Ship of Destiny (Liveship Traders)

This is one of the most satisfying heroic fantasies of recent years, simply because it is about difficult choices and complex emotions, while Hobb's tight plotting and fast-moving storytelling are fascinating in their own right.--Roz Kaveney

Amazon.co.uk Review
Robin Hobb's books combine heroic adventures by land and sea with a passionate urgency about the morality which underlies her character's deeds. Ship of Destiny the third of the Liveship Trilogy, involves us further with the efforts of the Vestrit family to reclaim the fortunes which war and piracy have cost them, and raises interesting questions about the sources of even an attractive family's wealth. It is clear that the live ships Vivacia and Paragon were carved from husks which should have hatched dragons, that the attractive personalities of the figureheads are only pale shadows of the autonomous beings they might have been. Malta has freed the last of the real dragons from an underground prison, and he is not especially grateful. And the slave-liberating pirate Kennit, one of Hobb's richest creations, is ever more drawn to the darker side of his flawed nature in an attempt to hide from the secrets of his past. This is one of the most satisfying heroic fantasies of recent years, simply because it is about difficult choices and complex emotions. Hobb's tight plotting and fast-moving story-telling are fascinating in their own right, but are all the more so because they are actually about something. --Roz Kaveney

(Review copyright Amazon.co.uk)