Political Revolution and Nautical Fantasy
Robin Hobb's Liveship Traders Series
Reviewed by Stephanie Dray
Hearkening back to the political and environmental
challenges faced by the founding fathers of the American Revolution, Robin
Hobb's Liveship Traders series tells a story of family grit and emerging
nationhood that would be compelling even if it were lifted out of its fantasy
setting. That the story takes place
within a magical world where ships come to life, sea-serpents terrorize the
oceans, and enchanted trinkets of a lost Elderling race are regularly
discovered, makes the story more than compelling--it makes it an extraordinary
high fantasy saga.
The swashbuckling epic begins in Bingtown, where the
oldest and most distinguished families were once hardy pioneers who braved the
seas and settled the dangerous coast of Trader Bay to found a colony of
Jamaillia. In exchange for their bravery
and the risks they took in taming the land, they were awarded grants and
various trade monopolies that helped them to rise into the merchant nobility
class. Sailing on ships made of
wizardwood, which ripen into sentient awareness, the Traders helped Bingtown
become a thriving city featuring exotic trade and robust traditions. But Bingtown's grants and privileges are
being set aside by a corrupt new ruler in Jamaillia, pirating is becoming more
prominent and more successful, sightings of the mysterious sea serpents are
increasing, and slavery, though illegal in Bingtown, is flourishing.
Talk of revolution is in the air, and it is against the
backdrop of this tumultuous political maelstrom that the story of the Vestrit
family is told. Their changing fortunes
reflect those of all the other old trader families in Bingtown. When the family patriarch dies upon the deck
of the Vestrit liveship, the _Vivacia_ quickens to life in the midst of a
family power struggle. Althea Vestrit
feels that the liveship is more than just a vessel; Althea considers the
_Vivacia_ to be a living member of her family that she has bonded with for
life. So when the ship is given over to
her brother-in-law to help bolster the family fortunes, Althea makes it her
mission to get the ship back. While
Althea would do just about anything to serve aboard the _Vivacia_, her
softhearted cousin Wintrow finds ship life to be a misery. Plucked from the monastery and plunged into a
life for which he is innately unsuited, Wintrow's misery is exacerbated when
the family decides that it will use the liveship to engage in slave trading in
order to pay off the family debts.
The decision to trade in slaves catapults the Vestrit
family into a tangled web of intrigue that involves the building of new
nations, piracy on the high-seas, civil insurrection, liveships gone mad, and
ancient discoveries about the sea serpents that may unleash a new race upon the
world. The first book, _Ship of Magic_,
puts all of these plotlines on the table, luring the reader into the world and
weaving magic into the story so subtly and seamlessly as to make the reader forget
that she's reading a fantasy novel. The
second installment, _Mad Ship_, continues the relentless drive, adding more
characters and more complications to the mix with such a fine touch that the
stage never seems too crowded.
Yet, in spite of the emphasis on a complex and driving
plotline, Hobb doesn't give short shrift to characterization. In fact, the development of diverse and
fascinating characters may be one of her greatest strengths as an author. Her heroes are deeply flawed, and her villains
are extremely sympathetic. For example,
while the reader quickly comes to identify with the plight of Althea Vestrit,
it soon becomes obvious that Althea had vastly overestimated herself, her
rights, and the consequences to her family were she to have inherited the
family liveship. She often acts rashly
and exacerbates her troubles with her own poor judgments.
Althea's love interest, Brashen Trell, is the
disinherited scion of another Trader Family.
In spite of his worthy ambitions, his love for Althea, and his general
good-hearted loyalty, Brashen is crass, self-pitying, and pedestrian. Also, Brashen is so enamored of alcohol and
pleasure drugs that it's easy to understand why he was disowned in the first
place. Althea's cousin Wintrow, a gentle
religious prodigy, wins the reader's affection for his goodness. But his flaws too, are immediately
evident. Gullible, timid, and ultimately
a follower, Wintrow often struggles against his own weaknesses. Sometimes he overcomes them; sometimes he
doesn't. Through his aimless malaise,
the reader recognizes the reality of adolescent tumult portrayed vividly on the
page. The Paragon is a liveship that is thought to be cursed; he is so
petulant, dangerous and deranged that the reader loves him, but never trusts
him for a moment.
However, it isn't merely her ability to give real flaws
to her characters that make Hobb a master of characterization--it's her ability
to transform. Althea's mother, Ronica,
first appears to be a bitterly selfish woman who ruins the life of her daughter
for financial security. But in this
series, first impressions can be deceiving.
Ronica soon emerges as one of the major heroines of the story. She may be too attached to the Old World and
her traditions, and she may occasionally not see things clearly enough to make
the best choices, but Ronica has true grit and stature. When asked why she's in
a sour mood, Ronica unapologetically declares, "Because anything out of
the ordinary rattles me, that's why."
And the reader pities Ronica, because everything in her world has become
out of the ordinary. Thus, she serves as
a useful marker to show how much the political situation is changing Bingtown,
and she often serves as the moral compass of the story.
Althea's cousin Malta is similarly presented to the
reader so as to inspire such hatred for her that it's difficult to believe that
Hobb could turn it around. But turn it
around she does. The reader gets to
watch Malta grow and blossom into an admirable young woman. In truth, Hobb favors all of her female
characters. Her human females are
stalwart survivors. The _Ophelia_ is so
affectionately meddlesome that it's difficult to remember that she's just a ship. Even the villainous women are of a strong and
self-reliant cast.
But there is no character that Hobb favors more than she
favors her pirate captain. Hobb's
Captain Kennit may be one of the most captivating villains of all times. By allowing readers to be first exposed to
the treacherous workings of Kennit's mind, and then allowing them to see him
through the eyes of his many admirers, Hobb dares the reader to judge the
pirate captain harshly. This dare is
made with a wink and a nudge, as if Hobb knows that her readers will find themselves
making any excuse for Kennit's reprehensible behavior simply so that they can
continue to root for him.
Make no mistake.
Captain Kennit is a bad man, and his villainy is not the forgivable
kind. But the reader never stops wanting
to forgive him even in the face of his atrocities. Because of that, some have accused Hobb of
sending the wrong messages by so masterfully directing affection towards
him. However, most readers find the
incongruity to be an unusual and guilty pleasure not found since, perhaps,
Octavia Butler's _Wild Seed_.
The guilty pleasure of the series is enhanced by Hobb's
general bravery as an author. Too few
authors will allow main characters, or even beloved minor characters, to
die. Even fewer will allow their
characters to suffer debilitating losses.
Hobb isn't afraid to kill, but more, she isn't afraid to maim,
disfigure, or transform. This grim
devotion to realistic consequences ensures that the reader cannot predict what
will happen next, and can feel no security in the ultimate outcome of the
story.
_Ship of Destiny_, the finale to the series, is due out
in paperback this November and the terrible secret of the liveships is finally
revealed. The once beguiling city of
Bingtown is war torn and ravaged, three generations of Vestrit women fight for
survival, and a once glorious species is at the brink of extinction. All these plots tangle into a masterful tale
that leaves the reader fond and wanting more.
As if to make up for the depressing ending of her previous Farseer
Trilogy and the general glum realism of all of her works, Hobb does her best to
give the series as happy a conclusion as she can. She weaves all the various plots of the story
into a climactic showdown between the _Paragon_ and the _Vivacia_ in which all
the major mysteries of the series are answered.
And while she seems to rush to the climax, the fact
remains that the conclusion is satisfying.
She does leave the reader apprehensive about the future and the dawning
of this new age. For instance, the
future of the Pirate Isles is far from settled. Furthermore, the ultimate
consequences of some discoveries are left dangling. Yet, it's the pacing of the series seems to
be the most frequent complaint.
While _Ship of Magic_ sets up an epic background, the
tale seems at first to be focused on Althea.
As the series expands with _Mad Ship_, the lives and destinies of a host
of other characters come to the fore.
While it's necessary to give each character a place on the stage in
order to tell the sweeping political story, the occasionally jarring changes in
point of view seem to minimize the roles of earlier characters as if Hobb
became bored with them. All of the major
story arcs are neatly resolved by the end of the series, but the last book may
have been too condensed and too neat.
Characters are saved or killed efficiently, and the outcome of the civil
insurrection is summarized briefly. The
last book of the series is even noticeably shorter in length than the other two
and certain characters remain enigmatic.
In fact, the character of Amber only makes sense if one has read Hobb's
earlier books, set in the same world.
_Ship of Destiny_ makes some rather startling
revelations, and the reader hungers to see the natural and psychological
implications of these revelations upon the characters. But it seems that Hobb doesn't have time to
explore those psychological ramifications because she has so many loose ends to
tie up all at once. Perhaps if she'd
resolved each plot point in a separate scene, it might have been an even more
decadent read. But these complaints are
minor, and in light of the overall impression the story makes, the books are
well-worth reading and deserving of the overwhelming praise they have received.
Hobb has truly earned the reverential comparisons to past
and present masters that have emerged from the fantasy community. By the end of
the series, readers will be loathe to part company with these characters. Hobb has also left herself a few openings to
return to them if she likes. Because the world is rich and the Liveship Trader
series as a whole is so magical, the reader is left hoping she does so soon.
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Stephanie Dray is a lawyer-turned-writer. She also runs an Internet game that is based
upon her novel-in-progress, _Firan Heroes_.
For more about this free text-based roleplaying game, see
www.legendary.org/~firan.