Ship of Magic

[ratsy]

I just have to say that I finally picked up the first book of the Liveship Traders and was blown away by it. I had read the Farseer and Tawny Man books already and the first two Soldier son books. For some reason I had been hesitant to pick up the Liveship books. I guess I have been so impressed with Hobb and I thought these books would be a let down. Don't ask why I felt that way.

I am just happy to say that it was great and I can't wait to read on and see what happens. I like to judge how much I enjoy a book by how bad I want to read the next one. And this is right up there with the Fitz books, maybe even a little more. It is nice to see how great of an author she is even when not writing first person. Switching from character to character gives the story a more grand feeling. And I really like how I have been through a whole book and even the "bad guys" aren't typical bad guys. It is very refreshing to read something so original that doenst involve the typical "good vs. evil".

Great read.

 

[Overread]

glad you are enjoying it
it a definate change of writing for Hobb, but as you say, she handles it very well.
MadShip I found a bit slow going overall - but the last book picks up speed quick enough. Have fun!

 

[Xoanon]

I just have to say that I finally picked up the first book of the Liveship Traders and was blown away by it. I had read the Farseer and Tawny Man books already and the first two Soldier son books. For some reason I had been hesitant to pick up the Liveship books. I guess I have been so impressed with Hobb and I thought these books would be a let down. Don't ask why I felt that way.

I was in the same boat (pardon the pun), just finished Ship of Destiny last night in fact. Fantastic series, wished I had read them all in order now instead of skipping Liveship Traders for Tawny Man.

I feel a bit gutted now that I have finished them all. It's going to be a long wait for Dragon Keeper...Hobb's has apparently missed the deadline and is still working on it (up to page 1000 now).

 

[Xoanon]

I feel a bit gutted now that I have finished them all. It's going to be a long wait for Dragon Keeper...Hobb's has apparently missed the deadline and is still working on it (up to page 1000 now).

Looks like I spoke too soon...Hobb has just posted a message on her newsgroup to say the book is finished.

The book was far more difficult to conclude than I thought it would be. And it has come in at twice the length it was supposed to be, which creates a lotof problems for publishing it. We are hammering through those difficulties now. As soon as the strategy is confirmed, I'll share it here. Right now,I cannot express how grateful I am to have understanding editors who care about the book.

 

[Beloved Fan]

I thoroughly enjoyed Liveship Traders books as I have all Robin's books. Loved all the characters in the end and I thought she did a brilliant job of building them up throughout the series. Their intertwining lives made for a refreshingly fascinating read and the concept was original and brilliant.

Can't wait to get Dragon Keeper. I hope she keeps her 1000 pages in tact, the more of the book, the happier I will be. Simply love her writing.

 

[Overread]

I have no problems with a long Hobb book
I just hope she sticks to her story and does not let the publisher hack the story apart to get it shorter - but it sounds like they get on well (and she is know as a longer story writer anyway so it should not affect sale to existing Hobb fans)

 

[Brian G Turner]

Have started Ship of Magic but am finding it hard to get into. It starts very slow, and there's a lot of exposition.

 

[Brian G Turner]

Am currently reading Assassin's Apprentice from the Farseer trilogy, and noticed Bingtown come up. Is everything therefore written in the same world and connected? In which case, how does the Liveship trilogy relate to Farseer?

 

[ratsy]

Brian, they are all in the same world. There are a few character cross-overs in the series' as well. I actually wish I'd read them in order but I read all 6 Fitz books first then Liveship, then the 4 Rainwilds books. To prep myself for Fools Assassin last year, I re-read the 6 Fitz again.

A major character plays a role in the Liveship books but that's easier to pick up on if you've read the Tawny Man books.

Then there are some cross-overs and cameos from some Liveship characters in the Rainwild books. The MC is a Bingtown dragon scholar.

I hope you stick with the series Brian, because it has an amazing story to tell, and the first book, even the first trilogy, doesn't do the big picture justice.

 

[Overread]

Brian yes they link together in the following order

Farseer Trilogy
Liveship Traders Trilogy
The Tawny Man Trilogy
The Rainwilds Chronicles
The Fitz and the Fool Trilogy

Chronologically there is some overlap, but the long geographical distances make that a null point. The overlap increases a lot more as the series progresses and you could say the major climax of one influences the other You also have
Chalced featuring in both regions since it sits between the two. You can read them in isolation, but in all honesty reading them in order above is the best way to get the full experience. I rather like it as the early two Fitz and Fool trilogies are single viewpoint so the Liveship and Bingtown worlds give a nice shift into multiple viewpoints.

 

[Ray McCarthy]

What the wolf says ^^^^
All MUCH better than the Soldier Son trilogy, though she has shaky moments in her writing I think. Not as much fun as Eddings, but good reads. Perhaps not as good as Jenny Wurts or Ursula Le Guin, but at Maggie Fury level of quality IMO. I liked all the Maggie Fury I've read too.

I've not read all the Hobbs yet, I've nine plus the three Soldier Books, which appear to be a totally different world. (Farseer Trilogy, Liveship Traders Trilogy, The Tawny Man Trilogy).

Looking forward to obtaining and reading the Rainwild and the Fitz & Fool series when I can afford them.

 

[Overread]

Soldier Son was a tricky beast on two fronts.
1) Everyone wanted another Fitz and Fool - its her flagship under Robin Hobb and her fans love it
2) A depressed lead character is very hard to write well. The lead in Solider Son is a very hard character to write because he's not really a hero in the traditional sense at all.

I enjoyed the series, not her strongest but still a good read.

And yes Soldier's Son is a totally different world entirely - no cross overs at al

 

[Ray McCarthy]

I hope it's not the curse that afflicted McCaffrey, that she won't be doomed to have to write about dragons the rest of her life.

 

[Overread]

Robin Hobb is her second pen name - she also writes under Megan Lindholm as well; with a distinctly different style as well. Her Hobb works have certainly done more for her; but I think that if she gets in a rut she'll shift focus.

I know some authors, McCraffrey and Fiest (Fiest much more so in my opinion) can get stuck in a rut writing for the customer/publisher and the quality suffers.