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Ship of Magic

Liveship Traders, Book 1

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Ship of Magic

By: Robin Hobb
Narrated by: Lucy Tregear
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‘As addictive as morphine’ THE TIMES

From the author of the classic Farseer trilogy, SHIP OF MAGIC is the first part of the Liveship Traders. Set in a land bordering the Six Duchies, Robin Hobb begins her epic tale of pirates, talking ships, magic, sea serpents, slave revolts, dashing heroes and bloody battles.

Wizardwood, the most precious commodity in the world, comes only from the Rain Wilds. But only a liveship can negotiate the perilous waters of the Rain Wild River, and liveships are hard to come by. They quicken only when three family members from successive generations have died upon their deck.

The liveship Vivacia is about to undergo her quickening: Althea Vestrit waits for the ship that she loves more than anything in the world to awaken. But her dream of taking her father’s place at Vivacia’s helm is not to be, for her family have other plans…

And the dark, charming pirate Kennit also lusts after such a ship: he well knows the power of wizardwood and has plans of his own …

©1998 Robin Hobb (P)2026 HarperCollins Publishers Dark Fantasy Dragons & Mythical Creatures Epic Fantasy Historical Military Magic Pirate
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Critic reviews

‘Hobb is superb’ CONN IGGULDEN
‘Hobb is a remarkable storyteller’ GUARDIAN
'Even better than the Assassin books. I didn't think that was possible' GEORGE RR MARTIN
All stars
Most relevant
I’ve listened to these books quite a few times, and this new recording makes them even better, the new narrator does a really great job 🙂

Good

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I’ve come back to Robin Hobb after a decade. I really enjoyed the multiple POV of characters, and slow building of a ‘new’ world. I liked the unhurried approach and enjoyed the development of the characters. Already purchased the next in the series and started it straight away!

Excellent Slow Build

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Totally absorbing, this book had me dreaming about it, thinking about it when I wasn’t reading or listening to it, it had me feeling along with the characters, just absolutely brilliant

Brilliant!

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Narrator has pleasant voice but it doesn’t change for the character. In the book where in one chapter there is so many different characters it is quite confusing. It takes a lot of time to figure out when it switches between character and then i have to rewind back.

Narrator

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I’m a big Robin Hobb fan, and this was a wonderful listen having completed the Farseer trilogy. The story certainly feels like a lot of world building and story setting (which is typical for the first in a series) and I really enjoy that Hobb does this. If you stick through it you are well rewarded.
The narrator also did a fantastic job and did some great characterisation considering the number of different characters she had to contend with.

Fantastic! Takes abit of getting into but worth it

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