 2000 Voyager paperback cover | |
| Author | Robin Hobb |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | John Howe |
| Language | English |
| Series | Liveship Traders Trilogy |
| Genre | Fantasy |
| Publisher | Voyager |
Publication date | 19 November 1998 |
| Publication place | United Kingdom |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover) |
| Pages | 906 |
| ISBN | 0-00-225479-4 |
| OCLC | 41214530 |
| Preceded by | Ship of Magic |
| Followed by | Ship of Destiny |
The Mad Ship is a book by American writer Robin Hobb, the second in her Liveship Traders Trilogy. It appeared in the United States as simply Mad Ship.
Aboard Vivacia, Wintrow saves Kennit's life by amputating the infected part of his leg. Kennit quickly charms Vivacia and she comes to believe in Kennit and his goal of becoming King of the Pirate Isles, aiding him in his piracy against slavers. Wintrow is wary of Vivacia's growing attachment to Kennit, but comes to believe in him as well, and bonds with Etta. Kennit imprisons Kyle on the secret isle where his mother lives in seclusion. Kennit was taken prisoner as a child by Igrot the pirate, who killed Kennit's father, cut out his mother's tongue, and made Kennit a pirate and abused him, a past which he hides from all.
Althea serves aboard the liveship Ophelia, which returns to Bingtown. Captain Tenira attempts to resist the Chalcedean galley that serves the Satrap and collects his taxes. This heightens political tensions in Bingtown as more of the Old Traders consider rebelling against the Satrap and his Chalcedean mercenaries. Althea returns to her family to attempt to repair their relationship.
Brashen, serving with a pirate ship, learns in Divvytown that Kennit has captured Vivacia. He returns to Bingtown to inform the Vestrit family. Ronica, Keffria, Althea, and Malta decide to put aside their differences to work on rescuing the ship. Malta appeals to Reyn Khuprus to help save her father, but he has his own problems. The Khuprus family owns the last Wizardwood log in the Rain Wilds, and Reyn has formed a psychic connection with the ancient dragon trapped within it. The dragon torments Reyn's dreams, attempting to convince him to set it free.
Brashen, Althea, and Amber come up with a plan to refit the mad liveship Paragon and sail him after Vivacia. They purchase Paragon and gather a crew before setting off for the pirate isles with Brashen as captain, Althea as second mate, and Amber aboard, but there is a high risk that Paragon will kill the crew.
In Jamailia, Serilla is a Heart Companion to the Satrap Cosgo and an expert of Bingtown history. The lazy, pleasure-seeking Satrap is cruel to anyone that does not flatter him, increasingly influenced by Chalcedeans, and uninterested in politics. The Satrap plans a trip to Bingtown and sets sail with Serilla; Serilla hopes to escape there to have a life free of him. When Serilla continues to criticize the Satrap, he gives her over to the Chalcedean captain to be held captive and raped. When the Satrap falls ill, Serilla coerces him into signing a document that gives her his full political authority in Bingtown.
At Malta's presentation ball, she is introduced to the recently arrived Satrap. Serilla tells Reyn of a coup that is about to be launched: the Satrap will be killed and Bingtown blamed. The Vestrits are in Davad Restart's coach with the Satrap when it is taken by highwaymen. Davad is killed, the Satrap is abducted, and the Vestrits flee with Reyn to the Rain Wilds while the Chalcedeans torch Bingtown. Ronica stays behind to face the political upheaval.
Some time later, Malta recovers while the Rain Wilders house the Satrap. The cocooned dragon to calls to Malta, promising to rescue Vivacia and Kyle if she frees it. Malta enters the buried city, but a large earthquake strikes. She rescues the Satrap from a damaged chamber. Reyn and Selden search for Malta in the ruins and successfully free the dragon by exposing her log to sunlight. The dragon leaves, determined to reestablish dragons after their long absence, but decides to honor her promises and rescue the people who freed her.
Maulkin the serpent manages to make some wild serpents remember their names. The tangle comes upon a liveship which they believe is somehow one of them. They destroy the ship, in the process awaking the original memories in the wizardwood, revealing that it was a dragon once. The serpents eat the wood that was his cocoon and recover more memories. Serpents are meant to journey up the Rain Wild rivers in order to create cocoons for the winter. Through this, serpents metamorphose and hatch as full-fledged dragons when exposed to sunlight. "Wizardwood" of the Rain Wilds is actually the cocoons of ancient dragons that did not hatch after the Elderling city was buried. With each wizardwood log cut down, a dormant dragon is killed and filled with human memories. Without dragons to lead the serpents, they are in danger of extinction.
Kennit and his ships return to Divvytown to find it ransacked. Wintrow talks the survivors out of killing Kennit, further establishing him as King of the pirates. Kennit decides that Wintrow must go to the Other's Isle and receive a prophecy. There, Wintrow goes off to look along the beach, but instead of an artifact, finds a path that leads him to a cage with a trapped serpent. He breaks her out of the cage, coming in contact with her and gaining her memories. The serpent, whom the Others imprisoned to be their oracle, is She Who Remembers, one who carries the memories of many and leads others to the cocooning grounds. She Who Remembers searches for other serpents.
Reviews of The Mad Ship varied. One reviewer called the book "a strong and vivid novel" [1] and another reviewer stated the book held "a spell-binding story full of wonderful characters and intrigue". [2] Multiple reviewers commented on the multi-dimensional characters used in the story, as one of the novel's strengths. [1] [2] [3]
About the plot of the book, Kirkus Reviews said "Hobb displays a wonderful imagination but has cast aside any remaining inclination toward control." [4]
Terry and the Pirates is an action-adventure comic strip created by cartoonist Milton Caniff, which originally ran from October 22, 1934, to February 25, 1973. Captain Joseph Patterson, editor for the Chicago Tribune New York News Syndicate, had admired Caniff's work on the children's adventure strip Dickie Dare and hired him to create the new adventure strip, providing Caniff with the title and locale. The Dragon Lady leads the evil pirates; conflict with the pirates was diminished in priority when World War II started.
Margaret Astrid Lindholm Ogden, known by her pen names Robin Hobb and Megan Lindholm, is an American writer of speculative fiction. As Hobb, she is best known for her fantasy novels set in the Realm of the Elderlings, which comprise the Farseer, Liveship Traders and Tawny Man trilogies, the Rain WildChronicles, and the Fitz and the Fool trilogy. Lindholm's writing includes the urban fantasy novel Wizard of the Pigeons and science fiction short stories, among other works. As of 2018, her fiction has been translated into 22 languages and sold more than 4 million copies.
Assassin's Apprentice is a fantasy novel by American writer Robin Hobb, the first book in The Farseer Trilogy. It was Margaret Astrid Lindholm Ogden's first book under this pseudonym, and was published in 1995. The book was written under the working title Chivalry’s Bastard.
Triss is a fantasy novel by Brian Jacques, published in 2002. It is the 15th book in the Redwall series.
Fool's Errand is a fantasy novel by American writer Robin Hobb, the first in her Tawny Man Trilogy. It commences 15 years after the events in Assassin's Quest, a period covered by The Liveship Traders Trilogy ; it resumes the story of FitzChivalry Farseer after he has wandered the world and finally settled to a quiet, cottage-dwelling life with his adopted son Hap.
Fool's Fate is a fantasy novel by American writer Robin Hobb, the third in her Tawny Man Trilogy. It was published in 2003.
Ship of Magic is a 1998 fantasy novel by American writer Robin Hobb, the first in her Liveship Traders Trilogy.
The Farseer trilogy is a series of fantasy novels by American author Robin Hobb, published from 1995 to 1997. It is often described as epic fantasy, and as a character-driven and introspective work. Set in and around the fictional realm of the Six Duchies, it tells the story of FitzChivalry Farseer, an illegitimate son of a prince who is trained as an assassin. Political machinations within the royal family threaten his life, and the kingdom is beset by naval raids. Fitz possesses two forms of magic: the telepathic Skill that runs in the royal line, and the socially despised Wit that enables bonding with animals. The series follows his life as he seeks to restore stability to the kingdom.
The Tawny Man trilogy is a series of novels by American author Robin Hobb, and the third trilogy in the Realm of the Elderlings sequence. Narrated in first person by FitzChivalry Farseer, it follows his life in his mid-thirties, and is set after the events of the Farseer Trilogy and the Liveship Traders.
The Liveship Traders is a trilogy of fantasy novels by American author Robin Hobb. A nautical fantasy series, the Liveship Traders is the second trilogy set in the Realm of the Elderlings and features pirates, sea serpents, a family of traders and their living ships. Several critics regard it as Hobb's best work.
Dragon Keeper is a fantasy novel by American writer Robin Hobb, the first in The Rain Wild Chronicles. It is written in a third-person narrative from the viewpoint of several of the key characters. The narrative follows a party of malformed newly hatched dragons, their spurned and mistrusted human keepers and other supporters who set out on a quest to find safety in the legendary Elderling city of Kelsingra.
Measle and the Dragodon is a children's novel written by Ian Ogilvy and illustrated by Chris Mould. It is the second book in the Measle Stubbs series. The novel was first published in 2004 by OUP in the UK and HarperCollins in the US. It was reissued by OUP in 2010 under the title The Funfair of Fear!
Ship of Destiny is a book by American writer Robin Hobb, the third and last in her Liveship Traders Trilogy.
Dragon Haven is a fantasy novel by American writer Robin Hobb, the second novel in The Rain Wild Chronicles. In a blog post Robin Hobb wrote: "The untitled book I am working on now picks up the tale of the Tarman expedition in search of Kelsingra. It’s my work in progress and threatens to be a long book!". Dragon Haven is written in third-person narrative from the viewpoint of several key characters. The narrative joins these separate threads together as a party of malformed dragons, their human keepers and other supporters are on a quest for the legendary Elderling city of Kelsingra.
The Rain Wild Chronicles is a quartet of fantasy novels by American author Robin Hobb, published from 2009 to 2013. It chronicles the re-emergence of dragons in the Rain Wilds, a setting in Hobb's fictional Realm of the Elderlings. It is her fourth series set in that world, following after the Farseer, Liveship Traders and Tawny Man trilogies, and features an entirely new cast of characters. The quartet features ecocentric themes, as it examines the reaction of humans to a new predator in the world.
City of Dragons is a 2011 fantasy novel by American writer Robin Hobb, the third book in The Rain Wild Chronicles. It was released in September 2011 and is a direct continuation of the previous novel: Dragon Haven.
This is a complete list of works by American author Robin Hobb, the pen name of Margaret Astrid Lindholm Ogden, who also writes under the pen names Megan Lindholm.
Assassin's Fate is the third book in the epic fantasy trilogy Fitz and the Fool, written by American author Robin Hobb. It continues the story of FitzChivalry Farseer and his daughter Bee after the events of Fool's Quest, published in 2015.
The Tide Child trilogy is a series of fantasy novels by R. J. Barker. It comprises The Bone Ships (2019), Call of the Bone Ships (2020), and The Bone Ship's Wake (2021). The first book in the trilogy won the 2020 British Fantasy Award for Best Novel.
The Fitz and the Fool trilogy is the concluding subseries of the Realm of the Elderlings, a 16-book fantasy series by American author Robin Hobb. Published from 2014 to 2017, it features the protagonist FitzChivalry Farseer in his fifties, and follows his life with his wife Molly and daughter Bee Farseer. It was well-received by critics, with the Los Angeles Review of Books praising Hobb's characterization and portrayal of aging, and The Guardian positively viewing how the final book consolidated plot threads from across the series.