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Summary: Jeez Louise!
Review: I stayed up late to finish the book and was late to work the next day. You can see the professional reviews and I don't want to spoil it for you. The characters are real. The author doesn't just paint a scene, she uses colour, scent, tactile, flavour, heft, and duration. Unlike a classic hero epic, her heros grow up during the Quest and learn from the adversity of it. The "bad guys" aren't evil incarnate, they're like some sods I used to work for. I wish the author God Speed, Good Luck, and hurry up with the next book please!!!!!
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Summary: Robin Hobb is a master story teller.
Review: I was absolutely taken away by the Farseer Trilogy, and the Liveship Traders does not appear to be any different. Most fantasy books focus on the happy ending scenario, but Robin Hobb, in her last trilogy, touched on the baser elements of society and humankind. Fitz did not end up living happily ever after, and that alone made her story unique annd compelling. Robert Jordan needs to be weary of her, because she can, and probably will, steal his fan base.
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Summary: Absolutely Incredible!
Review: I came on here, expecting to find perhaps a few advance reviews of Mad Ship by magazines; instead, I found four letters by her readers praising her previous works. They will certainly not be disappointed. Mad Ship flows seemlessly from Ship of Magic; the plot is continued from exactly where it left off, but it's embellished. Secrets are revealed, only to create an even messier situation and even more questions. New characters are introduced to the cast: the Satrap Cosgo, his Companion of the Heart (and, to his great dissatisfaction, not of the Flesh) the lady Serilla, and a great many not-so-mythical creatures. Throughout the entire 700-page length, Robin Hobb pulls off incredible stunts that most authors fail at. She radically changes the personalities of her characters while still keeping them believable, leaving the reader guessing as to their fates. Though she constantly is tweaking the movements of the characters and pushing them into unforeseen directions, they are all believable, and all quite understandable. Layer upon layer of complications are revealed, but unlike most authors, none of them are thrown on simply to make the readers buy her next book, Ship of Destiny. Mad Ship is an incredible ride, perhaps one of the best books I've ever read. Get it, at whatever cost you must. And if you're reading this, Hello Megan ;)
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Summary: best author out there
Review: Robin Hobb, aka Megan Lindholm, is one of the best current writers. Her Farseer Saga was amazing, and The Liveship Traders follows that path. An extremely addicting author, i have read all her books several times. Highly recommended.
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Summary: Every one of her books is a delight!
Review: I await the second book with baited breath. The first in the Liveship Traders trilogy was wonderfully detailed and had an entralling story. I definately recommend this book to anyone who likes fantasy, history, romance... Her attention to detail and her deep characters make me want to read her books again and again! Her Farseer Trilogy was just as good. Look into those also.
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Summary: Robin Hobb writes characters with depth...
Review: I have been reading fantasy since the age of 8 or 9 and earlier this year, at 19, I had begun to compile a list of authors whose work stands above the rest in story, characterization, originality, and imagery but is nonetheless not difficult to get through. Guy Gavriel Kay was the first author I read and it was his writing which encouraged me to journey into the land of fanatasy/sci-fi. This was followed by mediocre work until I discovered Tad Williams' remarkable ability to weave a magnificent plot with unusual characters. Then I discovered George R.R. Martin's work among others. However, after reading the assassin trilogy by Hobb, that list of amazing authors began to dissipate in my mind. It has taken many years for an author to so involove me in a story that I dream about it every night for days.(the last time that happened was a delerious fever that I had during TIGANA by G.G.Kay, that name burned into my brain forever...) The first novel in the Liveship Traders series by Hobb, Ship of Magic, exceeded all of my expectations for a sci-fi/fantasy work. IMHO, I believe the best science fiction and fantasy, in order to be of value, must address human and/or worldly issues and not simply provide a means of escapism. Ask any English major and they will tell you one of the largest sources of drama is human drama(man vs. man, man vs. nature, vs. himself, supernatural, etc..) Fantasy and sci-fi simply provide the ideal atmosphere or environment to demonstrate your point, especially concerning issues which are not easily addressable during everyday human existence. No matter how gifted the author, I still knew in the most cynical part of my brain at the back of my head it was fantasy and, in most cases, unrealistic. Robin Hobb transcended that belief with characters I either became, or loved deeply, a setting so real I would have visual flashbacks during MILD drug experimentation months later, and a plot so cleverly contrived to rival the most intricate political novel or the most mysterious detective novel. In short: If you have not read Robin Hobb, start with the assassin trilogy, but remember, the best is yet to come, and if you have, I highly reccommend Guy Gavriel Kay's Tigana, and George R.R. Martin's A Game of Thrones. I appreciate your responses. Mike Spendlove ilike2spendlove@hotmail.com
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Summary: Isn't anyone else excited about her ?
Review: The farseer trilogy was fantastic . The liveship traders managed to improve on that . Hobbs is in many ways comparable to George R.R. Martin . Sometimes her prose exceeds anything I have ever read . It is not epic fantasy like Feist or Jordan or Eddings , being on an even smaller scale than Martin , but while the scale is small , it is possibly as rich as Jordan , as fluid and natural as Martin ,as expressive as Terry Pratchett ,and with characterisation that exceeds any of the above ,because she manages to put herself into her many characters' perspectives and express each of their convoluted thought or concept as few other writers can . I haven't read book 2 yet but I wanted to be the first to lavish praise on it . Buy it the 1st second it's out .U cannot possibly regret it .
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Summary: Worthy continuation of Ship of Magic.
Review: Robin Hobb, Mad Ship (Bantam, 1999)
Hobb continues on with the second book in the Liveship Traders series, picking up where she left off with Ship of Magic. Mad Ship continues the development of the characters found in Ship of Magic, bringing some of the book's minor characters to the forefront. While this, like the previous book, is an ensemble piece, the book focuses on the liveship Paragon, beached and abandoned by his family for the past thirty years. Of course, "focuses" is something of a stretch in a piece of this magnitude; there is much to be kept track of with Kennit, Wintrow, Althea, Brashen, Malta and her competing suitors, and the rest of the storylines. That Hobb can keep it all up in the air without dropping anything is quite a feat.
If there is a weak spot in the novel, it's in the development of Malta Vestrit. Her character's development may be shown as plainly as that of any other character in the novel (for all of them develop and change over time), but for some reason I can't quite put my finger on, Malta's changes ring false at times, as if they're too facile. Still, that's a very small number of pages in such a tome, and it definitely shouldn't put you off reading this.
Hobb is rapidly developing into one of today's finer fantasy authors. Definitely one to look out for. *** ½
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Summary: Sail on, dear Reader!
Review: This is one of those books where you just want to bang a couple of characters upside the head and shout, "Will you two just hop into the sack and get it over with!" Other than a certain frustration with the romantic pace, "Mad Ship" is hypnotic reading. Even for someone who has to wear an anti-nausea patch on her neck on a slow old tub of a ferry and who would certainly not care for weevils in her biscuits, author Robin Hobb makes me want to sing: "Whate'er the final harbor be /'T is good to sail upon the sea!"
There are no final harbors in "Mad Ship" as it is the second book in the trilogy "Liveship Traders." All of the characters who survived "Ship of Magic" are further developed, even (or most especially) the sea serpents who finally sort out who they are, but not where they're going---they don't actually figure that out until Book III. As I said, there are no final harbors in the middle book, just lots of pain and suffering and personal development. The main character from Book I, Althea Vestrit develops the least, merely bangs about on the high seas in an attempt to return to her liveship, Vivacia with whom she had mystically bonded. Vivacia herself falls in love with the pirate king ('it is it is a wonderful thing...') Kennit who has captured her. The pirate is also holding Althea's nephew, Wintrow (the somewhat wimpy would-be priest) hostage, along with Wintrow's hateful father (who doesn't develop at all, just remains despicable through all three books).
Althea's niece Malta, who was an absolute bitch (she could have played one of the Plastics in "Mean Girls") in Book I grows remarkably interesting in "Mad Ship," mainly through losing her father, her family's fortune, and (almost) her life. She has to flee Bingtown and live with the mutant Rain Wild River Traders in their tree houses and sunken Elder city. Here there be dragons and other fascinating creatures, and Malta and her brother Selden survive quakes, cave-ins, hallucinations, a whiny Satrap, and (in Malta's case) true love.
Paragon, the mad ship of the title unwillingly sails again, still uttering an occasional threat to murder his crew--not idle talk on his part as he did kill his first two crews. He tangles with the sea serpents, and with all of us readers who finally begin to realize what live ships really are. Author Robin Hobb brings it on slowly through 850 pages, but does not spoil her climax with too many hints.
Sail on, dear Reader to Book III, "Ship of Destiny." You won't be needing your anti-nausea patch.
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Summary: Twists and turns
Review: I should admit that I had some initial difficulties with Mad Ship. There are a *lot* of main characters, and I kept being lazy and wanting to put the book down because I felt lost and did not want to bother finding the thread again. My experience, at least, was that once I persevered through the first quarter of the book all the different voices fell together rather neatly and I was no longer bothered by the multitude of characters.
While it may be a flaw that it took me time to reconcile the different people, it is most certainly one of the major strengths of Robin Hobb that she manages to handle so many well-developed characters in a novel/series. I was delighted with the way these characters grew and matured. I found it both realistic and well-written. For example, it would be very tempting to leave Althea and Malta difficult and immature for the sake of the plot, and it was very nice that Hobb did not take the easy way out and do this. The two women matured as much as two stubborn natures would be expected to, given their respective backgrounds and the situations in which they found themselves. I had the feeling that the plot unfolded naturally from the nature of the characters and the conditions of the fantasy world, and that is exactly as it should be in fantasy fiction.
The end of this book had just enough resolution to make it more than the middle piece in a trilogy. It stood well in its own right as a novel, which is something most writers consistently fail to do with Book 2. Mad Ship also introduced enough new elements (Dragons!) to provide promise that the final book will deliver a number of surprises.
Hobb is one of the best fantasy writers currently working and this book stands well as an example of her work. She is a literate and mature writer with demonstrable mastery of her craft. I look forward to reading book 3.
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