Tag: Fantasy

Book Review – Ship of Destiny

Robin Hobb’s writing is marvelous. This third book of the Liveship traders trilogy concludes satisfactorily while leaving enough threads for us to meet these characters in a future book.

You can read my review of book one and two in my blog.

I read all three books in the last few months while editing and revising my book. That should tell you how this series captured my imagination. I am inspired to write a fantasy series after I complete the Land of Magadha series.

The author has written many books. What order to read the books is a question I asked myself. My answer is in the order she wrote them. I have read Farseer Trilogy and Liveship Traders Trilogy. I will be reading the Tawny Man trilogy next.

Highly recommend these books to any fantasy lover.

Book Review – The Mad Ship

This is book two in the Liveship Traders fantasy series. You can read my review of book one here.

I hope to one day write like Robin Hobb.

The world-building is mind-blowing.

Set in this world is a rich set of characters, each with their unique voice and arc. From Althea to Wintrow to Malta to Vivacia, this author has masterfully crafted an imaginative and emotionally satisfying story.

Middle books in a trilogy sometimes suffer from a meandering plot. Not the case in this book.

What am I looking forward to in book 3?
Malta’s arc: That child is full of surprises;
Althea and Brashen: Is there a happy ending here?
Wintrow: I want the boy to have peace. Is that too much to ask?
Vivacia: Will I see the ship fly?

Recommend this book to epic fantasy lovers.

Book Review – King’s cage

I finished reading King’s cage, book three in the Red Queen series. Check out my reviews for books 1 and 2.

Reading fantasy is like reading three romance or mystery novels. At over 500 pages, this took me a couple of weeks to read.

We have new POVs in this book, and it made this the best book so far in this series. Mare Barrow is a self-centered teen, and being in her head all through the book can be tiring.

Cal’s arc in this book was good. I cannot wait to find out what our prince will do next. Maven continues to be the most engaging character, and I cannot wait to find what mad schemes he concocts in the finale.

Magic is well thought out, and the author walks a fine line between waving a wand to save our heroes to keeping it real.

The author pulled back the curtain to reveal the command and other players in this universe. What will our red and silver puppets do in the finale under these puppeteer’s strings? Is there a happy ending for any of them? I cannot wait to find out. I recommend this book for YA fantasy readers.

Book Review – Ship of Magic

I recently read Ship of Magic by Robin Hobb. This is book one in the fantasy series Liveship Traders.

I have read Robin’s Farseer trilogy before and loved it. You can read my review here.

This story is set in the same world as the Farseer Trilogy, but the magic is very different. Inate objects exhibit these astonishing magical powers, and there are unusual magical beasts.

The characters are rich and varied and written so well. This is Robin’s specialty. She narrates these intricate tales with many characters, each with well-defined traits and motives. I also love how she gives each character the room to breathe in their own bubble. The reader has time to get to know them, and understand them, and fall in love. As a writer, there are many things for me to learn from her.

I was able to easily keep track of each individual tale, and this novel did a fantastic job of keeping me hooked till the end.

Althea has a stunning arc in this book, and so do Kennit and Wintrow. Vivacia is going to be a handful in the next book, and so is Malta. Brashen, Etta, and Kyle, Ronica, and Keffria add depth to the layered book.

I cannot wait to find out more about the Rain Wild Traders, the serpents, Paragon, and the other who showed up in chapter one. There are some nice easter eggs for folks who have read the Farseer Trilogy.

Robin Hobb crafts these complex worlds with astounding characters that tug the reader’s heart. I highly recommend this book to my fellow fantasy lovers.