Ship of Destiny: The Liveship Traders, Book 3

The epic conclusion of this unique series fares better than your wildest dreams. Emotions swell to the point of tears and the story is addictive.Someone must be mad to have read the previous 2 books and not devour this one!The strongest point of this book (and the series) are the characters. Paragon and Kennit carry this trilogy on their shoulders while we root for the other main characters. It’s hard to stress how well written are the protagonists and now spectacularly they evolve. Their stories are often tragic and harsh and there were moments (plenty) I wiped tears from my eyes. Those moments were majestic.Kennit is a special case of “(anti-)hero”. The main difference is that while most swim in the currents of fate, he dictates fate. In most books the protagonists walk in tracks, well, not Kennit. It’s clear from the start, his vision and his luck create an amazing mix of hero and anti-hero that will haunt your dreams.Paragon is .. well, I will stop here and let you discover that on your own.Frankly, all other characters except for Malta have typical roles. Malta shines and she is the one protagonist who was transformed the most in this series.I have read the previous series by Robbin Hobb a long time ago but I remember I liked it. Still, it’s hard to believe that I liked it as much as this.The Liveship Traders trilogy is a unique book series, a long trilogy that you shouldn’t miss, it easily works its way up on my list of best books I have read!

Masterfully written. Every single character has a rich nuanced and satisfying character arc. Yet she avoids tedium and weaves all of those arcs together into a veritable tapestry of story.She obviously has a firm grasp of trauma and the many ways it changes and shapes us. Every character has their own traumas, new and old. So many actions stem directly from unresolved trauma and Robin explores this idea in depth. Every character has their own internal struggles and we are allowed to witness them all.It is nice to know you aren’t the only one struggling with a thing. Many people who read this will find they feel much less alone in the world than when they started.I can’t recommend reading her work enough.

"Ship of Destiny" is the extraordinary conclusion to Robin Hobbs' "Liveship Traders" trilogy, and even at 800+ pages this thrilling fantasy will flash by in the blink of a red eye...or two!! I stayed up until 2:00 A.M. finishing the novel. If you're as entranced with the books in this series as I am, you will probably move on to the author's next trilogy, "The Tawny Man," which is interrelated with this tale.Update: Bingtown, a once flourishing port city, has been destroyed and its citizens are at war with the Chalcedean mercenaries who are besieging the harbor. The city's formerly wealthy shipping merchants are also at war amongst themselves - the Old Traders vs. the New. Vestrit family matriarch Ronica, and her daughter Keffria, are almost without resources since their once splendid estate was plundered. The two Vestrit women struggle to unite the tattooed peoples of the Rain Wilds and the native inhabitants of Bingtown in order to recapture and liberate the city. However, someone within their ranks is determined to see them fail. Althea Vestrit, Brashen Trell,and Amber sail the emotionally unstable liveship Paragon into Pirate Captain Kennit's waters in a dangerous attempt to recapture the beloved Vestrit vessel, liveship "Vivacia." Meanwhile, Satrap Cosgo, Kekki, his devoted companion, and Malta, Keffria's daughter, do their best to survive the acidic waters of the Rain Wild River as their small boat is swept up in the raging current. Etc.!!!Ms. Hobbs has woven her storylines and subplots into an extraordinarily vivid and complex tapestry. Like most large works, if you stand too close you cannot see the entirety. So, with "Ship of Destiny," this third and last book in the "Liveship Traders" trilogy, the author forces the reader to step back and look at the bigger picture. Suddenly the primary characters, with all their hopes, dreams and machinations, who were so important heretofore, now take a somewhat secondary place as the main theme of this trilogy becomes apparent.The sea serpents, who have surfaced, literally, throughout the series come into their own as they struggle to survive by migrating to the cocooning beaches. Their purpose throughout the tale is finally made clear when Althea's nephew Wintrow liberates "She Who Remembers." Legendary dragon Tintaglia is finally released from her wizardwood coffin in the long buried City of the Elderlings and finds that the world she knew so long ago has disappeared forever.My summary barely skims the surface of this fantastic finale. Robin Hobbs is an enormously talented writer, who has a particular gift of imagination that transforms readers into addicts. Her characters are multi-dimensional, and the excellence of her work is amazingly consistent in all of her novels. The author is a magician who creates credible new worlds and beings. And most importantly, her writing shows her understanding and love of language.P.S. - The good news, for those who really love this trilogy, is that there are actually 3 interrelated trilogies called "The Realm of the Elderlings." "The Farseer" trilogy" is the 1st in the series. "The Liveship" trilogy" is the second, and "The Tawny Man" trilogy" is the 3rd. However, if you read this particular trio of novels first, it really doesn't matter. So, enjoy! Enjoy! Enjoy!Jana Perskie

The best of an excellent trilogy. Dragons, liveships, pirates, remaking the world and breaking with tradition, reunion, loss, hopes for the future. Ship of Destiny is everything you want from an involving, lore-filled epic fantasy novel.Even as the characters are in conflict with each other we know them so well by now that we can see their perspective. The Vestrit family spend much of this books apart fulfilling their personal destinies and growing past their younger hopes and fears.Even though I know I’m about to return to the Six Duchies and the world of Fitz and the Fool when I move on to the Tawny Man trilogy, I slightly grudge the loss (for now) of these characters and this world because I have loved revisiting it so much. I also can’t believe it took me so long to figure out the major link between the Liveship Traders and Farseer books. Even though I’ve read these books before the link was a wonderful and gradual reveal all over again. A sign of excellent and endlessly re-readable writing.

If you're reading a review on Hobbs' final book of this series I'm sure you need no introduction to this wondrous story. I encourage you to follow on and wrap up on this glorious tale of talking figureheads and sea serpents traversing the Cursed Shores.However you might wonder as to why only 4 stars?Well I've noticed Hobb ends her books in a sort of weak manner. This holds true for her Royal Assassin series also which again consists of 3 books. She sets us out following a harrowing journey with major plots to be completed with everything travelling at a rapid tense pace leaving the reader craving more and nore approaching the terminus until BAMN everything slows.You feel like you know everything that's needed but there's still a hundred plus pages left and you don't even feel like making it through even though you've eagerly gobbled up the first 2000 or so pages over the series (page measurement approximate by Kindle standard)For this reason I can only give 4 stars.

I am a big fan of Robin Hobb's work and certainly the first Fitzchivalry trilogy. She is the author closest (in my opinion) to the consistency of excellent story telling of Guy Gavriel Kay - fluent, poetic and gripping; perhaps her themes are also deeper and better investigated than David Gemmell.For the most part in the Fitzchivalry series (both trilogies) Hobb's writing and characters make up for the fairly staple fantasy ingredients but with this series and ultimately the Ship of Destiny I was waiting for that real attachment to characters to begin. The biggest success in this book is Paragon, the mad ship, which is the only character I truly ended up being interested in, which is a shame because there were some really interesting parts to the story but as it meandered along and finally ended I just felt glad that the book was over and I can move onto something else. Sadly this book has not encouraged me to move on to the next Rain Wild series which is a huge shame as part of me would like to read more about the dragons and eldrelings

All of the plots are tied off neatly here. With a few twists to keep it interesting and even threads that seemed forgotten are resolved. I really enjoyed this. Every character gets what they deserve, for good or bad.

I have read all three of the Liveship Traders trilogy of which Ship of Destiny is the third book. Robin Hobbs creates an amazing and fascinating world of living characters (human and otherwise) who grow and develop as the story progresses. She does this with a skill and apparent ease even exceeding George R R Martin. Unlike George R R Martin, however, she does not kill off the best characters but is able to weave an engaging and surprising story line in which all the characters and plot strands ultimately come together into a satisfying resolution. Fantasy story telling at its very best!