrible, horrible human. Hobb’s ability to make the reader either care or hate specific characters is near unrivalled. It is no wonder why people call Hobb “the queen of fantasy”. Consequently, Hobb expands on the world by introducing new locations, fantastical creatures, magic and talking ships!

However, in typical Hobb fashion, Ship of Magic is very slow-paced. Hobb enjoys taking her time fleshing out all the characters, the locations and the world. If you don’t enjoy slow-burn books, it is probably not worth picking up this book.

Ship of Magic is already one of my favourite reads of 2022. If you enjoyed The Farseer Trilogy, I can highly recommend checking out this book! Especially if you enjoy character-driven stories with beautiful writing.

5 / 5 stars