Ship of Magic cover art

Ship of Magic

Liveship Traders, Book 1

 Preview

Get 30 days of Standard free

£5.99/mo after trial. Cancel monthly.
Try for £0.00
More purchase options

Ship of Magic

By: Robin Hobb
Narrated by: Lucy Tregear
Try for £0.00

£5.99 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for £31.42

Buy Now for £31.42

Season's Savings | £0.99/mo for 3 months

£5.99/mo after 3 months - terms apply. Cancel monthly

‘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
adbl_web_anon_alc_button_suppression_t1

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

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
My deepest thanks to whoever decided that theese needed a narrator change. Robin Hobb is my favourite author, and yet Anne Flosnik (the previous narrator) made me buy the books in print because I could not stand her narration. Lucy Tregear absolutely knocks it out of the park. I can finally listen to my favourite books read by a competent narrator not having to wince every two seconds. The story is as good as I remember and the whole of the Farseer, Liveship and Rainwild Chronicles possibly the best fantasy universe out there, and I have read most of them.

New narrator!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
another brilliant addition to the series. I love all the characters, except Malta, my god do I hate Malta. the narration was excellent.

no notes. 10/10

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
A really well put together book which held the attention across 4 storylines if you include the serpents. The narration is excellent throughout with the only drawback being the editing between storylines, on numerous occasions the switch over leaves no pause which can be confusing for a listener.
Overall though, I'm looking forward to book 2.

Intriguing Story

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
No offence againt Anne the previous narrator but I found the Liveship books unlistenable before, now I can enjoy them being read while at work 🙌🙌 clear, expressive and no silly accents, good voices for both men and women too. The story itself goes without saying is one of the best pieces of literature out there, as is the rest of the ROTE series. A must listen if you haven't already.

Thank god for new narrator!!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews