The Mad Ship (Liveship Traders #2) by Robin Hobb

From Goodreads:

The Liveship trilogy continues the dramatic tale of piracy, serpents, love and magic. The Vestrit family’s liveship, Vivacia, has been taken by the pirate king, Kennit. Held captive on board, Wintrow Vestrit finds himself competing with Kennit for Vivacia’s love as the ship slowly acquires her own bloodlust. Leagues away, Althea Vestrit has found a new home aboard the liveship Ophelia, but she lives only to reclaim the Vivacia and with her friend, Brashen, she plans a dangerous rescue. Meanwhile in Bingtown, the fading fortunes of the Vestrit family lead Malta deeper into the magical secrets of the Rain Wild Traders. And just outside Bingtown, Amber dreams of relaunching Paragon, the mad liveship …

My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Second of three books in the series and while definitely setting the scene for what should be an outstanding finale it’s a fantastic book in its own right.

Following in the same style as the first book this story is very much about the characters. There is further development of the main characters but increased development of characters only introduced in the first book. Kennit, Malta and Reyn all take a more central role but the star of the story is Paragon – The Mad Ship.

Much of Paragon’s story is detailed while much more is insinuated. Intertwined with his story is that of the serpents and the Rain Wilds. Just enough detail is given to confirm details hinted at already while leaving you wondering about the rest. An expert tease!

A fabulously detailed combination of stories that creates immense anticipation for the final chapter and conclusion of everyone’s story.

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