The ship carries Vestrit's daughter Althea and the conniving son-in-law he has named as the Vivacia's next captain.īut lovely, wild-spirited Althea, sailing the Vivacia with her father since childhood and sharing its half-awakened memories and ocean secrets, has bonded with the ship in her deepest soul. Now, as old Captain Vestrit lies dying in Bingtown, the Vivacia cuts homeward through the waves, about to quicken into a living being. The Vestrit family's only hope of renewed prosperity is the Vivacia, a liveship they have nurtured for three generations. Bingtown's Old Traders, their wealth eroded by northern wars and the rapacity of southern pirates, now face an influx of upstart merchants who bring change to a complex society. Not far from the Six Duchies lies Bingtown, hub of exotic trade and home to a merchant nobility famed for its liveships-rare vessels carved from wizardwood, which ripens magically into sentient awareness. Now, in the first book of a new trilogy set in the same world, she tells the magnificent story of a proud seafaring clan and the enchanted ships that carry them on far-flung, ferocious tides. But greedy men have designs to restore him, to sail the waters of the Rain Wild River once more.Robin Hobb's acclaimed Farseer trilogy- Assassin's Apprentice, Royal Assassin, and Assassin's Quest-wove a spellbinding tale of magic, passion, and glory. Now he lies, blind, lonely and broken on a deserted beach.

The Paragon, known by many as the Pariah, went mad, turned turtle and drowned his crew. Others plot to win, or steal, a liveship. Only to discover that the Vivacia has been signed away in her father’s will to her brutal brother-in-law, Kyle Haven. The liveship Vivacia is about to undergo her quickening, as Althea Vestrit’s father is carried on deck in his death-throes.Īlthea waits for the ship that she loves more than anything else in the world to awaken. 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.

Like many legendary wares, it comes only from the Rain River Wilds.

The most precious commodity in the world. 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. Categories Adult Fiction, Science Fiction and Fantasyįrom the author of the classic Farseer trilogy, Ship of Magic is the first part of the Liveship Traders.

Ship of magic review