Ship of Destiny

In "Ship of Destiny", Hobb brings The Liveship Traders trilogy to its astonishing conclusion, allows her characters to continue their remarkably realistic evolution and neatly ties up all the necessary threads yet leaves us with the certain knowledge that this is a very dynamic world indeed with a formidable, magnificent history that has yet to be achieved and written. The story opens with Malta's narrow escape with the mewling Satrap Cosgo after "She Who Remembers" is released from her wizardwood cocoon prison and transformed into the magnificent dragon Tintaglia. Her fiancé, Reyn, and her brother, Selden, are hopelessly trapped underground attempting to find her. Ronica Vestrit, the matriarch of the family, remains a pillar of strength in Bingtown, facing not only complete loss of the family's fortune but also subject to accusations that she was a leading player in the conspiracy against the Satrap and the primary cause of the Chalcedean's relentless attack against the town. Althea and Brashen, sailing on the wildly unpredictable liveship Paragon continue their hunt for the liveship Vivacia, unaware she has been commandeered by Kennit and is now the flagship of his pirate fleet. The story climaxes in a spectacular naval royal rumble in the seas off the Cursed Shores with Althea, Brashen and Amber aboard Paragon supported by their newfound Jamaillian allies taking on Vivacia, with her identity and personality transformed into that of a most angry dragon, Kennit, Etta, Wintrow and a collection of Chalcedean mercenaries and other pirate ships. Hobbs' mastery of the details of naval conflict in the time of sailing ships is quite apparent and the extraordinary description of this battle would doubtless have Patrick O'Brian himself turning the pages with breathless anticipation. All of the questions which we had when we finished "Mad Ship" are now answered - Will Althea find true happiness with Brashen? Will Malta continue to mature and begin the evolution of a new world with a marital alliance between the Bingtown Vestrit family and the Rain Wild Trader Khuprus family? Will Wintrow find his destiny as a priest or pirate? Will Etta ultimately find happiness, peace and love with Kennit or Wintrow? What is the relationship between the dragons and the sea serpents? Why are the liveships live? Where did Kennit come from and what is the source of his astonishing power and resiliency? Will he fulfill his destiny as the ruthless Pirate King and rule Divvytown and the seas from Bingtown to Jamaillia? What is the relationship between dragons and humans? Why is Paragon so unstable and angry? What will happen to Kyle last seen marooned on an island with Kennit's mother? What is to become of the wreckage of Bingtown and the relationship between the Old and the New Traders? ... well, you get the idea! The only maddeningly unanswered question remains the identity of the mysterious Amber! For that, the interested reader (and I guarantee you will be) will have to

"Ship of Destiny" was supposed to be the final book of Robin Hobb's "Liveship Traders" trilogy, but it leaves many loose ends, including the nature and fate of the bead-maker, Amber. And what about those slug-ugly creatures who imprisoned She Who Remembers? Who were they and what is their fate? There are references to 'Bingtown dragons' in the first book of Hobb's 'Tawny Man' series, so perhaps that is where the author is going to blend in a few 'Liveship Traders' odds and ends. In "Ship of Destiny," Althea Vestrit continues her quest to recover her liveship Vivacia until the bitter-sweet end of the trilogy. But Vivacia is no longer the girlishly innocent ship that bonded with Althea back in "Ship of Magic." The carrion-hunting sea serpents are no longer mindless slaves to their appetites. Bingtown is burning and the Old Traders are in disarray. The pirates appear to be sweeping all before them. The plot moves on, not always rewarding the just and punishing the evil. It's funny how the pirates turned out to be the good guys in this trilogy. I was really sad when my favorite character died, no matter that he was seriously flawed. The parts where I zoned out involved the sea serpents. Even after She Who Remembers showed up, they were kind of one-note-Johnnies. In spite of a few slow spots, 'Liveship Traders' is a great fantasy trilogy. Hobb's dragon life-cycle I think is unique in all of the literature--and it makes glorious sense. Just think of dragon flies. I'm hoping we hear more of Malta and the mutant Rain Wild River Traders in further books by Robin Hobb, even though the 'Liveship Traders' trilogy is complete.

Overall, this is one of the best fantasy series' I have ever read. I came off of the Assassin series with a bit of a bad taste in my mouth, because I really disagreed with the ending. I have no problem with some sadness in books, but the ending to the Assassin series was downright depressing. Which was a shame, because I loved the books. Hobb doesn't quite have the skill at creating a believable world that Robert Jordan does, but what she DOES have is an unbelievable skill with character personality and interaction, and language skill. Ms. Hobb truly has a gift for the English language, and anyone who appreciates writing above a 6th grade level (which so much popular writing is now) will love these books. The only problem I have with the series is that, as one reviewer said, it could use another book. I realize she probably wanted to keep the series as a trilogy, but I do think the ending left too many things hanging, such as the future of Bingtown and the Pirate Isles. She may have wanted to leave it to our imaginations, but I do believe that, in some way, she went from one extreme in the Assassin books to the other extreme with these books. Everything seemed a little TOO good at the end of this trilogy. I was certainly glad to not have to read a depressing ending, but the fact of the matter is that it's highly unlikely that everything would go smoothly after the end of this book. Maybe she's planning another trilogy? I don't know. But I would love to see more Liveship Trader books in the future. And besides the lack of real finality in the ending, I do believe Hobb is ranked up there with Jordan, Goodkind, and Martin as one of the best fantasy writers in recent history.

I sat down and read this book in one day. It's a great book. I agree with many other reviewers when they say the ending is rushed. It in no way detracts from the overall story, I just wish certain parts had been a bit more fleshed out. Certain characters meet for the first time and we don't get to see it through their point of view: it is described for us through human eyes. I was mostly interested in the serpents/dragons/liveships storyline: their lost destiny, their struggle, their fight between memories of a past snatched from them or to just follow their current fate. To me, a high fantasy novel lets us expand our minds and imagine what it would be like to be Vivacia, Maulkin, Tintaglia... or even Althea, Wintrow, Malta or Kennit. I don't mind if the storyline shifts between human or magical creatures. As for the humans, I liked how Malta turned out to be someone I could admire. She was such a disagreeable brat in the first book! I have mixed feelings about how Wintrow turned out, but am pleased with Etta's evolution. I'm upset about how Althea was treated towards the end of the book but she still remains one of my favorite characters (along with Brashen). I loved Seldon's character but could not completely sympathsize with Kennit and definitely not with Kyle. I hope Robin Hobb writes about the Elderlings, or what happens with Reyn, Malta and Seldon after this trilogy... as well as telling us more about the mysterious Amber. All in all, a great book, that left me heartbroken for the characters who had no hand in their fate, for those who perished along their journey--- but I am elated that the overall ending of this imaginative trilogy was wonderful.

It's great to see a fantasy author who can sensibly finish a series, rather than leaving their readers wondering what they should build out of the neverending brick-like volumes. "Ship of Destiny" is a fitting finale to Hobb's trilogy, yet it leaves enough intriguing nibblets behind for another series set in the same world. "Ship of Destiny" is a fun book -- it pulls the reader in and doesn't let her leave until the last page. Hobb's wonderful imagination shows no signs of fading -- her world is colourful and its magic both insidious and compelling. I cared about the characters, even the pirate Kennit; they were interestingly drawn and mostly believable. That said, I would give the book 4 1/2 stars. I found a few plot-lines superfluous and weakly integrated into the story -- especially those that pertained to Companion Serilla. She was distinguished by nothing more than the atrocities that happened to her and her story fizzled to an end. Also, the dealings of the matriarchs of the Vestrits were stretched into too many pages, leaving little sparkle. Finally, I was annoyed by the constant jumping from character to character. Just when Malta was drowning the focus shifted to her brother, when he was in trouble, we'd get to hear from Althea. I was waiting for the commercial to start every time the focus shifted, and then suddenly realized that I was reading a book and could turn pages. Still, I'd recommend the book to any fantasy-fan for it is superior to most popular fantasy. I'll definitely buy her next work.