Customer Reviews
A masterful conclusion to another Robin Hobb fantasy epic. - By: russell clarke, 26 Apr 2008 
The final instalmentin Robin Hobbs wonderful Liveship Traders trilogy does not disappoint, not that it was ever likely to. The characters, are of course, by now vividly defined but its the way that the author ties all the disparate plot strands & by proxy the characters that makes this such a pleasure to read.
Anybody reading Ship Of Destiny would surely have read the previous novels & be familiar with the characters. Anyone reading this book who has,nt read the other books....what are you playing at? The plot draws together the multiple members of the Vestrit family as they struggle to survive . Ronica & Keffria are still in Bingtown , a place under siege & falling apart. Malta is stranded on a tiny boat on the Rain Wild River with the arrogant Satrap of Jamellia while her possible husband to be Reyn is trappedin the mud of the sunken city destroyed by an earthquake with Malta,s little brother Seldon.
Meanwhile Althea is aboard the Liveship Paragon still confused about her feelings for Brashen but determined to find the families Liveship Vivacia. The ship herself is exploring her long hidden identity , exacerbated by the serpents that followin her wake. Would be pirate king Kennitt , the arch manipulator , is still attempting to coerce Wintrow & Etta into a destiny neither envisage . On top of all this the freed but arrogant Dragon Tintaglia views the humans as mere pawns to be usedin the propagation of her species.
The way Robin Hobb draws all the characters together for the sagas conclusion is completely believable , free of contrivance & masterfully paced. It is also hugely satisfying without resorting to sentimentality & cliché though it does,nt have quite the lumpin the throat effect of the end of the Farseer series.The link between the serpents & the dragons is finally revealed & there is a tantalising hint as to who the mysterious Amber might really be. You would be a fool to miss it. That.s my less than subtle hint there.
Ship Of Destiny is the conclusion to another tremendous fantasy series.Imaginative, wonderfully written with memorable characters & a serious sub-text involving the evils of slavery . Every bit as good as the Farseer series & as anyone who has read those will tell you , that's some achievement.
pirates meet dragons - By: S. Massen, 29 Mar 2008 Did you know that serpents are dragons?
This fantastic trilogy details Althea's trials & tribulations at losing her liveship.
Fantastic & enthralling.
Drift away to a faraway land of mystical civilisations & creatures.
I read all three without stopping! Fantastic!
simply brilliant - By: N.Rook, 12 Jan 2008 I have been reading this trillogy over what must be at least six months & have enjoyed every second, the highs & the lows.
Quite simply, this is one of the best stories I have ever read & having finished it feel almost at a loss.
With Hobb you feel all of it as if you were right there living alongside the characters & you begin to feel for themin a way that when you stop & think about it is rediculous. The inner story of the struggling heirarchy within Bintown with it's dividein culture, mixed society & fear, from the ruling minority to have to share its power with its many immigrants is so clear a reflection of the societies we live it is liken to holding a mirror up to the world.
And yet the clever mannerin which she switches & changes between each persons perceptions & immotions, means that you understand. You understand why what a moment ago was selfish & greedy,in their eyes is a neccessity & of vital importance. it is a story which you truly get to hear every side of, & as such better understand. At some point I am sure I have loved, loathed & pitied almost every character.
My immagination has eagerly drained every last sap of story from these books & hung on every word; And I still want more.
Fantasy doesn't get any better than this!
Pirates, liveships, dragons - By: N. Clarke, 01 Mar 2006 Robin Hobb is one of the fantasy genre's Good Guys. She may not be doing anything vastly original or profound - but, man, she does it so well. For pure entertainment, there's none better: intricate plotting, knife-edge tension, a sense of place so real you can smell it, & emotional engagementin spades with characters well worth caring about. I haven't turned 900 more enjoyable pages since ... (you can see this one coming, can't you?) the previous instalment.
The setting, slightly outside the normal run of high fantasy, is clearly inspired by colonial America. The pioneer Trader families have prospered for several generationsin the bustling entrepot of Bingtown, thanksin large part to commerce undertaken with the Liveships - magical, self-aware vessels built of a particular wood only found upriver from Bingtown, crafted for the Traders by their mysterious kin who live there. But theirs is, naturally, a precarious existencein a frontier land. They are dependent upon trade for much of their food & other supplies, & remain politically subordinate to their former homeland; the society that has developedin response to the challenges is a deeply conservative one; & there are other opportunists who desire the same chance at making their fortune, who are willing to use slave labour to get it.
The concerns, then, are familiar ones; this is all about a societyin the painful throes of transition, forced to confront issues of privilege, hierarchy, & access to power. This is played outin a number of ways, one of the most pointed & nuanced being the status of women, as expressed through a diverse range of major characters. There is Althea, who dreams of captaining her family's new Liveship, but finds herself outin the cold when the inheritance goes to her brother-in-law, the new man of the house; her sister Keffria, torn between being a good Trader wife & the desire to protect her children; her mother Ronica, struggling with the loss of status brought on by widowhood; Etta, a former whore who finds a whole new world opening up to her as she learns to read; & many others. All of them are beautifully-drawn, fully-rounded individuals, filled with dreams but miredin mistakes; they are individuals with their own compelling stories who each embody a facet of who women are & can becomein this world.
Leaving aside the specifics of the plot, the third & final volume is a more than worthy conclusion to a complex, magical, multi-layered saga - & confirms again my belief that nothing can quite make my heart & my imagination soar like well-written fantasy!
Fantasy Rocks! - By: , 07 Jul 2005 I have to say, Robin Hobb is a genius. Just like the Farseer Trilogy, I soon became enchanted with the Liveship Traders Trilogy & I read the booksin a record time for me, I just couldn't put them down.
Robin Hobb is highly intelligent & I think this is illustratedin how there are many 'Main' characters & the way their lives intertwine together.
I loved all the characters, even the spoilt & selfish Malta, who soon won my heart.
The Ship of Destiny concludes this inspiring Trilogy, & brings all the snipets of information Hobb has cunningly delivered to their purposes. We learn more & more about the 'Realm of the Elerings' & of the 'Truth' Behind the Wizardwood ships. It's not just the characters who won my heart, but also the misunderstood Pirah Paragon & the confused Vivacia who show they are as intelligant & have just as many feeling as their human counterparts.
Within this book we learn the Tragedy of Kennit's past, Althea's & Brashens future as well as Malta's, Wintrow's & Little Seldens.
Anyone who enjoyed these books, I would strongly recomend Buying Leagends 2, this has a short story by Hobb,in which we learn more of the history of the mysterious Rain Wild Traders.
Enjoy !
