Fantasy

The Mad Ship

The Mad Ship

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  • Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
  • Create Date：2021-04-05 14:57:07
  • Update Date：2025-09-07
  • Status：finish
  • Author：Robin Hobb
  • ISBN：0008117462
  • Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Summary

The second volume in this superb trilogy from the author of The Farseer trilogy continues the dramatic tale of piracy， serpents， love and magic。

The Vestrit family’s liveship， Vivacia， has been taken by the pirate king， Kennit。 Held captive on board， Wintrow Vestrit finds himself competing with Kennit for Vivacia’s love as the ship slowly acquires her own bloodlust。

Leagues away， Althea Vestrit has found a new home aboard the liveship Ophelia， but she lives only to reclaim the Vivacia and with her friend， Brashen， she plans a dangerous rescue。

Meanwhile in Bingtown， the fading fortunes of the Vestrit family lead Malta deeper into the magical secrets of the Rain Wild Traders。 And just outside Bingtown， Amber dreams of relaunching Paragon， the mad liveship 。 。 。

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Reviews

Shannon Gamby ，

4。5 stars

Leah ，

A damn good fantasy！ Things are progressing quickly and even though it's 900 pages， the premise feels so vast and the characters so unique that it still feels too short。 There's a lot of complex psychology going on with the characters; their traumas， challenges， obligations。 Wintrow is doing his best to hang on to his beliefs， but also figure out what he truly wants。 Malta， the brat I truly wanted to strangle， goes through an abrupt， but understandable character change。 She redeems herself surpr A damn good fantasy！ Things are progressing quickly and even though it's 900 pages， the premise feels so vast and the characters so unique that it still feels too short。 There's a lot of complex psychology going on with the characters; their traumas， challenges， obligations。 Wintrow is doing his best to hang on to his beliefs， but also figure out what he truly wants。 Malta， the brat I truly wanted to strangle， goes through an abrupt， but understandable character change。 She redeems herself surprisingly。 Kennit， oh Kennit。 Now that's a complicated character。 At one point you're rooting for him， and then he turns his back and shows how much of a pirate he truly is。 Then he shows how damaged he is from what's hinted about his past。 I do give him props in trying not to renew the cycle of abuse despite all the manipulation he does against others。 I spoiled myself on the robin hobb fandom site and I really shouldn't have。 There's so much mystery that's satisfyingly solved in the last book and I've lost a lot of steam from finding out what happens。 This is still a 5 star series for me and I'll show up again for robin hobb in the future， but not right now。 。。。more

Jade ，

4。5 stars！Absolutely mesmerising。

Mikaela ，

4。5

Harold Coutts ，

a really cool sequel！ loved malta's storyline and how the journey of this trilogy is unfolding a really cool sequel！ loved malta's storyline and how the journey of this trilogy is unfolding 。。。more

Appox7 ，

Good stuff， my main problem with the first book were how annoying some of the characters were。 But in this one they start getting development and becoming more likeable。 Malta whose chapters I could not read at all without feeling rage and hate， caused me even more pain early in this book， but towards the end I started to understand her and even cheer for her since she was becoming bearable。 I also started to like other characters whom I did not care for earlier。 I liked it more than book 1， alt Good stuff， my main problem with the first book were how annoying some of the characters were。 But in this one they start getting development and becoming more likeable。 Malta whose chapters I could not read at all without feeling rage and hate， caused me even more pain early in this book， but towards the end I started to understand her and even cheer for her since she was becoming bearable。 I also started to like other characters whom I did not care for earlier。 I liked it more than book 1， although one thing I disliked was how Althea did not really develop， seems like while most other characters have been developing and changing & adapting to their circumstances she is staying the same entitled selfish 'ugh I want muh ship' woman she was。 Although there was less of that in this one and I expect her to get some development in the last book。 Overall great series so far， I eagerly await to read book 3。 I am starting to think this trilogy might be better than the Farseer trilogy。 。。。more

Hannah ，

（8。9/10） - ⭐⭐⭐⭐ This was a weird one for me。 On the one hand， I really enjoyed The Mad Ship。 On the other， this took me 25 days to read， and not because I was purposefully taking my time with it。 I fell into a bit of a reading dip， and I'm not sure if this influenced my pace， or if the book actually caused the dip。 Let's start with a positive， though - the character work， as per usual， was phenomenal。 I don't know how Hobb managed to get me to care for characters I absolutely despised in book on （8。9/10） - ⭐⭐⭐⭐ This was a weird one for me。 On the one hand， I really enjoyed The Mad Ship。 On the other， this took me 25 days to read， and not because I was purposefully taking my time with it。 I fell into a bit of a reading dip， and I'm not sure if this influenced my pace， or if the book actually caused the dip。 Let's start with a positive， though - the character work， as per usual， was phenomenal。 I don't know how Hobb managed to get me to care for characters I absolutely despised in book one， but here we are。 Each and every character got so much development in this book， which made this character-driven reader very happy。 I also enjoyed how this sequel opened up a lot of doors deeper into the world that Hobb created， and the settings are fantastic。 I really loved exploring some more areas。 Where this book fell down for me was plot and pacing。 This is very much a middle book - it follows directly on from everything that happens in book one， and gives you very few resolutions。 The Mad Ship is not a book that stands on its own。 Moreover， it's 900 pages of middle-story， and while I hate to have to say it， it dragged enormously in places。 So while I did fully love aspects of this， I can't justify anything over four stars。 However， I'm looking forward to the conclusion！ 。。。more

Mia ，

That was a painful middlebook to get through。 I felt like this was unecessary long and could probably have been cut with 200-300 pages。 Hobb is a great writer， but this one I actually had to force myself to finish just so I could put the book away。I definetly prefer the Fitz books and looking forward to continue with those。 The idea of starting 'Ship of Destiny' is just heavy at this moment。 That was a painful middlebook to get through。 I felt like this was unecessary long and could probably have been cut with 200-300 pages。 Hobb is a great writer， but this one I actually had to force myself to finish just so I could put the book away。I definetly prefer the Fitz books and looking forward to continue with those。 The idea of starting 'Ship of Destiny' is just heavy at this moment。 。。。more

Camille ，

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 I really really wanted to love this book， because pirates！ and dragons！ But I also can't stand how the narrative treats women。 Like Malta is so interesting but it's only at the end of this book that we get to know how much， the rest of the time it's impossible to be compassionate bc she's always depicted as a despicable brat。 And yeah we get it， it's different from the Six Duchies， men don't treat women as equals， Althea in pants ？ omg the world is ending。 But why， WHY reminds us that they are c I really really wanted to love this book， because pirates！ and dragons！ But I also can't stand how the narrative treats women。 Like Malta is so interesting but it's only at the end of this book that we get to know how much， the rest of the time it's impossible to be compassionate bc she's always depicted as a despicable brat。 And yeah we get it， it's different from the Six Duchies， men don't treat women as equals， Althea in pants ？ omg the world is ending。 But why， WHY reminds us that they are considered less （Kyle and Kennet are awful and mysoginistic prics， we know）， or sexual object [TW sexual assault] on Althea （two times）， Serilla who was just introduced， Eta who， even in Wintrow's eyes is describe like a thing a often compared to an animal。 （Also， that line where Althea think she couldn't be with a guy like Grag because he asked before kissing her ？ disgusting）For what I read， the sexual assault won't stop here and it makes me so angry to even imagine what will happen next when， in the first series， we didn't have any of that and it was FINE。 I was happy to know there will be more women than in the Farseer Trilogy， but if it's for seeing them be belittled， treated like nothing and being assaulted at every page， no thank you。 We don't need women suffering over and over for three whole books for these to be interesting。 Despite that， the construction of the story is great， everything is slowly getting connected and I want to know what's going to happen but I also know that it won't be a easy read bc it's just so tiring to go through all of what I just said to get to the end of the story。 。。。more

Glenna ，

I enjoyed this one more than the first book in the trilogy， Ship of Magic。 The characters were a bit more likable and I understood the serpents better。

Emily ，

4。5

Stephanie ，

Page Turner， gripping and leaves you eager for the next book

Sassas ，

Never in a million years would I have thought I'd not only look forward to Malta's chapter but cheer for her。 Amazing character development for everyone。 Exept Kennit， he can lowkey die。 Never in a million years would I have thought I'd not only look forward to Malta's chapter but cheer for her。 Amazing character development for everyone。 Exept Kennit， he can lowkey die。 。。。more

Rishendra Chauhan ，

4。5/5 ⭐

Robs （Trelkovski） ，

Sei bello。 Sei anche più bello dell'apprendista assassino。 Senza parole。 Sei bello。 Sei anche più bello dell'apprendista assassino。 Senza parole。 。。。more

Carson Alsup ，

Hobb shines in this middle entry of the Liveship Traders Trilogy。 While Hobb's writing is a bit slow in nature， she more than makes up for it with writing amazing， believable characters and relationships。 This is best exemplified with Malta。 Halfway through the book， I despised this character so much for her selfish， cruel pre-teen attitude。 However， Hobb completely transforms the readers perception of Malta， and for this accomplishment alone， I think Hobb deserves incredible recognition。 I have Hobb shines in this middle entry of the Liveship Traders Trilogy。 While Hobb's writing is a bit slow in nature， she more than makes up for it with writing amazing， believable characters and relationships。 This is best exemplified with Malta。 Halfway through the book， I despised this character so much for her selfish， cruel pre-teen attitude。 However， Hobb completely transforms the readers perception of Malta， and for this accomplishment alone， I think Hobb deserves incredible recognition。 I have not read characters witch such complexities and thorough motivations。 No character is one dimensional and it is a pleasure to spend time with them in this nearly 900 page tome。 Hobb is cementing herself as one of my most highly regarded authors， and she truly shines in the Liveship Traders Trilogy with the multiple points of view。 The World-Building， lore， and plot is building up to a stellar conclusion in the next entry， and I cannot wait to dig in！ 。。。more

ev。 ，

Qué placer vivir en el tiempo de Robin Hobb。 Doy gracias por tener la posibilidad de leer a una autora que imprime tanto amor a sus historias。The Mad Ship continua de manera esplendida una historia llena de magia con personajes extraordinariamente escritos y una Robin Hobb que no hace más adentrarte en su historia y dejarte hambriento de más 。 Amo completamente a Wintrow Vestrit， para mi es un personaje entrañable， pese （o gracias） a la cantidad de conflictos por los que atraviesa。 Y， por otro l Qué placer vivir en el tiempo de Robin Hobb。 Doy gracias por tener la posibilidad de leer a una autora que imprime tanto amor a sus historias。The Mad Ship continua de manera esplendida una historia llena de magia con personajes extraordinariamente escritos y una Robin Hobb que no hace más adentrarte en su historia y dejarte hambriento de más 。 Amo completamente a Wintrow Vestrit， para mi es un personaje entrañable， pese （o gracias） a la cantidad de conflictos por los que atraviesa。 Y， por otro lado， también me gustaría destacar a Malta Vestrit， comprendo por qué no es una favorita del lector， pero me pasa como con Sansa Stark， la evolución de su personaje es tan gradual， que lo disfruto plenamente y estoy ansiosa en ver el personaje en el que se convertirá。 。。。more

Natalie ，

I loved the serpents so much and Kennit is still nu favourite character

Jennie Pease ，

4。5 stars。 Can't wait to read the final book in the trilogy， Ship of Destiny。 4。5 stars。 Can't wait to read the final book in the trilogy， Ship of Destiny。 。。。more

Shai-Hulud ，

Arrrrh matey， what say you？ Are you ready for another adventure with Captain Hobb？ Aye， ma’am let’s sail the high seas of the Realm of The Elderlings together and see what wonders it holds in store for us this time。Obligatory stupid pirate jokes aside， Robin Hobb delivers a more than worthy follow up to the fantastic Ship of Magic which does pretty much everything a great sequel needs to do。 It pushes the story forward; a ton of character exploration and growth happens and further expands on the Arrrrh matey， what say you？ Are you ready for another adventure with Captain Hobb？ Aye， ma’am let’s sail the high seas of the Realm of The Elderlings together and see what wonders it holds in store for us this time。Obligatory stupid pirate jokes aside， Robin Hobb delivers a more than worthy follow up to the fantastic Ship of Magic which does pretty much everything a great sequel needs to do。 It pushes the story forward; a ton of character exploration and growth happens and further expands on the world and mysteries established in the first book。 The story picks up where we left of with each character: We follow Althea in her struggle to get Vivacia back， Wintrow gets taken in by Kennit， Malta and the other Vestrit women deal with Bingtown politics and Brashen still searches for a meaningful life。 Much like Royal Assassin before it The Mad Ship focuses heavily on the politics of the world and how it effects Bingtown， the Rain Wilds and our cast of characters。At this point I may sound like a broken record when I say Robin Hobb’s character work is amazing。 Still， I would fail in my hobby job as a “book reviewer” if I would fail to mention it。 The Mad Ship is a stellar example of Robin Hobb’s approach to character writing， especially if you consider how many POV’s she tackles in the Liveship Traders Trilogy。 The amount of character growth and exploration is just staggering。 On the one hand we get more and more glimpses into Kennit’s history and motivation。 His character dynamic with Wintrow is also great。 He is one of my favourite characters by far。 It’s just such a neat idea to have a “villain” who does so much good for all the wrong reasons。 It really makes his scenes compelling to read。Besides Kennit， the character that surprised me most was Malta。 In Ship Of Magic Malta was great to read for the problem her youthfulness and moodiness caused。 She was basically a spoiled brat and a mini Kyle Haven who acted as a foil for Ronica and Keffria。 This is true as well for half of the book but we see her change ever so slightly and truly come of age to a point where thought to myself: How the hell did Robin Hobb pull that one of！？ She turned a character which was basically a smelly dog turd into one of the most interesting characters to read。Those two are only the standouts in my opinion but every POV delivers in my mind except one which we will get to when we talk about the negatives。 Every other character gets fleshed out more， changes and gets more nuanced。 You can pretty much pick anyone and see a significant change。 One such example would be Paragon for instance or Etta。 Both are characters I thoroughly enjoyed。 But enough with characters let’s move on to the aforementioned politics。The Mad Ship moves the politics of Bingtown， Jamaillia and Chalced really to the forefront which further pushes the story along。 It’s great to see how each POV influences the dynamic of power in the series and see the cause and effect。 Which makes The Mad Ship even more thrilling to read。 Don’t get me wrong I love Ship of Magic but it had to do the heavy lifting when it comes to establishing locations， characters and so on。 The Mad Ship runs like a well-oiled machine in that regard because of the great groundwork it’s predecessor laid out。 The revelations were also huge in this entry。 We get the origin of wizardwood， more on the Elderlings and the world at large and even the illusive serpent chapter make sense by the end of it。I think it’s time to stop with the huge praise and focus on some flaws of the book。 In previous reviews I already focused on the slow pace of most of Robin Hobb’s books which I personally don’t mind as long as I get such huge payoffs in characters and story。 I just mention it because some people just don’t like a slow pace which is fine but they are definitely missing out here。 And now we come to my real flaw or more like criticism of the book and that is in the character of Serillia。 Don’t get me wrong I totally see the point of the character。 She is our eyes and ears in Jamaillia and consequently important for the politics aspects。 It’s just that she feels more like a plot device than a character at this point in the story which is a little bit sad if you consider how great Hobb is with characters。 While I didn’t really care to much what happened to her in this one， I can see that her characters will be quite important in the finale。So， In conclusion， The Mad Ship and Robin Hobb deliver once again a magnificent fantasy story and the Liveship Traders shapes up to be one of my favourite series in fantasy period。 If Robin Hobb can hold this level of quality writing and sticks the landing in the next one this may be my second full 5 star trilogy besides Lord Of The Rings。 。。。more

Joy Allen ，

I really loved this book。 So much commentary on how bad government can be if done poorly， the terrible nature and consequences of slavery， and Magic ships， and a DRAGON！！ I didn’t love all of these characters， in fact I really hated many of them for a large portion of the story。 And some are meant to be really despicable （it’s a pirate thing I guess？）， which they do brilliantly。 But some grow well into people I might actually like to meet。 More to come on my blog later， but seriously this book i I really loved this book。 So much commentary on how bad government can be if done poorly， the terrible nature and consequences of slavery， and Magic ships， and a DRAGON！！ I didn’t love all of these characters， in fact I really hated many of them for a large portion of the story。 And some are meant to be really despicable （it’s a pirate thing I guess？）， which they do brilliantly。 But some grow well into people I might actually like to meet。 More to come on my blog later， but seriously this book is even better than the first and definitely worth the 850 pages。 。。。more

Aaron ，

Even better than the first。 I'm not particularly into ships etc， but this has so much going on beyond that。 Even better than the first。 I'm not particularly into ships etc， but this has so much going on beyond that。 。。。more

Rachel 💚 ，

3。5I do enjoy this series but it doesn’t hold a torch to the Farseer Trilogy IMOInteresting set up for the final book， I am keen to see how this one ends

Micah Hall ，

4。5/5Robin Hobb is an absolute master of character driven fantasy and The Mad Ship continues the fascinating development of her Realm of the Elderlings world。 During The Ship of Magic， I really enjoyed certain characters （Captain Kennit， Wintrow） while not engaging with other characters （Malta， Captain Kyle）。 In the follow up， Hobb demonstrates her ability to make you feel something for ALL of the characters。 Malta grows up， Kyle is less of a focus， and Kennit/Wintrow/Althea/Brashen/Amber all be 4。5/5Robin Hobb is an absolute master of character driven fantasy and The Mad Ship continues the fascinating development of her Realm of the Elderlings world。 During The Ship of Magic， I really enjoyed certain characters （Captain Kennit， Wintrow） while not engaging with other characters （Malta， Captain Kyle）。 In the follow up， Hobb demonstrates her ability to make you feel something for ALL of the characters。 Malta grows up， Kyle is less of a focus， and Kennit/Wintrow/Althea/Brashen/Amber all become more interesting。 The prose is as fluid as ever， maintaining a beautiful quality that is equally readable。 The pace in this one maintains the stately pace of all of the Realm of the Elderlings books （i。e。 not fast paced and not high on action） but the luxurious pace allows you to get comfortable in the setting。 Speaking of pacing， the only I thing I knock it off for is the last 50 pages involving some characters lost in an abandoned ancient city; initially it was intriguing and mysterious but it eventually became too repetitive to keep the reader engaged for my tastes。 A minor quibble。 I have to finish this mini review gushing about the work put into the Kennit/Wintrow character arcs and interactions。 Kennit is deplorable but fascinating; I place him the "White Males Will Emulate This Character for All of the Wrong Reasons Box" where you will find such characters as Don Draper， Walter White， The Joker， etc。 However， while absolutely a monster， he is wonderful to read about。 Kennit is multi-layered and Hobb is very subtle in his actions。 In turn， Wintrow is affected by his machinations and it's equally interesting to see how he is being warped by manipulation。 All in all， this installment continues to reinforce my thoughts that The Realm of the Elderlings series is among the greats of fantasy works。 。。。more

Kina ，

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 Wow。 This series has exceeded my expectations。 Diving into this book being already familiar with the characters and seeing them further develop in this book was such a joy to see。 （Even Malta？！ Who was so unlikable in the first book） : I’m also way too worried for Wintrow :，（

Kelsey Stanley ，

View my full review at https://jumpydragon。home。blog/2021/03。。。Much better than Ship of Magic！ The characters are improved， the world is evolving， and the story is getting better with each chapter。 I'm anxious to finish the trilogy。 4。5 stars out of 5！ View my full review at https://jumpydragon。home。blog/2021/03。。。Much better than Ship of Magic！ The characters are improved， the world is evolving， and the story is getting better with each chapter。 I'm anxious to finish the trilogy。 4。5 stars out of 5！ 。。。more

Raul Guerra ，

robin hobb creates suspense that just makes you keep wanting more。 in this book the individual stories are coming together and we can see myriad possibilities for the third book。

RecursiveHaiku ，

6/5 best book i've ever read。 6/5 best book i've ever read。 。。。more

Mallory Melton ，

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 Robin Hobb's mind！！！！！！！Getting to read about these characters again is a privilege。 Hobb's writing is stunning， and the book is so intricately plotted and the world so well built。 It's fascinating to uncover the serpent/dragon/liveship mystery。 The character development in this book is unmatched。 It's really fun to see Malta grow and become a young woman， rather than a girl。 I also really liked getting to see more from Selden near the end of the book。 Every time perspectives shift， I was sad th Robin Hobb's mind！！！！！！！Getting to read about these characters again is a privilege。 Hobb's writing is stunning， and the book is so intricately plotted and the world so well built。 It's fascinating to uncover the serpent/dragon/liveship mystery。 The character development in this book is unmatched。 It's really fun to see Malta grow and become a young woman， rather than a girl。 I also really liked getting to see more from Selden near the end of the book。 Every time perspectives shift， I was sad that I wasn't getting more from the character but then being wrapped in another character's mind？？？？ That I care about just as much？？？ Very good。 I really liked this and I am so excited to read the next one。 。。。more

Stephen ，

One thing about Robin Hobb is that she definitely writes great characters， but sometimes she gets stuck in plots that seem to move in real time and it makes for LONG and SLOW stories。 This one is both， but it does have some cool pay offs and high stakes that make it worth reading。 The character arcs are amazing in this one。

Reference

google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=The Mad Ship

hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=The Mad Ship&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft

The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,The Mad Ship&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0