Ship of Destiny (The Liveship Traders, Book 3): Harper

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I loved the ending of this because everything was resolved perfectly, and at the same time the events have far, far, reaching consequences. These will no doubt affect the Six Duchies. This made the ending so strong for me because I couldn’t wait to read more. I couldn’t wait to see how far Amber has (and will) shape the world in accordance with her prophecies. Ship of Destiny is the second book in the Sam Bitka series, and I really enjoyed this book. This is the first book I have read by this author, but I have become a huge fan and plan to read his other books as soon as I can. And while this book is the second book in a series, I had no problem jumping into these alien worlds and understanding what was happening. I also have to admit to a bit a fangirl crush on Sam Bitka. He actually reminded me a bit of Captain Picard so if you are a fan of Star Trek, you will understand the draw that Sam can have others. It's true that there are a few intriguing characters: Ronica, in particular, strikes me as a strong female character who wants the best for her family, for her home. She, most of all, considers everyone in Bingtown and pushes for everyone to unite. There are other intriguing characters, too: Amber, and Jek, and Shreever, but... they're often more minor characters, or in Amber's case, have to be slightly separate from the plot so it isn't too obvious who they really are. Borowska-Szerszun, Sylvia (2019). "Representation of Rape in George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire and Robin Hobb's Liveship Traders". Extrapolation. 60 (1): 1–22. doi: 10.3828/extr.2019.2. S2CID 166766551.

In the end, they are all shown as strong in their ways, even Keffria. But things are heaped against them as they aren't against the men: it could be said that the society Hobb structures around them is what brings that upon them, but it still felt like a barrier to my reading than a natural part of the world. The inspirational writer is best known for her trilogies set in the Realm of the Elderlings. The Farseer Trilogy I can't finish this review without making a stand. If you are an impatient reader (which I am) this series is not for you. The Realm of the Elderlings series is full of books that are long, detailed, and slow prosed. They are meant to be savored and unless you have been warned like I was (thank you hubby), you won't enjoy them. You will think why are all these details important? Why does it matter? I would answer that the key is most of the time in the details.

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It doesn't work that way. Silencing memories does not make them stop existing. Events cannot be undone by forgetting them.” I really wasn't sure how Robin Hobb was going to improve upon the previous two books in this series, as they were so well done and I had literally no complaints with any part of them. But she did here, in what has turned out to be one of the all-time best fantasy books - and without doubt the best fantasy pirate story ever told. Reread in 2023 and this series ending is still amazing and touching and emotional. This whole reread has been really wonderful and I am so pleased every time I return to this world as it feels like coming home* This whole series has been perfection. It's not often that after reading a 2* book by an author I will continue on with their work but with Hobb I am so thrilled that I did go on to the Liveship books after the Farseer ones because truly she's a miracle writer and her ability to craft convincing, beautiful and stunning characters, worlds and ideas is unparalleled.

The people in Liveships are like real people, (literally) warts and all. I wonder, though, if it isn't too realistic. When a mysterious alien probe materializes from Jump Space and remotely reprograms The Bay's star drive, Sam and his crew begin an involuntary voyage that takes them three thousand light years out of known space, across the galactic rift to the Sagittarius Spiral Arm, and into the heart of an ancient, previously unknown civilization—the first encountered by Humans and the other five races of the Cottohazz—Stellar Commonwealth—in over a century. The genetically altered immortals known as The Guardians, a race so old they do not remember their own origins, soon turn murderously violent. I was happy to see that all the Vestrid women were strong in character. They did what had to be done, despite all being in different situations with different dangers. The same thing goes for Wintrow who became a man despite his young age and his little brother, Selden, who stood up when it was vital. This author knows how to end a series well. It’s one thing to end a story well, another to end a book well and entirely a different thing to end a trilogy well- especially one as massive and variegated as this one was. Hobb is the master of this craft. She has a delicate balance of action, dialogue and characterization that caused me to become invested in the story, and more importantly to me, in the characters.

Overall, The Liveship Traders is still a marvelous and satisfying trilogy to read, it’s so much better than the Farseer trilogy in my opinion. Also, I’m now super eager start Tawny Man, which from what I’ve heard is the most highly praised trilogy written by Robin Hobb and I will definitely do that after one or two book break. I highly recommend this trilogy for anyone who loves epic fantasy with a lot of characters POV and well-written characters’ development. This series was an experience for me. I immersed myself in it at a time when there was a ton of time on my hands, and I am glad I did. The large, sprawling books ended in this finale, and it was a fitting ending. Loose ends that floated through the series began to appear and draw tighter and tighter together as this story reached its conclusion. Malta is, perhaps, the character that will go furthest in this. (Excluding Amber of course.) Her path has been intertwined with that of the dragons. Her development was wonderful; she went from an annoying brat to someone with real character: she grew up. Some of the other characters had semi-predictable endings. With her it was fairly surprising. Overall, this was a good ending to a good trilogy. I’m looking forward to seeing how Hobb uses elements of this in later books.

Last but not least Kennit. I hated him but I also could not help myself and pity him. I hated what he did to Wintrow, Etta, and Althea. How he deceived Paragon! I wanted to strangle him in that moment but could not. The story of who he was, who he is now, and what he wanted to be made me tear up. His was the darkest, saddest, and ugliest story. Hobb was not kind when she told us about Kennit. It was at times uncomfortable to read on but I guess that's what made Kennit such a complex character. Do you begrudge me that I am who I truly am? Should I pretend otherwise for the sake of pleasing you? If I did, it would be a lie. Would you rather love a lie than know me as I truly am?” In addition to writing, her interests include gardening, mushrooming, and beachcombing. She and her husband Fred have three grown children and one teenager, and three grand-children.I’ve praised Hobb on her characterizations strength in all my review of her books so far and I envisioned you’re going to see this as an occurring event. Hobb is seriously superb in developing her characters, especially in this trilogy. Almost every single character ended up playing a role that gave the story its own charm and none of the characters in this trilogy ended up the same way from their first appearance; I mean it, every single character has gone through their own battle and struggles that changed them, for better or worse. I had a problem with the serpents' POV in the first and second book, they felt completely unnecessary, but in here it all finally made sense why they were necessary. The only character that remains the same was Amber and there’s a special reason for that. Ship of Destiny is not a light read. It's... very... heavy! Heavy feels, heavy twists, heavy quotes, HEAVY! Hobb is a master at constructing epic sentences while diving into the deepest depths of human nature. You want to take your time with this book to make sure you savor every single beautifully crafted sentence. I highlighted several quotes form this book. At one point I stopped because I would have run out of highlighter. (Yes, I destroy my books with highlighter, so what!? They are MY BOOKS!)

And then there was Tintaglia in all her glory. She was magnificent and one of the most important character of this book. I loved her but then who doesn't love dragons! I think overall the series finishes positively, however, to say this story has a happy ending would be over simplistic. Victory comes at a very high cost to many of the characters. Alongside the triumph there is also tragedy. For those who overcome, the face of redemption is covered in scar tissue. Kyle soon makes his plans known to make Vivacia a slaveship, to Althea's and the rest of the family's horror, as a liveship will not tolerate so much human suffering. Keffria and Ronica begin to question their course to install Kyle as captain, despite Kyle's assurances he will treat his slaves gently. D'Ammassa, Don (2006). Encyclopedia of Fantasy and Horror Fiction. Infobase Publishing. ISBN 978-0-8160-6192-1.Consequently, Hobb is able to wrap up all the loose ends in this final book of the trilogy, making this a very satisfying read. It felt incredibly gratifying to see how all the loose ends were wrapped up in the last act and how almost every single main character played a crucial role in the conclusion. Moreover, the reader will truly come to appreciate each character arc near the end of this incredible series. The character arcs in this trilogy are some of the best I have come across in fantasy. Hobb has a unique ability to pull at the reader’s heartstrings and make the reader feel invested in each character. The magic behind all this slowly began to reveal itself across the trilogy and, finally, in this book it was released. The revelation of what drives the liveships was completely bizarre, but as the novel progressed it became clear how well established this outlandish idea was. It’s all so strange and wonderfully accidental. The magic system is very well thought out to say the least. If someone would have told me when I began reading that this weirdness was behind it, I would have laughed. But Hobb is the master of her craft; she makes the impossible magical: she makes it real. Crane, Ralph; Fletcher, Lisa (2017). "An Imaginary Water World: Robin Hobb's The Liveship Traders Trilogy". Island Genres, Genre Islands: Conceptualisation and Representation in Popular Fiction. Rowman & Littlefield International. ISBN 978-1-78348-207-8.