
Ship of Magic: The Liveship Traders, Book 1
The Liveship Traders, Book 1
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Narrated by:
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Anne Flosnik
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By:
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Robin Hobb
About this listen
From the author of the classic Farseer trilogy, Ship of Magic is the first part of the Liveship Traders. Set in a land bordering the Six Duchies, Robin Hobb begins her epic of pirates, talking ships, magic, sea serpents, slave revolts, dashing heroes and bloody battles.
Wizardwood, a sentient wood. The most precious commodity in the world. Like many legendary wares, it comes only from the Rain River Wilds.
But how can one trade with the Rain Wilders, when only a liveship, fashioned from wizardwood, can negotiate the perilous waters of the Rain River? Rare and valuable, a liveship will quicken only when three members, from successive generations, have died on board. The liveship Vivacia is about to undergo her quickening, as Althea Vestrit’s father is carried on deck in his death-throes. Althea waits for the ship that she loves more than anything else in the world to awaken. Only to discover that the Vivacia has been signed away in her father’s will to her brutal brother-in-law, Kyle Haven. . .
Others plot to win, or steal, a liveship. The Paragon, known by many as the Pariah, went mad, turned turtle and drowned his crew. Now he lies, blind, lonely and broken on a deserted beach. But greedy men have designs to restore him, to sail the waters of the Rain Wild River once more.
©2012 Robin Hobb (P)2012 HarperCollins Publishers LimitedCritic reviews
Unexpected listen
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It's slow to begin with. Took me almost three weeks to finish the first twentyish chapters. Then suddenly it picked up and I finished the last third of the book in a day! The slow parts are necessary though, to get to know the characters for the last part to be exiting.
The preformance of Anne Flosnik is ridiculous to begin with and it seems impossible that it will become bearable, but it does. It is even good at some points! Bottom line is, I recommend this book to anyone wondering if it's worth it.
You get used to the narration
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Preference
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As for the trilogy, I'm now well into the second book in this series, and it's ok. It's not as gripping as the farseer trilogy, but it is good enough to listen too. I look forward to returning to Fitz & the Fool, but this is proving to be entertaining enough, and the magical ships are wonderful.
It is frustrating how even when someone has been proven to be wrong in this book, they still stubbornly refuse to change their mind/opinion about something. (Very true to life though, just look at politics.) Like the whole Vestrit family, none of them ever seem to change their mind. It does make it a struggle for me to like any of the characters very much.
Anyway, give the series a go, the ships are wonderful, and if you find the narrator difficult to listen too, try increasing the speed. I honestly wonder if someone messed up the recording, and it's playing slower than it should.
Tip for those who don't enjoy this narrator
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Another fantastic book by Hobb.
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Strong middle and finish
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Engaging till the end
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great story terrible narration
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But listening to this narator is a pain . Her range of voices is limited and its hard to figure out when charachters change, her inflexions are annoying, after a while you get used to it and it becomes bearable at 1.1x speed, but compared to the narators of The Farseer trilogy and The Tawny Man trilogy its a joke.
Great story
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I liked the characters and the idea of the liveships but dont understand what is going on with the sea serpents. It has taken quite a long time to start enjoying the story as I don't care for the narrator's voice/accent. We have Trader families in debt to RainWild families for their liveships, children used as bargaining chips, pirates, slaves and politics and an interesting mix up of characters.
Interesting concept
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