Ship of Magic takes place in the southern coasts, particulary around the famed trading city of Bingtown. There, a group of powerful Traders and their families have set up a massive shipping empire. But what gives the Traders an edge over their competitors--aside from their general savvy and experience--are the liveships, enormous trading vessels built of wizardwood that become sentient (or "quicken") after three generations of a trading family have died on its deck.
The Vestrit family has lived in Bingtown for decades, and as the book opens we see that Ephron Vestrit--the third generation to own the Vestrit family's liveship Vivacia--is about to die. Ephron's daughter Althea is looking forward to commandeering the soon-to-be-quickened Vivacia, but her brother-in-law Kyle Haven has other ideas. Their conflict will tear the faimly apart and send its members across the southern coasts. At the same time, the dread pirate Kennit has begun dreaming of becoming king of the pirates--a goal that he systematically pursues, with a little help from a magical brooch and a lot of luck. And somewhere in the deeps, serpents begin questing out from their seasonal grounds in search of something even they do not know.
Unlike The Farseer Trilogy, which focused exclusively--and at times almost claustrophobically--on a single character, Ship of Magic takes on a much more expansive cast, with the point of view shifting several times within a single chapter. The book still unfortunately suffers from the problems inherent to this approach--certain chapters move more slowly than others because their characters are simply less interesting, and involving plotlines are suddenly interrupted by chapter-long excursions into other lands--but what is impressive about the book is that the difference between the most interesting character and the least interesting character is fairly slight, and probably a matter of the reader's individual taste.
What this means is that Hobb has essentially crafted about a half-dozen equally compelling stories, each with its own cast of distinctive and memorable characters. As was the case with The Farseer Trilogy, the characters are wonderfully well-rounded, complex creatures who seem fully human (even when they're not). And Hobb once more exercises her talent at making the most externally quiet conflicts seem just as important as the biggest sea battles.
Ship of Magic is not an easy book to read--although the pages fly past, the emotional level of the plot sometimes reaches such an intense pitch that it becomes painful to feel what the characters are being put through. Hobb's relentless honesty and refusal to pull back from the most realistic consequences make the moments of suspense truly suspenseful--not to mention excruciating. But the plot is never predictable, and although the book is long it never seems to drag.
Ship of Magic is a promising beginning for what looks like another wonderful trilogy from Robin Hobb.
Copyright © 2002 Steven Wu 