Ship of Magic (The Liveship Traders) - Robin Hobb

Advantages: Wonderful Storyline, beautifully written, unique and original.
Disadvantages: Lack of personal feel that's expected after the first trilogy.

...families betrayal in giving the ship to her brother-in-law. Yet through her journeys, and that of the ship we meet a whole array of well thought out characters, oozing with personality. At several points in this book my heart ached for the situations that they have to go through. What isn't apparent at first is the story "as a whole" because you jump from place to place, person to person, without there seeming to be a link. I don't want to spoil ...
...well worth sticking with some of the minor confusion to understand the secrets that tie the sea serpents, the ships and their owners, and majestic dragons together. This series is completely and totally addictive, I found it lacked a certain personal feeling that the Assassin's Trilogy gave from the First Person writing, but this was made up in far by the originality of the storyline, and the depth and detail with which she writes. I advise that ... Read review

Advantages: Great characterisation, excellent and realistic fantasy world in which all the elements fit, complex story structure which allows us to see how a number of individual stories create a larger whole, complex and realistic treatment of good and evil
Disadvantages: Lacking in action scenes, action writing unemotional and rather flat, third book in this series not out yet.

...regain Ophelia, using the mad ship Paragon to aid her. This is not so much an individual story as many individual strands of plot forming a huge rope across time. Each individual strand may effect the others or carry on parallel to the other for some time but the real story is the sum of all these small strands and the ultimate consequences of all these individual happenings. No individual character can see what dire consequences can result from ...
...better position to see the whole story as it unfolds. This makes for rather disconcerting reading as we bounce from viewpoint to viewpoint, changing our moral perspective with each shift. Here at least a more traditional story of goodies and baddies would be simpler. Good and evil are fgar from simple definitions in this story. Each character sees him/herself as acting rationally, logically and for the good of others, even the despicable Kyle. So, ... Read review