Ship of Destiny (The Liveship Traders, Book 3): Harper

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The dragon, Tintaglia, released from her wizardwood coffin, flies high over the Rain Wild River. Below her, Reyn and Selden have been left to drown; while Malta and the Satrap attempt to navigate the acid flow of the river in a decomposing boat. Now Sam and his crew must elude capture by the Guardians, find some means of reprogramming their own star drive, and then return to the Cottohazz with the news of a powerful new civilization bent on their destruction. But they may also be carrying the secrets of the origin of their own star drive and of the path to immortality. Robin Hobb is the author of three well-received fantasy trilogies: The Farseer Trilogy (Assassin’s Apprentice, Royal Assassin, and Assassin’s Quest), The Liveship Traders Trilogy (Ship of Magic, Mad Ship and Ship of Destiny) and the Tawny Man Trilogy (Fool’s Errand, Golden Fool, and Fool’s Fate) Her current work in progress is entitled Shaman’s Crossing. Robin Hobb lives and works in Tacoma, Washington, and has been a professional writer for over 30 years.

Ship of Destiny is a book by American writer Robin Hobb, the third and last in her Liveship Traders Trilogy. On the whole I would say this is a series I'd recommend to anyone who loves fantasy and wonderful characters because truly it is character-focused. Whilst this book had more of a political emphasis than some of the previous ones it didn't lose my interest or irritate me with the amount of politics shown because it still focused in on those characters we know and love. Althea and Brashen are finally at sea together, sailing the liveship Paragon into pirate waters to rescue the Vestrit family liveship, Vivacia, stolen by the pirate king Kennit; but there is mutiny brewing in their ragtag crew; and in the mind of the mad ship itself. And all the while the waters around the Vivacia are seething with giant serpents, following the liveship as it sails to its destiny. I can't finish this review without making a stand. If you are an impatient reader (which I am) this series is not for you. The Realm of the Elderlings series is full of books that are long, detailed, and slow prosed. They are meant to be savored and unless you have been warned like I was (thank you hubby), you won't enjoy them. You will think why are all these details important? Why does it matter? I would answer that the key is most of the time in the details. Do you begrudge me that I am who I truly am? Should I pretend otherwise for the sake of pleasing you? If I did, it would be a lie. Would you rather love a lie than know me as I truly am?”For the sake of clarity, the ranking above is entirely subjective and only based on what ships I consider cool. But the true objective of this list is to offer you a single place in which you can easily see every exotic ship at a glance yourself and decide which ones YOU like. Althea sets off on Paragon, serving as second hand. Although she performs well, the crew is opposed to her on account of her gender. However, after one sailor's attempt to rape her and Althea's subsequent beating of him and almost throwing him overboard, she earns the crew's respect and eventually rekindles her relationship with Brashen, now captain. After Kennit's death, Althea has a claim on Vivacia, but gives it up in favor of Wintrow so that she can stay with Brashen aboard Paragon. Still suffering from the trauma of Kennit's rape, Althea struggles to become intimate with Brashen once more, but when Paragon helps take the pain of the memory away, she and Brashen are able to finally love one another without restriction.

No.” He contradicted her flatly. “Now I sound like myself. The self I put aside and hid, the self I intended to be again someday, when I was ready. I have stopped intending. I am, now.” a b Clute, John (October 29, 2021). "Hobb, Robin". In Clute, John; etal. (eds.). The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction (3rded.). Gollancz. Crane, Ralph; Fletcher, Lisa (2017). "An Imaginary Water World: Robin Hobb's The Liveship Traders Trilogy". Island Genres, Genre Islands: Conceptualisation and Representation in Popular Fiction. Rowman & Littlefield International. ISBN 978-1-78348-207-8. Malta is, perhaps, the character that will go furthest in this. (Excluding Amber of course.) Her path has been intertwined with that of the dragons. Her development was wonderful; she went from an annoying brat to someone with real character: she grew up. Some of the other characters had semi-predictable endings. With her it was fairly surprising. Overall, this was a good ending to a good trilogy. I’m looking forward to seeing how Hobb uses elements of this in later books.

If you feel – like me – that characters are the true magic of a story, it is only logical to declare Hobb a magician. All of her characters, not just the MCs, are just so deep and realistic; they feel like real people. You love them, you hate them and you feel anything in between. Seriously, the way she basically “jaime lannisters” some of her characters, making you root for them after initially deeply disliking them, is nothing short of extraordinary. (Malta Vestrit is the most notable example that comes to mind.) Hobb's writing in the Liveship Traders novels has sometimes been compared to fellow author George R. R. Martin's works, with both their best-known works published during the late 1990s. [6] While their series are considered more realistic than most epic fantasy, they differ in how they depict said realism. [7] According to scholar Sylvia Borowska-Szerszun, Martin's work focuses on the brutality and violence of its realism, while Hobb's narrative focuses more on the psychological aspects of trauma, including that arising from violence and rape. [8] Themes [ edit ] Still, for all the dark and uncomfortable places we are forced to travel there are also some glorious moments,. Like the rise of the dragon Tintaglia, soaring and hunting and doing battle. Also the growth of the mad ship Paragon, arguably the character who develops the most through the series. The inspirational writer is best known for her trilogies set in the Realm of the Elderlings. The Farseer Trilogy Sam Bitka, a naval reserve officer, is recalled to wartime service and soon earns a reputation for aggressive tactics and insufficient deference to his academy-graduated superiors. His latest run-in with authority earns him a transfer to command of an armed transport, USS Cam Ranh Bay.

An amazing book once more and a great conclusion to the trilogy (unlike that of the Farseer books) and so I would say it's a solid 5*s and a highly recommended read. Malta is alive, but damaged — a wound to her head is bearing for fruit a disfiguring scar. Her beauty suddenly taken from her, the difficult girl comes into her own as a young woman, finding within herself a burning desire to make the most of her life. Held captive with the petulant figurehead ruler of Jamaillia known as the Magnadon Satrap, she discovers that her worth to their captors is only as high as her erstwhile companion's. When they are taken from the treacherous Chalcedeans by a ship of Kennit's pirate fleet, Malta takes a desperate gambit to not only preserve her own life but to try to salvage her ruined family. This author knows how to end a series well. It’s one thing to end a story well, another to end a book well and entirely a different thing to end a trilogy well- especially one as massive and variegated as this one was. Hobb is the master of this craft. She has a delicate balance of action, dialogue and characterization that caused me to become invested in the story, and more importantly to me, in the characters.If I have to say what I disliked about this book, I would have to say it had to do with where the story went with Kennit. I felt it was a wasted use of an antihero. I'm also not sure I liked the new Vivacia but I guess it had to happen. I’ve praised Hobb on her characterizations strength in all my review of her books so far and I envisioned you’re going to see this as an occurring event. Hobb is seriously superb in developing her characters, especially in this trilogy. Almost every single character ended up playing a role that gave the story its own charm and none of the characters in this trilogy ended up the same way from their first appearance; I mean it, every single character has gone through their own battle and struggles that changed them, for better or worse. I had a problem with the serpents' POV in the first and second book, they felt completely unnecessary, but in here it all finally made sense why they were necessary. The only character that remains the same was Amber and there’s a special reason for that.