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slowfoxContinuing my Geekology of Series:
The Liveship Traders is the middle trilogy of a trilogy of trilogies by Robin Hobb... although with the recent publication of Dragon Keeper, that definition looks set to change, which is a shame, because I like the recursivity of the definition.
Anyway, the titular Liveship Traders are families who own sailing ships made from 'wizardwood', wood with magical properties - albeit properties that lie dormant for three generations of captain. These ships are called Liveships, although it transpires through the tale that the ships' owners don't actually know what wizardwood actually is.
Unlike the prequel and sequel trilogies, which are concerned with FitzChivalry Farseer in the Kindom of the Six Duchies, and told solely from his point of view, Liveships embraces a much wider cast of characters, and a corresponding wealth of viewpoints. And although there are some (not many), references to the Assassin books, Liveships can be read as a freestanding trilogy (if you follow).
Robin Hobb has built a fantastically deep world within which to place her characters, and given rein to employ a variety of viewpoints, we get a much richer set of characterisations in this book (IMHO). There's Althea, the daughter of the family that owns Vivacia, but who, rather than ascending to captaincy of her ship, as she'd expected, ends up being shunted sideways and out. So we follow her as she attempts to reclaim what she believes is rightly hers.
There's her spoilt brat of a sister Malta, who goes through quite an epic transformation of her own. Wintrow, their brother, has taken holy orders, but is pressganged into service on Vivacia because the ship needs family blood on board.
There's the Pirate King Kennett, and the rather enigmatic Reyn who lives in the Rain Wilds, from where the wizardwood's actually harvested. I've mentioned before that I think Hobb's take, in particular, on second-hand magic is excellent: the characters here are employing magical items that they know not the provenance of, and as you might expected, unexpected consequences come home to roost.
I should also mention that we have this rather bizarre (at first) sea-serpent point of view, but as the tale progresses, it soon becomes apparent that this is not quite so random as you might first think.
The Liveship Traders is the middle trilogy of a trilogy of trilogies by Robin Hobb... although with the recent publication of Dragon Keeper, that definition looks set to change, which is a shame, because I like the recursivity of the definition.
Anyway, the titular Liveship Traders are families who own sailing ships made from 'wizardwood', wood with magical properties - albeit properties that lie dormant for three generations of captain. These ships are called Liveships, although it transpires through the tale that the ships' owners don't actually know what wizardwood actually is.
Unlike the prequel and sequel trilogies, which are concerned with FitzChivalry Farseer in the Kindom of the Six Duchies, and told solely from his point of view, Liveships embraces a much wider cast of characters, and a corresponding wealth of viewpoints. And although there are some (not many), references to the Assassin books, Liveships can be read as a freestanding trilogy (if you follow).
Robin Hobb has built a fantastically deep world within which to place her characters, and given rein to employ a variety of viewpoints, we get a much richer set of characterisations in this book (IMHO). There's Althea, the daughter of the family that owns Vivacia, but who, rather than ascending to captaincy of her ship, as she'd expected, ends up being shunted sideways and out. So we follow her as she attempts to reclaim what she believes is rightly hers.
There's her spoilt brat of a sister Malta, who goes through quite an epic transformation of her own. Wintrow, their brother, has taken holy orders, but is pressganged into service on Vivacia because the ship needs family blood on board.
There's the Pirate King Kennett, and the rather enigmatic Reyn who lives in the Rain Wilds, from where the wizardwood's actually harvested. I've mentioned before that I think Hobb's take, in particular, on second-hand magic is excellent: the characters here are employing magical items that they know not the provenance of, and as you might expected, unexpected consequences come home to roost.
I should also mention that we have this rather bizarre (at first) sea-serpent point of view, but as the tale progresses, it soon becomes apparent that this is not quite so random as you might first think.
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Date: 2009-08-16 03:25 pm (UTC)I'll be reading this one, as soon as I can gat my hands on a copy.
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Date: 2009-08-17 07:23 am (UTC)Will be interested to hear what you make of them!
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Date: 2009-08-16 08:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-08-17 07:27 am (UTC)Also, there was a moment in Liveships which was central to the conclusion of Tawny Man, which made me feel very smug for having realised its importance on my first read.
But yes, Tawny Man's worth the read - especially since you've read its two prequel trilogies.
I haven't tried Dragon Keeper yet, but it can only be a matter of time. I think it's set back in the Rain Wilds. I hope so :-)
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Date: 2009-08-17 07:59 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-08-17 08:07 am (UTC)Aside from the completed Nonology of Assassin/Liveship/Tawny Man, she's declared that Dragon Keeper is the first of a two parter. So we're at 11.
She's also written the Forest Mage trilogy... which is a different world entirely, but they're still hefty tomes. So that's 14 darned solid books, and she's passed the halfway mark to your 33 target.
Forest Mage will not be appearing in my Geekology of Series, though. It was rich and detailed and thought out and stuff. But it was also rather boring :-/
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Date: 2009-08-17 07:16 pm (UTC)I managed the first book of the Forest Mage trilogy, and decided to skip the rest. Hobb did manage to wrong-food me a couple of times, but the whole story just didn't grab me enough to continue.
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Date: 2009-08-19 07:31 am (UTC)You were wise to skip the rest of the Forest Mage. It was a drag, an absolute grind of a read for... really, no reward whatsoever.
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Date: 2009-08-17 12:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-08-17 01:30 pm (UTC)I do find myself wanting to re-read Tawny Man, just for the Dutiful/Narcheska stuff,
'cos I'm soppy'cos I found that intriguing - even if I felt that Hobb's matriarcy setup was a bit heavy-handed, at times...Best trilogy?
Date: 2009-08-17 08:22 pm (UTC)Re: Best trilogy?
Date: 2009-08-18 07:17 am (UTC)Forest Mage was extremely poor, so I'd heartily recommend that you steer clear of that one!