Ship of Magic

I tried reading this series in a German translation when it was first published in paperback, and didn't enjoy it at all. Now, many years later I am finally ready to return to Robin Hobb's Realm of the Elderlings, to see how the Liveship Traders fit into the world she started building in the Farseer Trilogy.

The Vestrits are a Bingtown Trader family, and their liveship Vivacia is ready to quicken. Wizardwood can be carved into liveships by Rain Wild Traders, becoming sentient and alive, with their own distinct personality, once three generations of captains have died on board the ship. Vivacia quickens when Captain Ephron Vestrit passes away, but the quickening is hardly peaceful. Ephron has no living sons, so his ruthless son-in-law Kyle is Captain, and he drives away Althea who was really Ephron's chosen successor to be bonded to newly-woken Vivacia. Instead Kyle forces his eldest son Wintrow, a priest-in-training, to be on board to bond with Vivacia. A role Wintrow doesn't want and hates.

At the same time we learn of Captain Kennit, an ambitious pirate who really wants to be King of all pirates, and who wants to own a liveship.

Unlike the Farseer Trilogy with its almost singular focus on Fitz, Ship of Magic has many different PoVs, and a lot of them are women. There's Althea, her grandmother Ronica, Keffria Vestrit, and the youngest Vestrit girl Malta, a devious, spoiled brat. Althea was by far my favorite one, and I totally ship her with Brashen.

There were plot twists, though the finale was pretty much inevitable and predictable, but not the way it got there. The book is not easy on its likeable characters, especially Wintrow. All the liveships we meet are very interesting, with distinct personalities. I really want to know what happened to drive Paragon mad!

I really enjoyed this book and am looking forward to find out the destinies of all those characters.