SHIP OF MAGIC by Robin Hobb - No Spoiler Review (Liveship Traders Book One) 

Who is your favorite character in book one, Ship of Magic!?

Captain Kennit is one of the most deeply complex, nuanced, and multi layered characters I've ever read or seen in any medium of storytelling. It's true that he's a character that is so magnificently well realized you will remember him forever.

"I think I hate Kyle even more than Kennit. I'm sure that will change down the road." Don't be so sure, lol. As detestable as Kennit is, at least he's always witty. He's a damn amusing fellow. And fairly self-aware, which requires at least a modicum of humility. I consider him a really well-developed villain in that we are shown, and made to understand, his motivation. The understanding only grows deeper as we progress. Kyle, on the other hand, I simply hated *Full stop* :^)

I need to reread all the Realm of the Elderlings books. I started reading Hobb in eight or ninth grade and 15 years later she's still one of my all-time favorite authors. ❤️ Her character work is beyond amazing.

I always repeat that Robin Hobb's books are deep psychological, character driven novels disguised as amazingly written fantasy novels.

Just finished today! First re-read in 20 years - 5 stars! Wintrow is definitely my favorite, followed closely by Althea.

Great review! My favourite character in book one is Kennit. He pretty much hooked me on the get go when we met him on the Others Island. Love your enthusiasm for Farseer and Realm of the Elderlings. It really baffles me that so many people seem to give Robin Hobb a pass.

I LOVE THIS TRILOGY!!! It became my favorite books of last year. You make me want to do a reread right now. Brought back all the feels! I can't wait for you to review the next two! I also wanted someone to talk to about this. My friends are readers just not in this genre....their loss.

Great review. I love hearing what other people think of this series. You're right - there's so much to dig into and discuss! Whoever told you that you would always remember Kennit was right. Still one of the most memorable characters I've ever encountered and it's been >10 years since I first read Liveship. One thing Hobb is able to do in Liveship that she wasn't in Farseer is to play more with perspective. She definitely did this in Farseer with Fitz, but having multiple POVs allows her to do a lot more. Take Kennit, for example: throughout the series every time you're in his head you hate him, but there are some scenes where you're seeing him through someone else's eyes where he almost wins you over until you're back in his head and realize how awful he is all over again. Interactions with all of the Vestrit women play with this as well in later books and its fantastic. It just makes all of the characters feel even more real.

Hi Jimmy! I just finished Ship of Magic! And oh my goodness..Robin Hobb has become “my tangle…”. Starting Mad Ship TODAY. I enjoyed your review and I can’t wait to watch the spoiler free discussion.

I haven’t read any Robin Hobb (yet) but just the title has lured me in. I love the idea of pirate/ship/ocean fantasy.

I found the serpents conversations extremely interesting and at times really funny because they were so weird. Love it!

Fantastic review. I'm a new subscriber, and I'm really enjoying your content. I read the Farseer trilogy a couple of years ago, and thoroughly enjoyed it. I'm excited to start up Ship of Magic. I'm hoping to get to it within a few months!

I'm a huge Realm of the Elderlings fan, and have read and re-read the saga many times. I LOVE that new people are discovering the magic. Ms Hobb's characters are phenomenal. Even the wickedest of them has a motivation that's understandable, though their methods vary from despicable to down right evil. I'll absolutely be here for your thoughts on the books, and very much look forward to your spoiler live stream, to learn how your theories changed as information was trickled into the story.

It’ll be a few months before I move on to liveships but I’ve heard nothing but good things and your review has me excited

I'm glad you're enjoying it! The themes and characters make this series amazing to me. Trust me, you will have a huge livestream 😂. There are big revelations and heart-wrenching moments, so plenty of discussions. And you're right, people should never dismiss Liveship. There are many connections that won't make sense in the future, especially in The Fitz and the Fool series.

Again, such a great review. You're always seem to capture exactly what I myself consider most important and I really like the examples you give for the things you address. I personally hate the villains in RotE more and more each sub-series (up to Rain Wilds at least, haven't read Fitz and the Fool so far), in a good way - Robin Hobb is so good at creating detestable characters. And I'm very interested in how your opinions of the characters change over the course of the series - especially considering your favourites so far. The serpents confused me at first as well but they stay with us for a long time and the mystery unfolds in a very smart and satisfying way. And all the setup is definitely worth it.😘❤️

Damn great review! Althea is by far my favourite character in this book.

Just finished Mad Ship. It gets even better, and Ship of Magic was a freaking masterpiece. I love just spending time with the characters. Kennit is one of the best written antagonists I have read about. I don't think I'll ever forget about him.

Everything that Robin Hobb writes in the Elderlings series comes together wonderfully so I am always shocked when people tell me they skipped certain books lol Glad you are enjoying it and can't wait for the spoiler discussion. And yes, Kyle is insufferable, my God!

I love the attachment between the ship and character in this book, and Wintrow's point of view was definately my favourite. This series is awesome but I still love Fitz and company more 🤩 I feel like Robin Hobb will be your fav after the Fitz and the Fool trilogy (best trilogy of all time imo) if she is not already 😄Great review!

I hear you when it comes to Naval stories- I've always said that I don't do steam punk, circus, and pirates 🤣 and I too am Team Fitz so am a little dubious about going into Liveship. But so glad to hear you loved it despite similar hesitations. I'm excited now! Thanks for your review!

Great review!

Ugh, Jimmy, your sales pitch on Liveship is turning out to be a major TBR-buster and making me want to start Liveship much sooner than I probably can! It's a bigger series than I realized at first, bigger than Farseer in page count by quite a bit. I don't know how I'm going to squeeze this into 2021 while still completing Stormlight (still have the novellas + books 3 & 4), Age of Madness, and all of Murderbot Diaries. But I've got to find a way to read it ASAP!

Re-reading this book right now. Such a great novel, this series in general in my opinion is one of the all time great Fantasy Series. The characters are just so REAL.

I finished Farseer tri last night. On page 8 of Ship of Magic. I’m definitely feeling apprehensive because I already miss Fitz and definitely the Fool. But here I go… I’m diving in….😅 Thank you for the review! ✌🏻

SAAAMEEE. I don't normally love naval fantasy and I always groan when I see a fantasy series taking that turn. But here...I love it. It helps that the Liveships are such great characters themselves.

Wintrow was also my favorite character in SoM - I had different favorite characters in each book which says a lot for the author.

I loved this book, I´ll be jumping into Mad Ship soon, can´t wait. Are you going to do a spoiler talk for the first book or the whole trilogy?

I just started.... on ch 7. I'm waiting to get that "can't put this down" feeling like I had with Farseer. Your video gave me hope. Lol

Great video 🤙

Fantastic review. As you probably already the read. The series gets better and better.

I tend to characterize the start of the Live Ship Trilogy as Gone With the Wind, but with pirates and sea creatures. Wintrow and Althea you just want to root for, and Kennit is such a whirlwind of complexity of circumstance and character- just incredibly captivating.

Just finished, I loved it

Im a hardcore Fitz fan and initially i wanted to skip this because I'm not into naval settings either. But I'm glad i stuck with it! Kennit is my favorite so far simply because i tend to laugh at his scenes.

I'm currently halfway through Ship Of Magic and I love the characters, I love the world, I love her formal prose, I love the magic system....ugh... Wintrow has to be my fave character at this point, he's such a darling. Kennit is a mixed bag for me at this point. LOVE Brashen. The Paragon is an enigma I can't wait to fully uncover/ same thing with Maulkin and Sessura. Kyle is just...🐀🙄🙄 The way Hobb writes her female characters...I just love it. They have distinct personalities and flaws. Althea, Ronica and Keffria are some of the best female characters fantasy has to offer. That being said, this is a book where you can read so many pages and STILL feel like you haven't read much. This is the first book where I require a two-hour reading session just to feel like I've read something. Also, why do I feel like the size of the paperbacks fooled me? To be completely honest, it kinda feels like I'm reading a Stormlight book😅😅. Maybe that's an illusion my omnibus e-copy has created but man, it definitely feels longer than the paperbacks seem to show.

So just finished SoM. You were all correct on her character work. Kyle is up there on my hated character list because there are likely many Kyles out there. Same for Keffria. Don't get the Kinnit hate. A realized 'villain' is a rarity. But then again I also liked Jorg. As for a favorite character, really don't have one. Mainly because all of them are complaining about something nearly all the time. But am intrigued by Amber/Paragon. For some minor criticisms, a map would really be nice. Perhaps the geography was laid out more in Farseer but where is Chalced and how far away? This would have helped a lot in trying to figure out where these voyages actually go or how long they might be. And I keep thinking kefr whenever I read Keffria. That being said, looking forward to Mad Ship.

The fact that I hated Malta so much is a testament to how flawless Robin Hobb's writing is. Her arc is a testament to how brilliant an author she is

Hidden depths of Brashen and his back-story hang tantalizing above this series

Can't wait for a spoiler discussion!

Althea's first conversation with her brother in law was sooooooooooo well written. Her dialogue writing is top notch.

Yay! I vote for livestream

I'm not especially into nautical-set books either, but you have my interest on these

Man I’m around 13 hours into this. Loving it. I hate Kyle already. There’s not been much happen really, but got dang I like it.

Hi there-this book is cool, and Robin Hobb is amazing, like always BUT! I’m not sure I enjoy it as much ;(. Maybe ‘cause I’m not a fan of ships, seas, pirates etc (like you said)… But every time I pick up this book (I’m halfway through already) I feel like closing it and putting it down again… I bought the 2nd and 3rd books and honestly, I kind of regret it now, umm, actually, I don’t want to admit it, but one of the main reasons I bought them is so I actually finish the series because it’s, well, Robin Hobb…🙃🙃🙃 Idk what’s wrong… P.S as much as Kyle is annoying, Robin Hobb did a great job with him because all his points actually make sense somehow😄. He’s manipulative and aggressive but let’s be honest, he’s also smart and practical🤓 P.P.S Wintrow reminds me so much of myself haha, I mean I’m often thinking the same when I read his words, he’s the best character, I wish I had his patience 🥰🥰

Do you need to have read Farseer before this you think? As in spoilers in Farseer in the Liveships? Thanks. Great channel.

Have you read Kentaro Miura's Berserk? The antagonist you mention reminds me of a certain someone.

I have to keep reminding myself to whittle down the fantasy series I'm currently reading before I get to Realm of the Elderlings. Its tempting tho.

Jimmy i just finished it!!! I want to talk to you about it 😱😱😱😱

I’m on page 110… I didn’t think I would like the beginning so much without Fitz and some of the other characters

I’m just reading it now. Torg is no prize besides Kyle and Kennit. He is horrible too!😊 so far I love Wintrow, the Grandmother and I like Althea too so far. I feel for her.

When i first read this book i didn't really like it(mostly because of kyle and malta) and i was just going to move onto tawney man but i was told not to so i took a few month break and tried it again and really enjoyed it the second time.

Finished it last night, and dived into Mad Ship almost immediately. I feel like an idiot for putting Liveship Traders off for as long as I have.

Malta Vestrit has one of the best arcs I’ve ever read. The characters in this trilogy are so fucking good, it’s crazy. Wintrow might also have been my favorite after the first book, but after the whole series it’s gotta be Kennit and Malta. Also, be on the look out for a familiar face ;)

Remember unreliable narratives when it comes to personal thoughts for certain types of characters.

So anyone else spot The Fool from Farseers series in the Liveship Traders series?

Just finished reading this, I enjoyed it but it’s remarkable how few characters I actually like! Aside from the obvious ones, Keffria is a pathetic doormat who doesn’t stand up to her husband and causes her daughter to be a spoilt brat, Ronica I respect more but even she made the stupid decision about who should be captain in the first place that caused all the problems.

I only read the first two trilogies in the Realm of the Elderlings but based on those alone I'd say Wintrow > Fitz Also Kennit is such a detestable but interesting character especially when his backstory slowly over the 3 books unfold. I also like his right hand man Sorcor (was that his name). But I think that's a rather unpopular opinion but I really not only not like but actively dislike Althea. Like I only ever disliked a "good guy" character more than that with Nynaeve and Elayne in WoT (tho Nynaeve is sufferable in the last 3 books while Elayne got worse from book to book). Ah and the Tangle is confusing but quite intriguing

Maybe it’s just me, but when you said two characters to hate all I could think Kyle and Malta lol I mean Kennit is not a good guy. He’s also kind of an asshole on the inside. And insecure. But I enjoy him. Kyle and Malta my my skin crawl.

You look like a superhero. Like if it was discovered you were fighting crime at night and being a book RU-vidr was to hide your secret identity I wouldn't be shocked in the slightest.

People i dislike in this book Malta, Ronica, Kyle.

Ship of Magic is so much better than Assassin's Apprentice.

Dude.. Spoiler alert??

Didn't really like this one and didn't continue with this trilogy.

Booktube Beefcake LOL! 😂

Sorry but your take on kenith is way off

I hate Kyle as much as I love puppies

Kennit is literally only guilty of bad thoughts. Genuinely a better person than the seal basher Althea.