Ship of Destiny

I really hated Assasin's Apprentice and I was fully prepared to write Robin Hobb off forever but I have to concede that this trilogy was good . I felt so emotionally invested in most of our characters and I was gratified by their growth at the end.

I just find that there are still some aspects of the book that I find troubling and that's why despite enjoying it I couldn't rate it five stars. I'm going to try more Hobb now that I know they are not all like Assasin's Apprentice.

Wow. I'm glad that's finished. There were too many characters to follow toward the end. She does a good job of making some of them seem unsympathetic at first then you root for them in the end. I might take a break before I start the next series. Like I said, too many characters and threads in the story.

It is hard to rate and review this book. You just can not enjoy this book if you have not read the first two. The series does not break up well. As it is, with three books, the many stories that are being told in parallel are not all finished. So much more could be done with these characters and part of the world. There is a bit of the world from Realm of the Elderlings that connects this series to the Assassin series' but it could be separated.

Robin creates characters that have interesting and strong beliefs and behaviors but sometimes does not get to tell enough of their story, enough of their background, enough little arcs, to make this series stand strong. I think it is because there is so much going on. Too many unique characters and communities with their own mythologies. It just can't be tied with a bow after three books.