Ship of Magic

Guys, Robin Hobb is a master at her craft and has been inducted into my imaginary Fantasy Writer HOF. This book was stunning.

Set in the same world as The Farseer Trilogy, but far away from the Duchies, we follow a family of traders who own a Liveship. A Liveship is basically an anthropomorphic ship that is created using a very rare wood called wizardwood, and then quickened by having 3 people from successive generations die on it's deck. Liveships are incredibly pricey. When the Vestrit family's Liveship is quickened, the youngest daughter Althea expects to inherit. However, her mother convinces her father to pass it on to Althea's brother-in-law. What follows is an expansive adventure as different branches of this family go their separate ways.

Guys, Hobb doesn't pull any punches. I always say a book needs stakes in order for me to enjoy it. And boy oh boy did this one have stakes. I felt so personally connected to every one of these characters. I was really nervous going into this book because it doesn't follow the same characters as The Farseer Trilogy, but I honestly think this book is better than the first 2 books in the Farseer Trilogy, and probably about tied with the last book. This book is definitely longer than the books in that series, and I totally understand why. By the end, I felt like these characters were my family and I was rooting for them every step of the way. They all had such well developed character arcs, and I am dying to continue.

I loved seeing the difference in this society than the society in the Duchies, as well as their opinions on that area. I also really loved exploring more of the magic in this world. Whenever something connected back to the farseer trilogy, this was me.

The tie ins were few and far between, but still made me very excited. I'm sure I missed a few too.

All in all, Robin Hobb is amazing and I will read all of her books.

CW: ableism, abusive relationship, alcohol, amputation, assault, blood, bones, bullying, child abuse, death, drugs, gore, misogyny, murderer, needles, physical abuse, profanity, sexism, slavery, terminal illness, violence