Ship of Destiny (The Liveship Traders, Book 3) | Robin Hobb

Ship of Destiny (The Liveship Traders, Book 3) | Robin Hobb | Satisfying end to an outstanding trilogy

books:

Ship of Destiny (T...

	Ship of Destiny (The Liveship Traders, Book 3) Robin Hobb Spectra, 2001 - 816 pages average customer review:based on 93 reviews view larger image
	for more information click here

highly recommended

In the powerful conclusion to the Liveship Traders trilogy, Robin Hobb weaves the spellbinding story of a once-thriving city on the brink of ruin, a glorious and mythic species on the edge of extinction, and the Vestrit clan, whose destiny is intertwined with both....

As Bingtown slides toward disaster, clan matriarch Ronica Vestrit, branded a traitor, searches for a way to bring the city?s inhabitants together against the Chalcedean threat. Meanwhile, Althea Vestrit, unaware of what has befallen Bingtown and her family, continues her perilous quest to track down and recover her liveship Vivacia from the ruthless pirate Kennit.

Bold though it is, her scheme may be in vain. For her beloved Vivacia will face the most terrible confrontation of all as the secret of the liveships is revealed. It is a truth so shattering, it may destroy Vivacia and all who love her, including the boy-priest Wintrow Vestrit, whose life already hangs in the balance....

for more information click here

Better conclusion than beginning

I thoroughly enjoyed Ship of Destiny. Robin did a great job of not spooning out pap for an ending without completely disenfranchising the main characters. After her treatment of Fitz in the Farseer books I wasn't sure she would. But without making it syrupy she managed to make a beautiful ending to what had often been a sickeningly tragic series.

Ship of Destiny left in the dust any suggestion that this series was slow without sacrificing necessary detail. She also managed to pull the reader back form the brink of suicide without sacrificing plot or drama.

Even knowing Amber's connection to the Tawny Man books, the unfolding of that portion of the book was still touching. The book, indeed the trilogy, in total was moving and beautifully written.

Great read.

for more information click here

Satisfying end to an outstanding trilogy

School is about to start soon and I really need to sate my fantasy appetite soon because staying up really late reading these awesome books for hours at end is not contributing to a successful college education.

Ship of Destiny seems to have put off a lot of readers as being a hasty end; characters change too fast, some become annoying, events are too coincidental, ever-after ending, etc.

All I can say without spoiling too much like some other reviewers below is that this series is 2 stories: one, various people are living far south of the Six Duchies and we see them interact and get on with their lives, and the other relates to the Dragons. The reincarnation of the latter shatters a lot of the status quo for the 1st story and so this 3rd book is different than its predecessors. Yes, people change a lot b.c great things are taking place. Bingtown for instance becomes classic 'war of all against all' - civil society implodes and reduces to a war-zone. The 1st two books were a bit naive so to speak in their narrative since they did not take into account as much the importance of the Serpents' storyline which several reviewers didn't care for sadly. All in all, everything is settled in a "and they lived happily ever after" way but coming from the depressing Farseer trilogy last month I'm pretty glad for this change b.c I have a hunch the Tawny Man trilogy will resume the Farseer tradition.

for more information click here

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.)

for more information click here

Satisfying conclusion to a brilliant series

I'll admit it: I am simply not a big reader of high fantasy. In fact, it was my cousin's insistance that I read this.

Boy, did I enjoy it! Robin Hobb concludes one of the best trilogies I have ever read--genre put aside. After the rush of the first two novels Hobb continues blasting away with a swashbuckling adventure rich with heart and passion.

And it isn't just heart. Hobb is a master of character, and I guess I was simply sentimental about how much every single character has grown.

I am also impressed at the ideas Hobb weaves in. Brilliance beyond brilliance, she puts so many ideas into three simple novels. There is the plot itself, combined with a torrent of political snd moral ideas.

Simply put, this was a truly amazing ending to a wonderful story. Some may not be happy with the fairy tale ending, but that is who I am and I loved it. It was sweeping and romantic and everything a traditional adventure should be.

Best fantasy trilogy around. Period.

for more information click here

A Fine Conclusion to a Very Good Series

Ship of Destiny is a fine and entertaining conclusion to the Liveship Traders series. All of the pieces come together, all of the major subplots are resolved, and pretty much all of our questions are answered. What I really love about Robin Hobb is that she knows how to draw a story to a satisfying finish, unlike certain fantasy writers out there, such as the late Robert Jordan and George R R Martin.

The epic sea battle near the end of Ship of Destiny is particularly well done. The battle goes on for several chapters and is seen through a number of points of view and it does not disappoint.

I was also happy to see that Malta was allowed to grow into a mature and thoughtful character after having been the most unsufferable little brat through the first two books. In fact, many of the characters, at the end of the series, were clearly not the same people they were at the beginning of the series. While this is a laudable literary effort, I'm afraid it did not come off as smoothly as it could have.

In certain characters, Kennit, for example, the changes in character are sudden and inexplicable. Kennit goes from being absolutely sure of himself and is always right to a man who makes rash and stupid mistakes. Yes, Hobb tried to set up this sort of behavior in the first two books, but I personally was never pursuaded by Kennit's moments of self-doubt.

Wintrow, on the other hand, goes from one of the most thoughtful and interesting characters to a complete and total bore. By the second half of the book he's barely there. Similar changes occur to many of the other characters, including Paragon, Vivicia, Reyn, Amber, and even Althea, and I found most of these changes of character to be disappointing and unconvincing.

As noted elsewhere, this book includes the brutal rape of one major character by another. This event is shockingly out of keeping with the rest of the series. Murder and piracy are one thing. That's all good fun. But when you have a rape, well, things get very serious. Only, in this particular book things don't get particularly more serious. The event is largely brushed aside. It is an unnecessary and out-of-place diversion from an otherwise pleasant fantasy.

for more information click here