Mad Ship

Mad Ship is the second book in Robin Hobb's Liveship Traders trilogy. In this sequel, the Vestrit family's liveship Vivacia comes under the sway of Kennit, the pirate who captured her at the end of the first book. Instead of becoming resentful, Vivacia embraces her new captain. While Kennit and Vivacia come to admire each other, their emotions and memories entwined through the magic of the wizardwood, jealousy grows in Kennit's girlfriend and Wintrow--Vivacia's only family member on board. Though Wintrow is possessive of the ship, he comes to regard Kennit as a strong father figure, ironically with more compassion than his own father chained in a cabin. Wintrow urges Kennit to get rid of his father, and Kennit obliges by imprisoning him on an island. This part of the book is the most intriguing, with the characters growing and their allegiances shifting. Kennit uses his pirate tactics as part of a bigger plan to eliminate the slave trade and make the lives of refugees better, and Vivacia is drawn to him for that. Wintrow still sees him as a murderous pirate, but comes to see him more like Vivacia, partly thanks to the bond they all share.

Meanwhile back at Bingtown, Wintrow's sister Malta starts a journey from being a spoiled girl to a strong woman, much like Althea's transformation in the first book. At first she only wants her father to come home to give her everything that the rest of her family won't. When Althea come home on another liveship, Malta and the Vestrit family are scandalized. Althea agrees to live a more domestic life, but then Brashen comes to give the family the news that their ship has been captured and Malta's father and brother may or may not be alive. This is a wake-up call for Malta. At first she tries to use her feminine charms to convince her old beau to help her, then to convince the Rain Wild Trader man who has been courting her. She comes to realize the depth of the politics involved, and how little others can help her.

The Satrap of Jamaillia, who is nominally the ruler of Bingtown, is convinced by his platonic consort Serilla to visit the town to make peace. Serilla is tired of the Satrap's weakness and venality, and she hopes to escape from him in Bingtown. But on the voyage she discovers that the foreign ships he has escorting them are planning some sort of coup or attack. She manages to get the Satrap into Bingtown and in the care of the traders there, but a riot breaks out and the town is burned, presumably by the foreign forces. Malta's courter Reyn seizes the Satrap and takes him to the Rain Wild city up the river, though Malta is injured in the process.

Reyn has become under the sway of the last dragon in a wooden egg buried under the city. It is the dragon eggs that are the secret source of the wizardwood: the large eggs contain the memories of dragon ancestors, and they store the memories of Liveship families and crew then create an illusion of consciousness in the figurehead out of the memories. However, the serpents that track the ships and eat the bodies thrown overboard are in fact young forms of dragons that have lost their memories and their ability to transform into adults. But at the same time that Malta helps rescue the last dragon from her ancient egg, Wintrow rescues the serpent with memories from its prison.

While the story starts off slow, there is a lot of dramatic tension as the Vestrit family struggles even before discovering the fate of the ship. It is interesting to see Malta grow as her aunt did in the previous book, but even more dramatically. The relationship between Althea and Brashen continues to grow as they take command of the liveship Paragon, which has long been mad. We discover a clue to its madness in its creation: it was manufactured from multiple dragon eggs which must have added too many conflicting memories. There is a lot of interesting politics in Bingtown and between that city and Jamaillia, though the Satrap is not as interesting as he could be due to his weakness. It is good that Serilla is with him to be both stronger and more interesting.

There is a shift in power from the older generation to the younger, as Reyn starts to take some control and Malta takes charge of her life. As the story progresses, different elements start to coalesce to make a satisfying conclusion, as well as a strong hook to the next book in the series. B+

Ship of Magic

Robin Hobb's Ship of Magic is a family drama set in a fantasy world where ships made of wizardwood quicken after three generations and gain sentience. The magic ships can sense their crew and cargo and the winds and the current; they can communicate with their "family" and sail better than an ordinary vessel. The novel is about the liveship Vivacia and the Vestrit family that sails her.

Althea Vestrit is a young woman whose family liveship is close to quickening. When her ailing father dies on the deck of the ship, the figurehead comes to life. Althea and Vivacia have a strong bond thanks to the years that Althea spent on the ship with her father. However Althea's brother-in-law Kyle Haven, who is in charge of the family fortunes, has different plans for the ship. He sees Althea as a spoiled girl who should stay at home and take care of family business instead of doing men's work on a ship. Althea is heartbroken that she cannot be with her ship, and angry at Kyle for keeping them apart. She swears that she will prove herself as a sailor, ending up posing as a ship's boy to get experience and validation in the form of a ship's ticket. This proves to be a big lesson for her. She realizes how easy she had it as the daughter of the ship's captain. She changes from being a spoiled girl to being a wary young woman.

Wintrow Haven is the thirteen-year-old son of Kyle Haven and Althea's sister Keffria. At the start of the story Wintrow is at a monastery. He was sent there against his will four years earlier but has settled well and believes he has found his calling. After coming home to be with his family at the death of his grandfather, his father Kyle forces him to abandon the monastic life and live aboard the Vivacia, who requires a Vestrit to be aboard her. Wintrow is devastated, and Vivacia is distraught at having an unwilling family member aboard her instead of the loving Althea. Wintrow cannot please his cruel and demanding father. He finally adjusts well to the ship (Vivacia is his only friend on board), but decides he must jump ship and try to make his way to his monastery.

Ronica Vestrit is the widow of Ephron Vestrit who finds herself in an awkward position. She is dismayed at Kyle's treatment of her grandson but is powerless to act. Moreover, she must help her daughter Keffria raise Keffria's adolescent daughter Malta. Malta is headstrong and ready for the benefits of being a young woman, but has no understanding of the commitments she is involving herself with. Malta realizes how she can manipulate her father, yet she must live with her mother and grandmother while Kyle is sailing the ship.

Kennit is a pirate captain who has grand designs that include the capture of a liveship. He makes a deal with his first mate Sorcor that they will pursue a slave ship for every liveship they pursue. Kennit becomes a hero to the slaves that they free. And in the Vestrit's home of Bingtown a mad blind liveship sits and waits in solitude with occasional visits from friends and strangers.

This story is about these characters and others. Althea and Wintrow and their family are complex and growing. Even Vivacia is a complex character who changes throughout the story. The story is more dramatic with the constant theme of slavery, which moves from the background to take a central role in the story. Kyle's decision to use the liveship as a slave ship has serious consequences. I hadn't expected such a hard look at the evils of slavery but the story swept me up and kept me involved. The troubles of the Vestrit are engrossing and make for a great story. The story mixes fantasy and ships in a fresh new blend. A-