Ship of Magic: The Liveship Traders, Book 1

The Liveship Traders, Book 1

By: Robin Hobb

Narrated by: Anne Flosnik

Length: 35 hrs and 20 mins

Publisher's summary

From the author of the classic Farseer trilogy, Ship of Magic is the first part of the Liveship Traders. Set in a land bordering the Six Duchies, Robin Hobb begins her epic of pirates, talking ships, magic, sea serpents, slave revolts, dashing heroes and bloody battles.

Wizardwood, a sentient wood. The most precious commodity in the world. Like many legendary wares, it comes only from the Rain River Wilds.

But how can one trade with the Rain Wilders, when only a liveship, fashioned from wizardwood, can negotiate the perilous waters of the Rain River? Rare and valuable, a liveship will quicken only when three members, from successive generations, have died on board. The liveship Vivacia is about to undergo her quickening, as Althea Vestrit’s father is carried on deck in his death-throes. Althea waits for the ship that she loves more than anything else in the world to awaken. Only to discover that the Vivacia has been signed away in her father’s will to her brutal brother-in-law, Kyle Haven. . .

Others plot to win, or steal, a liveship. The Paragon, known by many as the Pariah, went mad, turned turtle and drowned his crew. Now he lies, blind, lonely and broken on a deserted beach. But greedy men have designs to restore him, to sail the waters of the Rain Wild River once more.

©2012 Robin Hobb (P)2012 HarperCollins Publishers Limited

Critic reviews

“Hobb is one of the great modern fantasy writers … what makes her novels as addictive as morphine is not just their imaginative brilliance but the way her characters are compromised and manipulated by politics.” ( The Times)

“Assassin's Apprentice:A gleaming debut” ( Publishers Weekly)

“Assassin's Quest: 'Assassin's Quest achieves a bittersweet, powerful complexity rare in fantasy” ( Locus)

“Robin Hobb writes achingly well” ( SFX)

“Praise for The Liveship Traders series: 'Even better than the Assassin books. I didn't think that was possible” (George R R Martin)

“Hobb is a remarkable storyteller.” ( Guardian)

Unexpected listen

It made me contemplate aspects of my life and how I communicate with them. I recommend!

Tip for those who don't enjoy this narrator

Try increasing the playback speed. I listened to this book at 1.10x and it made a world of difference. That is a tip to remember for any audiobook that you are not enjoying, try increasing the playback speed before giving up on the book.

As for the trilogy, I'm now well into the second book in this series, and it's ok. It's not as gripping as the farseer trilogy, but it is good enough to listen too. I look forward to returning to Fitz & the Fool, but this is proving to be entertaining enough, and the magical ships are wonderful.

It is frustrating how even when someone has been proven to be wrong in this book, they still stubbornly refuse to change their mind/opinion about something. (Very true to life though, just look at politics.) Like the whole Vestrit family, none of them ever seem to change their mind. It does make it a struggle for me to like any of the characters very much.

Anyway, give the series a go, the ships are wonderful, and if you find the narrator difficult to listen too, try increasing the speed. I honestly wonder if someone messed up the recording, and it's playing slower than it should.

Another fantastic book by Hobb.

Wasn't sure about the reader at first, but she won be over quickly. Brilliant novel!

You get used to the narration

The story is good, would not recommend skipping it and go directly to the next fitz trilogy like I did. Many things has import for the next fitz chapters.

It's slow to begin with. Took me almost three weeks to finish the first twentyish chapters. Then suddenly it picked up and I finished the last third of the book in a day! The slow parts are necessary though, to get to know the characters for the last part to be exiting.

The preformance of Anne Flosnik is ridiculous to begin with and it seems impossible that it will become bearable, but it does. It is even good at some points! Bottom line is, I recommend this book to anyone wondering if it's worth it.

Preference

Loved the book and i am currently downloading the next in the series. The actor did a fine job, but not my favorite. Purely preference. The performance would never dissuade me from listening to more of her work in the future.

Strong middle and finish

I feel that other reviewers have been a bit harsh on Anne Flosnik. I agree it took a little to get used to her style in the beginning and the rhythm felt a bit off, in part I think simply because I enjoyed Paul Boehmers excellent performance in the previous trilogy. However part way through this was well and truly sorted out and I have very much warmed to her style and am looking forward to the next book in the series.

Engaging till the end

Really liked my first audioboek with audible.com. There where times I couldn't stop listening because the story was so engaging. I've read the first 3 books about Fitz and the Fool. after that continued with books 7 to 9 because I wanted to know what happens next to Fitz and the Fool! after book 9 I read more reviews about the liveship books and decided to listen to them, just to try if they hold up to the positive reviews. And they definitely do. I haven't missed Fitz in the stories and I am enjoying the new characters and their adventures just the same. Also, I still enjoy this series even though I have read the next trilogy which gives minor spoilers about the liveship traders books.

great story terrible narration

I hate the way the narrator drags her words! especially the herrrrrrrr. it is such a shame because it is a wonderful story.

Interesting concept

After reading the Farseer trilogy, I really wanted to skip The Liveship Traders and go on to the Tawny Man Series but all the reviews I read indicated these books should be read in the order they were written because some of the characters from here are brought into the Tawny Man. While not directly connected to the Farseer story, it is set just outside the boarders of the Six Dutchies.

I liked the characters and the idea of the liveships but dont understand what is going on with the sea serpents. It has taken quite a long time to start enjoying the story as I don't care for the narrator's voice/accent. We have Trader families in debt to RainWild families for their liveships, children used as bargaining chips, pirates, slaves and politics and an interesting mix up of characters.

Narrator not working for me

The narration lacks flow and I find it very hard to focus on the story. She ends many sentences with this slow and dramatic finality as if she’s reciting a verdict.