Mad Ship (The Liveship Traders, Book 2) | Robin Hobb | Book two is just as good as book one!

Mad Ship (The Liveship Traders, Book 2) | Robin Hobb | Nautical Masterpiece

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Mad Ship (The Live...

	Mad Ship (The Liveship Traders, Book 2) Robin Hobb Spectra, 2000 - 864 pages average customer review:based on 107 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

In the second breathtaking volume of Robin Hobb's Liveship Traders trilogy, a new tide of glory and terror sweeps forward the story of the Vestrit clan, their liveship Vivacia, and all who strive to possess her.

As the ancient tradition of Bingtown's Old Traders slowly erodes under the cold new order of a corrupt ruler, the Vestrits anxiously await the return of their liveship--a rare magic ship carved from sentient wizardwood, which bonds the ships mystically with those who sail them. And Althea Vestrit waits even more avidly, living only to reclaim the ship as her lost inheritance and captain her on the high seas. But the Vivacia has been seized by the ruthless pirate captain Kennit, who holds Althea's nephew and his father hostage. Althea and her onetime sea mate Brashen resolve to liberate the liveship--but their plan may prove more dangerous than leaving the Vivacia in Kennit's ambitious grasp....

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Book two is just as good as book one!

This second book of the series is just as meaty and intruiging as the first. It pulls you in and keeps you reading well into the wee hours! The characters are so rich and full, you really come to care about them and their lives. A very well written bridge book for the series.

Nautical Masterpiece

I am sadly growing addicted to this trilogy. I suppose that is a good thing. While I was never a huge fan of adult fantasy, I have always had a thing for the nautical. The original book of this trilogy "Ship of Magic", was absolutely divine, but still pretty much a set-up. Here, the action truly begins to come forth in an incredibly imaginative plot full of twists, dimensional characters, and good ol' swashbuckling fun (the latter being pretty much the best thing about the ship; how many authors can take such strange and serious ideas and still keep up classic pirate aura?)Hobb balances multiple character perspectives--which carries the worry of slighting the characters. However, every perspective carries a punch for its shortness.The ideas are wonderful, the writing neat and moody, and it all works with an exciting story not without a few moralistic concepts.Perfect reading for anyone who craves a solid adventure.

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So much better!!

I nearly quit book one. If I hadn't already loved Robin Hobb I think I would have. Book one was slow to develop and horribly depressing. Nothing ever went right for anyone! Sure, plenty of that is necessary but can't someone catch a break every now and then???

They finally did in Mad Ship. Even better, the "bad guys" became more complex and compelling. Mad ship was the perfect balance of building drama and satisfying plot and character development. Robin's writing, as always, is beautiful and flows nicely. Mad Ship was not slow at all.

As a second book in a trilogy it was one of the better ones. I wish it had a more complete ending as a separate book. Robin did manage a complete ending to the second book of the Farseer trilogy so she's obviously capable of it, but I can overlook that failing when I have book three right at hand.

I'm so incredibly glad that Mad Ship became everything I'd wanted Ship of Magic to be.

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Finally, a series worthly to rival "The Lord of the Rings"

Robin Hobb is a master of story weaving. I am not especially fond of fantasy, but after a friend turned me on to the Assassins Apprentice series, we embarked on subsequent writings including the Liveship Traders and Tawny Man series. To maximize the effect of these interwoven novels, read them in that order (ie., The Farseer Trilogy, the Liveship Traders Series, and the Tawny Man Series.) The depth of the stories, as well as the richness and development of the characters easily rivals my all-time favorite series, The Lord of the Rings. Robin's work is truly a mastery of story telling. In fact, the only complaint I could conceive with her books is that they are too detailed (much in the same fashion of The Lord of the Rings.)

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Swashbuckling magical sea story

This is the middle novel of the "Liveship Traders" trilogy ("Ship Of Magic"), a fantasy saga of seagoing trading families bonded to sentient liveships made of rare wizardwood.

The Vestritt liveship, Vivacia, which had been taken from Althea Vestritt by her brother-in-law and turned to slave dealing, has been seized by the ambitious, slavery hating pirate Kennitt, further destroying the deteriorating finances of the Vestritt family.

Althea, with the help of the disinherited but dashing Brashen and the self-possessed outsider Amber, decides to go after Vivacia in the mad liveship Paragon, which has destroyed his previous crews and been beached for years.

The story moves from the traders' homeland of Bingtown, a place of Victorian propriety, to the disturbing magical land of the Rain Wilders where wizardwood is found, to the opulent corruption of the Satrap whose feckless greed is destroying his realm, to the seagoing adventures of Vivacia, her reluctant young Vestritt sailor Wintrow and her ruthless new captain Kennitt and, not least, to the undersea world of the great serpents who are mysteriously losing their minds and memories.

Basically a swashbuckling romantic sea story with magical properties and ethical strife, Hobb's story is only slightly marred by overwritten human quarreling. The grand adventure entertains but interested readers will have to look for the third installment, "Ship of Destiny," to see how it all comes out.

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