Ship of Magic Audiobook By Robin Hobb cover art

Ship of Magic

The Liveship Traders, Book 1

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Ship of Magic

By: Robin Hobb
Narrated by: Anne Flosnik
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Bingtown is a hub of exotic trade and home to a merchant nobility famed for its liveships---rare vessels carved from wizardwood, which ripens magically into sentient awareness. The fortunes of one of Bingtown's oldest families rest on the newly awakened liveship Vivacia. For Althea Vestrit, the ship is her rightful legacy unjustly denied her---a legacy she will risk anything to reclaim.

For Althea's young nephew Wintrow, wrenched from his religious studies and forced to serve aboard ship, Vivacia is a life sentence. But the fate of the Vestrit family---and the ship---may ultimately lie in the hands of an outsider. The ruthless pirate Kennit seeks a way to seize power over all the denizens of the Pirate Isles...and the first step of his plan requires him to capture his own liveship and bend it to his will.

©1999 Robin Hobb (P)2010 Tantor Classics Epic Epic Fantasy Fantasy Fiction

Critic reviews

“The characterizations are consistently superb.... Kudos to the author and encore!” ( Booklist, Starred Review)

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Unique Fantasy Concept • Complex Character Development • Rich World-building • Engaging Plotlines • Emotional Investment

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I did not dislike this book or hate the narrator as some of the other reviewers do, but I can see why many people would not stick this one out to the end. If your daily life is full of whining kids, family disagreements, and unfair decisions by those around you with power then you better be in the mood for more of the same if you plan to read Ship of Magic.

I really enjoyed Robin Hobb’s Farseer Trilogy and that is what led me to Ship of Magic. In this series many of the main characters are female and thus it makes sense to use a female narrator. Anne Flosnik does take some time to get used to and her pace is slow. Combine her narration style with bratty kids, over-bearing parents, and a heavy dose of family squabbles and I can see why some readers walk away from this book before they finish.

I did not walk away and although there was little payoff by the time it ended, I can see how things are primed to come together in the subsequent books. Events towards the end of Ship of Magic start to tie together some of the story lines and the last couple hours of the book were definitely the most enjoyable. I did find myself wanting more at the end.

There are certainly interesting fantasy concepts in this book – liveships, wizardwood, and the mysterious Rainwilds all make you want to learn more about them. While this book takes place in the same mythos as the Farseer Trilogy, the Six Duchies are just minor references and this trilogy stands on its own.

Most people have enough parent/child arguing in their lives and although some may deem it “realistic” for a book to contain such strife throughout, I felt like it went on for too long. I read fantasy to get away from the doldrums of everyday life and Ship of Magic didn’t really take me that far away. This book is 80% set-up and 20% interesting fantasy; however, I do feel like the investment will pay off in the rest of the trilogy.

Lots of family drama with some interesting fantasy

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I had never heard of this trilogy, but I like it so far. The reader is really bad. Her inflection is enough to drive you batty, but the book itself is REALLY GOOD.
I hope that they put the rest of these books on audible ... WITH A DIFFERENT READER!!!!!!!

Ship of Magic

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Very well written story that is easy to get into. Gets very interesting early on in the story and keeps you wanting more. That's the only problem. None of the story lines are resolved in this book so you have to wait until audible puts up book 2&3. Which is a difficult wait if you enjoy the story as much as I did!

Fantastic Read!

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Although she has a fine British accent, her slow, artificially lowered, whispery-sounding voice is hard to take. And why do some Brit narrators use an inflection that goes down at the end of every sentence, as though delivering a newscast? Really monotonous. I am halfway through and intend to struggle to the end, but she's ruining a good part of the experience.

What's with this narrator?

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What did you like best about Ship of Magic? What did you like least?

Story and characters are developed well and quickly. Narration was awful.

What did you like best about this story?

The story is well written and the characters well developed. I like the hidden surprise if you read the Tawny Man series.

How could the performance have been better?

Use a different narrator.

Do you think Ship of Magic needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

It obviously has and and I'm looking forward to it, other than having to listen to the same narrator again. Might just read the rest of this series.

Story rocks, Narration leaves much to be desired.

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Rolled the dice on this used book about 3 years ago - a wonderful story with incredible depth of character with a methodical, staying on track, type of tale; always moving forward with the story.

Fantasy at its best and yet, its doesn't fill itself with imaginary evils that take the place of the epic human storytelling. My god, I kept feeling for the players and the author just kept expanding their grief or their joy. By the time I was through this listen, I found myself wanting NOT to pick up Book 2 just so this story would linger.

Narrator was stellar - totally believable and very easy to get lost....can't tell you how many times I fell asleep to her and dreamt I was being chased by pirates or talking to a pitiful, sorrowful, grounded Liveship. Her dramatization of grief and anger was unique and the best I've heard - period.

The Liveship (a ship that is "alive") dialog was at times epic and at times beautiful...the ramblings of the elders or the other lesser known players had a unique and distinctive qualities.....sometimes I would just take off the headphones and think about what I just heard. A rare event to stop a grown man in his tracks and wonder why I don't talk like that.

I don't know who Robin Hobb is, but tell her to keep her day job.....and tell her thank you for the words she put together in this, my opinion, masterpiece.

Incredible depth & storytelling; a read well done!

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The story might be great but making it past the poor reading is too much for me. Pick up if you are a huge Hobb fan or enjoy background noise, skip if not.

Recommend a Pass

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I love Robin Hobbs. I read in Kindle format the Assassins Apprentice series and the Fools Errand series. At the time I did not realize that the Liveship Traders was supposed to be read prior to the Fools Errand series.

This book introduces you to Bingtown and to various trader families, their servants,the political climate of Bingtown, pirates, slaves, and social class issues and Jamailia cities influence that is forcing the town to change. Robin Hobbs is intricate in her detail to the story so there are many suprises. It sets up quite a story and you will not be disappointed.

I noticed there is some critique on one of the main characters, Althea Vestrid, and how she is not very likable. I would disagree. She grows on you. I understand the frustration as we meet her as a willful and somewhat self absorbed teenager. Stick with it; she grows up. All Hobbs characters are flawed. It's part of what makes them realistic.

The magic system is believable. If you read the Assassins Apprentice series, it provides another layer with the liveships and the rainwilds. You could read this series as a stand alone but it will be more enjoyable if you read the series mentioned above first.

Anne Flosnick does a beautiful job narrating. I sometimes have a hard time with the narrators of some fantasy and have to give up and read it rather than listen, but I believe Anne Flosnick added to the deliciousness of the book rather than detracted from it.

Loved It!

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I loved these books when I read them 10 years ago. It seems a lot slower and the characters more frustrating. I couldn't deal with Wintro's character, he always pissed me off for some reason. Over all I do like the book but this first book is tedious.

A slow and frustrating start

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Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

I love the work of Robin Hobb, too bad that they chose this terrible narrator. Not worth the time.

What didn’t you like about Anne Flosnik’s performance?

Her voice is terrible, and she narrates like she's speaking to a bunch of preschool kids

Do you think Ship of Magic needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

It has a follow up book, I hope they use a better narrator!

Narator is UBER IRRITATING

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