A solid middle book for a trilogy. Mad Ship picks up right where Ship of Magic left off. The characters continue to develop and there were a couple surprises. The stories are starting to tie together more. It will be good to see how it all ends.

I do agree with another reviewer in that it seems the middle of the book gets bogged down a little. ( )

Excellent sequel. More character development. The evolution of Malta in particular was a nice surprise. ( )

Pre09:

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. ( )

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. ( )

My Bookspotcentral review ( )

Solid follow-up to the first volume; intriguing characters (including the ships!) ( )

The plot thickens in the second volume of The Liveship Traders. Althea, Brashen and Amber refit Paragon as part of an attempt to regain Vivacia. Kennit's kingly aspirations move forward as he works to sway both Wintrow and Vivacia to his cause. The Vestrits become more firmly entangled with the Rain Wild Traders. And Satrap Cosgo's diplomatic voyage to Bingtown seems destined to begin a war.

This was a fantastic book with tons going on at all times. Hobb excels at developing complex, multi-dimensional characters who grow as their lives change, and they're really what drives this story. Amidst the vivid sea battles and political upheaval that provide the action, it's really the characters that shine forth and draw the reader in. Their storylines intersect and diverge beautifully as the book progresses.

I still found the writing a little loose in places, and the dialogue is occasionally quite stilted, but by neither of these things seemed to matter as much as they did in the first volume. The story is built up so well that it pushes technical concerns to the background.

I highly recommend this, but really encourage you to read Ship of Magic first. This is pretty much a direct continuation of the story; I don't think it would have the same impact unless you've also read the first volume. ( )

From Publishers Weekly
The second book (after Ship of Magic) in Hobbs's Liveship Traders trilogy solidifies the series's promise as a major work of high fantasy, reading like a cross between Tolkein and Patrick O'Brian. Protagonist Althea Vestrit is neither unrealistically beautiful nor mindlessly dauntless. She is a very human character who has her share of doubts as she undertakes to assemble a motley crew of allies (including her former lover, Brashen Trell) to take the blind, insane liveship Paragone to sea in search of the Vestrit family's liveship Vivacia. Meanwhile, Vivacia is enjoying a prosperous career as the flagship of pirate Captain Kennit. In spite of his peg leg, Kennit is a charismatic leader, with a genius for manipulation that his mistress Etta and his prisoner Wintrow Vestrit (Althea's nephew) seem ready to mistake for virtue. And in Bingtown, Wintrow's bratty sister, Malta, finally starts growing up when her family and town face ruin and she must take refuge in the Rain Wild forests. This second installment in the trilogy reveals the connections among liveships, the wizardwood used to build them, the sea serpents and the legendary Rain dragons. Apart from an overly long subplot concerning the feckless young Satrap, the novel is tightly written, with few passages not devoted to characterization, world building or action. Again, Hobb gives high fantasy a salty nautical spin that will please a great many readers. (Apr.) FYI: Robin Hobb is a pseudonym for Megan Lindholm.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. ( )

A phenomenal follow-up to Ship of Magic. The characters really grow in this one, and that stood out to me more than anything else. Hobb's writing is excellent. ( )

While I enjoyed this book very much, I thought it fell just a little short of the first book in the series. Even so, it was nice to see some of the characters change and grow in this book. There was also a good number of unexpected turns to the plot. I'm very much looking forward to seeing how this series gets all wrapped up in the third book. 4.5/5 ( )

http://www.lonelymountain.net/books/o... ( )

It took me a long time to read this - a month - and I really loved it. The growing "big picture" is fascination and more and more of the pieces are falling into place to make the mysteries of the first book seem much clearer. I knew the liveships had a link to the dragons, but I certainly never figured out exactly what it was. ( )

http://rivkat.livejournal.com/126994.... ( )

Robin Hobb is my favorite fantasy author these days, and this is my favorite of her books. It is also the first one I read. The last quarter of this book is truly thrilling, as we see the plot come together into something that startles. I could read the scene where Tintaglia hatches over and over. ( )

http://scooterchronicles.com/2005/02/... ( )

Book 2 and if book 1 was complicated book 2 becomes even more so, looking forward to book 3 ( )