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Loading... The Mad Shipby Robin HobbLibraryThing recommendationsMember recommendationsLoading...
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will love Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. A solid continuation of the trilogy. Hobbs' strength as a writer is her ability to create complex political and social structures which are just different enough to be intriguing. Her characterisation is certainly strong; yet I never found myself as wrapped up in the characters she depicted here, as strongly drawn as Kennit and the others are, as I did with the Farseer Trilogy. Perhaps it does feel a little too much like a side-trip from the 'main' books, so to speak, since there are definite hi...more A solid continuation of the trilogy. Hobbs' strength as a writer is her ability to create complex political and social structures which are just different enough to be intriguing. Her characterisation is certainly strong; yet I never found myself as wrapped up in the characters she depicted here, as strongly drawn as Kennit and the others are, as I did with the Farseer Trilogy. Perhaps it does feel a little too much like a side-trip from the 'main' books, so to speak, since there are definite hints of how this all ties back to what's occurring in those books. Man, I'm really enjoying this series. When the connections between the sea serpents, the dragons, the liveships and the Rain Wild began to dawn on me, I just got a chill up my back. I love how Hobb slowly develops these fascinating ideas. Such detailed and intricate world building. Another thing at which Hobb excels is character. All the characters are well drawn, but at the same time, they change over time according to their circumstances and situations in ways that ring true to actual human beings. This is a rare, rare thing in any form of fiction, and I can't praise it highly enough. I immediately picked up the next volume in the series and I'm loving it as well. The only downside I have found with these books is they seem to bog down somewhere in the middle, as characters suddenly seem to want to talk everything to death or endlessly argue or psychoanalyse each other. It's almost as if Hobb doesn't trust the reader to get everything that is going on, so for the slow readers she takes a break midway through to explain it all. You've already shown it, just keep going with the story. Solid follow-up to the first volume; intriguing characters (including the ships!) 0.070 seconds to build listing
Amazon.com (ISBN 0553575643, Mass Market Paperback)Robin Hobb returns to the sea with Mad Ship, the second book in a projected trilogy set in the same world as her famed Farseer series. Many unresolved questions from Ship of Magic are answered in this tale of sea serpents and dragons; living ships made of wizardwood; the Bingtown Trader families who sail the ships; and their disfigured cousins, the Rain Wild Traders, who build them.The Vestritt family's liveship, Vivacia, has been taken by Kennit, an ambitious pirate. Captain Haven is a prisoner; his son Wintrow, who bears the Vestritt blood, finds himself competing with Kennit for Vivacia's love as she becomes a pirate ship. Althea Vestritt, in training to become Vivacia's captain, arrives home to discover her beloved ship lost. Brashen Trell, her old friend and shipmate, proposes that they sail to Vivacia's rescue in the liveship Paragon, who has lost two previous crews and is believed mad. Malta, Althea's niece, seeks help from her suitor, the Rain Wild Trader Reyn, whose family is the Vestritt's major creditor. Meanwhile, the sea serpents who follow sailing ships struggle to remember their history and return to their place of transformation. Each volume in this series is a major undertaking, but those who enjoy original, epic fantasy, characters who grow and change believably, and fine writing will not want to miss The Liveship Traders. --Nona Vero (retrieved from Amazon Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:58:01 -0400) The first test round has been closed. Visit the Open Shelves Classification group for details. |
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This comment goes for the whole trilogy:
Characters: Just loved the cast. I loved the troubled family. I loved the aspiring pirates. They all were real and touchable.
Plot: Very solid. Political upheaval. Reasonable family strife.
Style: So epic yet relateble. Not sure how the author made that juxtaposition work. (