Robin Hobb’s Liveship Traders series opens with this book, Ship of Magic. Once again the author provides an unusual and emotional story. Readers already familiar with the Royal Assassin series will recognize the world, but the areas we know well are distant places while those we see up close are new and fresh. With one significant exception, the level of magic has been dramatically reduced from the earlier trilogy, and the result is a human tale of desperation rather than a fantasy adventure on the high seas.
The book is set in a community of sailors and shipwrights. The ships they build there are called liveships, crafted by human hands from special wood, their figureheads magically animated with spirit and personally, and bonded to a human being, the ships can’t quite sail themselves but have a powerful influence on what happens to their crew nonetheless.
The heroine Althea in Ship of Magic stands to inherit her father’s shipping business, along with the liveship Vivacia, which has been under construction for years and will take even more years to pay off – but an untimely death changes everyone’s plans. Surrounded by economic threats rather than the usual evil swordsmen or beastial creatures, she must struggle to keep her family’s business alive while dealing with events that shattered all of her expectations for the future.
It’s a situation that calls for desperate actions and high risks. Althea may not carry a sword or wield powerful magic, but she has wits, skills, and determination that may well be her salvation.
