The worst part is, they leave you to live.’ His voice broke into boyish treble before it tremored into silence. Then they chop off your face and open your seacocks and you go under. The blood soaks in, deeper and deeper, until your wood is so full of lives you cannot even find your own. They kill and kill and kill on your decks. ‘Pirates.’ Paragon’s voice was almost dreamy save for the terror in it. Robin Hobb must be a great people observer and she gets behaviour spot on, if she means for them to be annoying then they are.

I know that Robin Hobb herself grew up in a fishing community and I wonder if her real life experiences have aided her in making everything so realistic. The Vestrit family, Wintrow aside can be somewhat irritating but this is yet again due to the quality of the writing that these characters are so believable and have the same flaws that make people unpopular in real life. A refreshing aspect of these books is the strength and status of the females within the stories, no longer are they relegated to the roles of support players but are now major characters, pivotal to the story as a whole. The Mad Ship sees major developments in both the characters and storyline and in particular the greater detail offered on the Rain Wild Traders and the Satrapy of Jamelia. The reasons that I hold Robin Hobb’s work in such high regard are the multi-dimensional characters, staggering consistency and her complete understanding of how beautiful the English language can be when used correctly. Robin Hobb is arguably one of the finest exponents of fantasy literature around today and the attention to detail within her books is highly impressive. The Mad Ship is another wonderful book by Robin Hobb it builds upon the excellent Ship of Magic and further develops the storyline and the characters whilst adding exciting new plot lines. Amidst these events the mad ship, Paragon is once again launched despite the history of death and despair that surrounds him. The Vestrit family are nearing financial ruin which leads them closer to the mysterious Rain Wild Traders who own the ship.

The Vivacia has been seized by pirates led by the enigmatic Kennit, a man who believes that destiny leads him to become King of the Pirate Isles. Althea Vestrit continues her quest to reclaim her rightful inheritance, the liveship Vivacia. The Liveship Traders series continues with the second book, The Mad Ship.

The mad ship robin hobb