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A review by fitzbff
Ship of Destiny by Robin Hobb
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Ship of Destiny brings the Liveship Traders trilogy to a close, and fittingly, it's all about destiny and endings. A more fitting title, perhaps, may have been Ship of Pain, because not only is the book about pain and abuse, but it hurt me to read this. It reminded me of Royal Assassin, whose ending hurt me so much it tainted my view of the book for a little while, and as such my initial reaction to this book was equally pained and conflicted. So I want to start my review from a more zoomed-out, less emotional perspective.
For starters I think this book is the best paced book in the trilogy, maybe even of the whole Elderlings series from what I've read so far. Where books one and two had some dragging and tedium (minor, but still), I felt none of that in this book. The Bingtown politicking was exciting, I really enjoyed Ronica's almost-rivalry with Serilla, and we saw even more of the Rain Wilds which was very interesting. I loved everything to do with the dragon Tintaglia, Hobb writes these creatures with a sense of presence and majesty I've never felt before. Even the serpent POVs were interesting, and I suspect because of this I'll enjoy the previous books' serpent chapters more upon reread. This tighter pacing made me so excited for the ending, where all of our characters would ultimately meet their fates, without rushing and disregarding the work that goes into making these characters ready for the end.
I also want to mention the way Hobb writes about nature. This is one of my favourite things about The Lord of the Rings: Tolkien's clear adoration for the natural world bleeds off the page and infects the reader, and until now I haven't found another author similar. While Hobb isn't writing about flowers and forests, it's the way she writes about the dragons, the serpents, and the Elderlings that conveyed this to me. We see so much more of the wider natural world than we even saw in Assassin's Quest (which was my favourite because of this rich history and lore), and so of course I loved every iota of information I could glean from these sections. Everyone praises Hobb's attention to detail in her character writing, but just as well done is the history of this world. There is a deep respect for the natural world expressed in this novel, without becoming one-note. Tintaglia the dragon is just as deep a character as Keffria or Etta is.
Another part of what makes this book so astounding is, of course, the characters. It wouldn't be a Hobb review without mentioning her stunning character work. I adore what Hobb did with Malta, she changes so much but is still recognisably the same character, it astounds me how real and believable she felt. Freezing cold take, but she's one of my favourite characters in the whole series, and has one of my favourite character arcs in the whole realm of literature. I don't think I've seen someone not have her in their favourites list by the end, and it is so well deserved. Another character who rivals her is Kennit. Right from the beginning of book one, he oozes presence on the page, and never, not once in this entire trilogy, does this sense of presence and raw character wane. Hobb put arguably the most effort into this character, and has created one of the strongest and most compelling antagonists I have ever read. This is particularly impressive coming after Regal, who I thought was a very one-note villain, and easily one of the weakest parts of the Farseer trilogy. Kennit's tragic backstory is explored fully in this entry, but not once is it used to excuse any of the despicable acts he does. I initially found his ending to be a bit too forgiving for my tastes, but ultimately I think it's fitting. It's simultaneously everything he wanted and what he never wanted to happen, which is just perfect.
I also want to gush about Paragon, probably my favourite character from the whole trilogy. He and Kennit both fit into one of the major themes of this novel: what we do with our pain. I am enamoured with the way Hobb ended both of these characters' arcs, and the way this theme also ties into the Bingtown politics and the serpent story. In this book, pain and trauma are things to learn from, and characters who make the difficult decisions to face up to their pain, and learn from it, those who take it and make something better, are rewarded. Maybe not in the ways that they expect, but they are nonetheless happier for it. The characters who instead hide their pain, or push it off onto someone else, are punished and looked down on. Without spoiling anything, Paragon and Kennit are the two characters that I think exemplify this theme the most, and I'm so glad at how well this was done. In fact, I'll say it. Paragon is the best non-human character in the Realm of the Elderlings (so far, I'm happy to be proven wrong), including Nighteyes. He's in my top three characters in the whole series (Fitz and the Fool are of course the top two).
Everything in this entry builds off the entire trilogy and comes to a satisfying and emotional conclusion. In fact, the ending moved me so much that I was initially harsh and very hurt by certain aspects. While I do think some things about this ending are done poorly,if Reyn was even a few years younger, I would love him and Malta together, and I'm very against Paragon having Kennit's eyes, it makes Althea's bittersweet ending more bitter than sweet in my opinion upon stepping back I can understand what Hobb has done, and why she's done it, and I think there's much more good than bad. It all ties into the other major theme of destiny, and how destiny is rarely what we expect. I like how most, if not all, of our characters have a fulfilling end to their respective arcs, but would make no sense if you judge these based off their introductions in the first book. Things have changed, both for the world as a whole and individual characters, and you can either live with it and move forwards, or hide from it, stay complicit, and rot.
I want to briefly touch on one specific scene that contains sexual assault, and so if you want to skip this section please do so. I won't mention it after this paragraph ends. One of the aspects of this book that hurt me the most was, of course, this rape scene, and certain characters' reactions to it. I was at first unsure why it had happened, and thought it was mostly used in service of the abuser's arc instead of the victim's. I believe this reaction is flawed though. Why should this horrific act be any part of the victim's arc? Character growth and development comes from characters' choices, like Malta's choice to help her family, or Ronica's choice to stay in Bingtown at the end of the previous book. Instead, it shows the true inner self of the abuser, and also the inner selves of others who hear of this act. It brought down my liking of a few different characters, which is what Hobb wanted. It cemented the true being of the abuser, which is what Hobb wanted. She also allows the victim to heal, which I think makes it one of the best instances of rape I have read about. As many video reviews have pointed out, this act has been brushed past in the previous books, and so now Hobb highlights how awful and disgusting it truly is, where previously we have gotten away with not thinking about it. It plays an important part in the book's themes of how we deal with our pain, and so I think it was done very well. I maybe should have taken a moment to recover after reading it though, and I implore others to do the same.
Ship of Destiny brings the Liveship Traders trilogy to a close, and I cannot really think of a better way that it could have ended. Despite a few nitpicks and changes I would have loved to see, ultimately this book is heartrending in a way that only a Hobb book could be, bringing about a deep anguish that only Royal Assassin previously has given me. The themes are rich and explored to their depths, characters are given fitting endings, and the world of the Elderlings is opened up in such a unique way. I find it difficult to explain how much this book means to me. I hope that I can take its teachings and learn from the pain it has inflicted on me, rather than wallowing in my sadness and hurt. I trust that the series will only grow better as I read more of the Realm of the Elderlings and on reread. And most importantly, I hope that Paragon is happy. I love that ship so much.
For starters I think this book is the best paced book in the trilogy, maybe even of the whole Elderlings series from what I've read so far. Where books one and two had some dragging and tedium (minor, but still), I felt none of that in this book. The Bingtown politicking was exciting, I really enjoyed Ronica's almost-rivalry with Serilla, and we saw even more of the Rain Wilds which was very interesting. I loved everything to do with the dragon Tintaglia, Hobb writes these creatures with a sense of presence and majesty I've never felt before. Even the serpent POVs were interesting, and I suspect because of this I'll enjoy the previous books' serpent chapters more upon reread. This tighter pacing made me so excited for the ending, where all of our characters would ultimately meet their fates, without rushing and disregarding the work that goes into making these characters ready for the end.
I also want to mention the way Hobb writes about nature. This is one of my favourite things about The Lord of the Rings: Tolkien's clear adoration for the natural world bleeds off the page and infects the reader, and until now I haven't found another author similar. While Hobb isn't writing about flowers and forests, it's the way she writes about the dragons, the serpents, and the Elderlings that conveyed this to me. We see so much more of the wider natural world than we even saw in Assassin's Quest (which was my favourite because of this rich history and lore), and so of course I loved every iota of information I could glean from these sections. Everyone praises Hobb's attention to detail in her character writing, but just as well done is the history of this world. There is a deep respect for the natural world expressed in this novel, without becoming one-note. Tintaglia the dragon is just as deep a character as Keffria or Etta is.
Another part of what makes this book so astounding is, of course, the characters. It wouldn't be a Hobb review without mentioning her stunning character work. I adore what Hobb did with Malta, she changes so much but is still recognisably the same character, it astounds me how real and believable she felt. Freezing cold take, but she's one of my favourite characters in the whole series, and has one of my favourite character arcs in the whole realm of literature. I don't think I've seen someone not have her in their favourites list by the end, and it is so well deserved. Another character who rivals her is Kennit. Right from the beginning of book one, he oozes presence on the page, and never, not once in this entire trilogy, does this sense of presence and raw character wane. Hobb put arguably the most effort into this character, and has created one of the strongest and most compelling antagonists I have ever read. This is particularly impressive coming after Regal, who I thought was a very one-note villain, and easily one of the weakest parts of the Farseer trilogy. Kennit's tragic backstory is explored fully in this entry, but not once is it used to excuse any of the despicable acts he does. I initially found his ending to be a bit too forgiving for my tastes, but ultimately I think it's fitting. It's simultaneously everything he wanted and what he never wanted to happen, which is just perfect.
I also want to gush about Paragon, probably my favourite character from the whole trilogy. He and Kennit both fit into one of the major themes of this novel: what we do with our pain. I am enamoured with the way Hobb ended both of these characters' arcs, and the way this theme also ties into the Bingtown politics and the serpent story. In this book, pain and trauma are things to learn from, and characters who make the difficult decisions to face up to their pain, and learn from it, those who take it and make something better, are rewarded. Maybe not in the ways that they expect, but they are nonetheless happier for it. The characters who instead hide their pain, or push it off onto someone else, are punished and looked down on. Without spoiling anything, Paragon and Kennit are the two characters that I think exemplify this theme the most, and I'm so glad at how well this was done. In fact, I'll say it. Paragon is the best non-human character in the Realm of the Elderlings (so far, I'm happy to be proven wrong), including Nighteyes. He's in my top three characters in the whole series (Fitz and the Fool are of course the top two).
Everything in this entry builds off the entire trilogy and comes to a satisfying and emotional conclusion. In fact, the ending moved me so much that I was initially harsh and very hurt by certain aspects. While I do think some things about this ending are done poorly,
I want to briefly touch on one specific scene that contains sexual assault, and so if you want to skip this section please do so. I won't mention it after this paragraph ends. One of the aspects of this book that hurt me the most was, of course, this rape scene, and certain characters' reactions to it. I was at first unsure why it had happened, and thought it was mostly used in service of the abuser's arc instead of the victim's. I believe this reaction is flawed though. Why should this horrific act be any part of the victim's arc? Character growth and development comes from characters' choices, like Malta's choice to help her family, or Ronica's choice to stay in Bingtown at the end of the previous book. Instead, it shows the true inner self of the abuser, and also the inner selves of others who hear of this act. It brought down my liking of a few different characters, which is what Hobb wanted. It cemented the true being of the abuser, which is what Hobb wanted. She also allows the victim to heal, which I think makes it one of the best instances of rape I have read about. As many video reviews have pointed out, this act has been brushed past in the previous books, and so now Hobb highlights how awful and disgusting it truly is, where previously we have gotten away with not thinking about it. It plays an important part in the book's themes of how we deal with our pain, and so I think it was done very well. I maybe should have taken a moment to recover after reading it though, and I implore others to do the same.
Ship of Destiny brings the Liveship Traders trilogy to a close, and I cannot really think of a better way that it could have ended. Despite a few nitpicks and changes I would have loved to see, ultimately this book is heartrending in a way that only a Hobb book could be, bringing about a deep anguish that only Royal Assassin previously has given me. The themes are rich and explored to their depths, characters are given fitting endings, and the world of the Elderlings is opened up in such a unique way. I find it difficult to explain how much this book means to me. I hope that I can take its teachings and learn from the pain it has inflicted on me, rather than wallowing in my sadness and hurt. I trust that the series will only grow better as I read more of the Realm of the Elderlings and on reread. And most importantly, I hope that Paragon is happy. I love that ship so much.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Child abuse
Minor: Pedophilia and Slavery