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The Mad Ship — #2 in The Liveship Traders Trilogy by Robin Hobb

Genre: Fantasy, Nautical Fantasy, High Fantasy

Rating: ✰✰✰✰

Adventure Index: 6/10

Related Reviews: Ship of Magic | Ship of Destiny | More ROTE

Although slower than Ship of Magic, Mad Ship was an even more enjoyable read as it allowed us to watch our main cast of characters grow and develop. In doing so, it builds thrilling bridges and stokes the reader's anticipation for when all these story threads will culimate in Ship of Destiny.

A core theme in these books and especially in this book is the triumph of greed over morality. In Ship of Magic we had Amber’s condemnation of Mingsley and the New Traders as having “confused profitable and not profitable with right and wrong.” In The Mad Ship, we see exactly how far this approach reaches not just into the politics of the slave trade but also in interpersonal relationships. Kyle Haven’s current predicament chained up in a root cellar on a barely inhabited island is a direct result of his willingness to engage in the slave trade. We as the reader know Kennit will have pursued a liveship regardless of who was onboard, of course, but arguably Vivacia would have been able to outrun an ordinary ship like the Marietta if there had not been a slave revolt. Kyle Haven’s downfall was his decision to sacrifice morality for financial gains. This profit-focused philosophy, moreover, is shown to be part of the reason why he remains there. In Bingtown there is no rush to aid the Vestrit family in recovering their lost family members or their liveship. Part of this can be attributed to the financial floundering of the Old Trader families and how politically fractured Bingtown has become, but another factor is simply that there is no profit to be found in the venture. Pause to think of the level of insensitivity that would lead a child to ask her best friend how rescuing her father and brother from the clutches of a pirate would financially benefit her own family. I don’t blame Delo Trell for saying such things either. She’s succinctly relaying what others around her, presumably her father, believe but do not say. “Everything eventually comes down to a profit,” She tells Malta. Kyle Haven would concur. While begging to be ransomed he was chastised by his captor for believing the same; “My dear captain, not all of life is about profit. Sometimes it is about convenience. This is convenient to me.” Admittedly Kennit’s philosophy is just as chilling. Nevertheless, Kyle’s deterioration into active cruelty in Ship of Magic illustrates what it costs you as a person to prioritise profit over everything else. As does Delo’s words to Malta, for that matter. That Kyle Haven’s own philosophy and willingness to set aside human empathy works to his detriment now when he is in greatest need of compassion is excellent writing.

The way political fissures begin to break apart a community it also well explored in The Mad Ship through Davad Restart and his relationship to the Vestrit family. His character is a great example of how complicated it can become when your immediate circle has extremely divergent political views. Not in terms of policy nuances either. Restart has different interests and ultimately opposing values to much of his community. Ronica's frustrated acceptance of him for the sake of their past friendship and Althea's sense of betrayal and struggle to reconcile the affectionate memories she has of the man with his current politics both ring true here. Similarly, Althea and Ronica's debate about what to do with the Chalcedeans really does capture the reality of a crisis; Ronica, overwhelmed with the task of keeping her family afloat, could hardly spare the time to contemplate taking a grand stand let alone afford to take that risk.

Another significant continuation of Ship of Magic’s themes is the ways women, when given greater independence, find strength in themselves and grow as people. In the first book, we saw Althea grow more confident in herself and find self-worth in her abilities. In The Mad Ship, Malta and to some extent Keffria do the same. That their development is simultaneous and parallel is also significant; Keffria, despite being the mother, has been trapped in a child-like status for most of her life and is only now learning to stand on her own at the same time her daughter is.

Despite all the rich material, I did find this book slightly slower than Ship of Magic. The plot doesn't benefit when most of our story threads are land-locked, I suppose, and once again it is clear that the Liveship Traders as a trilogy really function more as one story spread across three books than three interrelated novels. Nevertheless, this book is still very engaging and builds the anticipation for the final instalment in the series.

Spoiler-filled discussion:

This book had me feeling like a conspiracy theorist ranting and raving as I tried to piece together all the pieces for so many different puzzles.

Theory #1 — Amber is the Fool. I thought I was fairly certain by about the 150 page mark, but now I've finished the book I'm totally confident in this. I thought there was something of a similarity in book 1, but I didn't think much of it until *checks notes* page 166 when Amber told Paragon that he was as wonderful as the dragons she saw. Using book logic, I had to conclude she was connected to the the previous trilogy which is when it hit me like a ton of bricks that she is woodcarver renowned for her life-like work and the Fool was improving his carving skills making toys that look alive in Assassin's Quest. Amber is described as all one colour, like the Fool, though she is like the colour of light wood rather than white and transluscent. She also has a habit of making big speeches about fate and says that she has prophetic dreams. Looking back on the last book, moreover, Amber teaching Althea how to pass as a man due to her experience playing a male role in a travelling company could be an allusion to Quest. Even her dramatic flare is reminiscent of the Fool. At one point she even says that she has known her own "share of intrigues and plotting and found them all distasteful". That does sound like someone that's been through all catastrophe that was King Shrewd's final years and Regal's brief reign. Moreover, Brashen also notes that the lines of Amber's face are "too sharp to be feminine". Malta's interaction with Amber and the comparison to a fortune-teller further plays into this prophecy element. When Ronica noted her "disfigured hands" as well... As in hands that have been touched by the Skill 👀👀?? What really sold it was Amber saying "It's not the first time I've been called a fool" WELCOME BACK

Now, admittedly Amber doesn't talk in riddles like the Fool and to the best of my knowledge hasn't annoyed anyone into fantasising about throttling her (yet?). This would also potentially validate Starling's suspicions of the Fool being a woman. However, the Fool's evasive response to this and challenging Fitz on the importance of "plumbing" suggests it's more complicated and they're potentially genderfluid/nonbinary. Physically, biological sex may even change as part of the strange 'illness' / metamorphosis that the Fool was undergoing in Quest. That would also explain the change in appearence, as Fitz noted in Quest that the Fool was turning golden. It's clear that he doesn't really know a lot about his biology and everyone else knows even less. Whether there are multiple catalysts, however, is another question. Or maybe it's not that Althea and Malta are catalysts at the same level as Fitz, but they have that touch of destiny about them and are catalyst-like in the way they change their fates.

I may also just want Amber to be the Fool so I can interpret all these vague references as scraps of Fitz. Amber and Althea's conversation about love, for example: "To love another person like that, you have to admit that his life is as important as yours. Harder still, you have to admit to yourself that perhaps he has needs you cannot fill, and that you have tasks that will take you far away from him. It costs loneliness and longing and doubt and—" Is that not what happened with Fitz and the Fool if Amber is the Fool? Drawn together and then seperated by the demands of destiny? And then: "Who is your other me?" FITZ! FITZ IS THE FOOL'S OTHER 'ME'! Anyway, I miss my boy please god bring him back soon I know he's going to make a repparence somewhere 😭 Even Amber's description of a hero screams Fitz: “You break your heart against this stony world. You fling yourself at it, on the side of good, and you do not ask the cost. That’s how you do it.” If that isn't the perfect summary of Fitz right down to the unthinking force behind the verb ‘fling’… She’s talking about my boy I know she has to be!!! Or in delusional. But I enjoy this delusion.

Theory #2 — The liveship Igrot the Bold had was Paragon. This one mostly has circumstantial evidence, but I feel like it would make sense. First of all, there doesn't seem to be any other liveship that went missing for an extended period of time. So either he didn't have a liveship (very possible) or he took the Paragon. Who he had on board is a bit more questionable, since all the Ludlucks seem to have died. For a minute I wondered if perhaps Kennit was involved, as it's clear he was held captive and presumably abused by Igrot, but he says he grew up in the Pirate Isles and his mother isn't back in Bingtown so it doesn't really make sense. However, the seven-pointed star that was tattooed on Kennit's hip seems to be Igrot's mark and that same mark is carved into Paragon.

My remaining questions include: What the fuck are the ships and the dragons? We've established that the sea serpents are proto-dragons, but what the fuck is going on with the ships? What are elderlings, really? Assassin's Quest was lowkey a bit unclear with that, because as soon as I decided that dragons were elderlings or the race of humans that lived amongst them were elderlings then someone would use the terms interchangably again. What kind of magic allows the ship and the dragon and humans to communication (is it the Skill)? What does the crowned rooster mean? Didn't the Fool have a vision of himself as a previous prophet with a rooster crown?

I don't know how to feel about the living statues not being dragons in the true sense, mostly because I really liked the idea of Verity being a dragon. He is still a dragon, in a way, but I suppose he's more just a statue in the big statue garden until someone else needs to reawaken them.

An elderling city near the mountain kingdom you say?????? 👀 Will we get to know more about how all these ancient wonders are related?

Reading Brashen and Althea's relationship this book was very very fun. The tension, the unresolved issues and disagreements. Usually I hate a miscommunication plot, but at least in this all the misunderstandings are so logical and accurate to the characters. And when they were reunited 10/10. Althea wondering what brough Brashen back to Bingtown and deciding it couldn't have been just seeing Vivacia when we as the reader know it was! The awkward avoiding each other, arguments even when they're trying to stay out of each other's way but all founded on genuine issues not just manufactured anger, them both yearning for each other by the end. I don't know, all the friction points seemed very natural but also not insurmountable. In particular, Althea's concerns about respect; of course she's insecure about not measuring up as a sailor, especially since he's someone who has pointed out all the ways in which she will likely fail in that role! Of course she wants his professional admiration because she admires him too not just at a personal level but as a sailor admires another sailor and their captain! And of course he's going to slip up and want to protect her.

Really 10/10 love triangle moments: Grag basically proposing while Althea is watching Brashen over his shoulder. Grag pointing out that Althea knows she doesn't love him but can't say the same about Brashen. Even in the language choice when Althea compares working alongside Brashen with dancing with a good partner when she knows Grag from dancing with him at a Bingtown ball! And her realising that she needs Brash's (nickname!) friendship more than Grag's approval even when she thinks there's going to be nothing between them 🥹

This is also a love triangle done well in that the two men represent two different lives. And Althea makes her decision by knowing more about herself and understanding herself better! She decides she doesn't want to marry Grag (or anyone) and become "the wind in his sails", she wants to be her own person and have someone do that for her. Other authors might have dragged it out and made it very boring, but none of the characters deserved that. He also made a compelling case to Althea. She might not appreciate his tactics (her thinking that she would never want to kiss a man that asked permission is giving that 'first time' scene from New Girl lol) or head before heart approach but it endears him to me as the reader nonetheless. He just seems like a really good guy. Not flawless (he did show that he views sex as something done to rather than done with women in his anger with Brashen) and definitely not right for Althea, but still a good character.

I will say Brashen's sexism is showing in saying that he likes Althea partly because she isn't like other women because he can talk to her about things other than complimenting her gown. Bro. At the same time, I can give him some leeway because he has spent the last decade at least in a mostly male society being at sea and all.

Sidenote: the sea serpent attack must have freaked Brashen the fuck out. Does he think he'll die? Is that why he's making plans in case he doesn't make it?

Overall, however, I'm really happy with how far Althea has come and how much more secure in herself she is. Especially how Amber helped her through her metality around sex and the way she preferred to think of her Brashen as him "taking advantage" of her becaue it would absolve her of any guilty or shame she might feel. Now, she's able to acknowledge that she does in fact want to have sex (and even considered it with Grag before thinking better of it!) without thinking of herself in negative terms. That's a big step. Her process also sort of reminds me of how in Ship of Magic it was revealed in Malta's dream that her idea of courtship was initially centred around kidnapping. Both of them are young women raised in an increasingly misogynistic society where there is a lot of shame attached to sex and female desire. However, both are relatively passionate people who are trying to reconcile this with what they've been taught. Therefore, both defer to situations (either in fantasy or in remembering an actual event) where they did not have an opportunity to make a decision or actively choose sex. Thankfully Althea seems to have worked through this somewhat and has a more positive outlook on things, to the point where she recognises Grag's flawed logic when he explains he does see it as Brashen "taking advantage" of her. Malta, too, seems to be well past those issues in some respects, though she is of course still very young.

Speaking of growth, I am also enjoying Keffria's storyline. The idea that she is only just learning what she is capable of now is devastating, but that makes it more moving when you can see her finding bravery that she thought belonged to others. That moment when Ronica tells her off when Keffria informs Malta that most of being a woman hurts felt especially important. Why is it always that conversative women even now insist being a woman is pain and suffering and enduring. It sounds like your concept of being a woman is just oppression, even if you won't say it in so many words 🫤 I was actually so proud when Malta offered to marry Reyn and sacrifice herself for her father and Keffria had to restrain herself from telling her that another woman had already done that for Kyle Haven and he was not worth it!

Keffria's relationship with Malta generally is very interesting. The idea that Malta looks at her and just sees as "dowdy homebody" but ultimately she's not aspiring to be anything other than what Keffria is. The only difference would be she expects to be wife to a richer man. In the process, she would be relegated (and relegate herself!) to the domestic sphere and follow in Keffria's footsteps. How many girls have been raised to disrespect and look down on their own mothers only to be forced into their subservient positions once they are grown?

Malta also seems to have had a character growth speed-run. It's not that Hobb didn't lay the groundwork (she did!), but at first it was so gradual and then suddenly she just gained another layer of critical thinking and self awareness. That Delo said Malta sounded like a man just cause she said something smart... Jesus wept the poor kids. The line: "She had believed that men had power" really threw me. She's been failed so many times by every man she's ever depended on for help, now she feels abandoned by everuone (even Kyle!) and is completely disillusioned. It took us a long while to get here and the road was not an easy one (Ship of Magic Malta is often UNBEARABLE because of how accurately tween girl she is) but that makes it all the more gratifying that we are here, now, and she understands that it has to be her, she can only depend on herself. Though it does not sit well with me that she had the absolute cheek to flirt with a grown man (basically a stranger, since Brashen has been disowned) and then not that long later disapprove of the "dirty" rumours surrounding Althea and Amber. Girl get some perspective. Nonetheless, that episode was also chilling in just how incapable she is of recognising a dangerous situation (there is a strange man in your house!) and proceeding with caution because she's so desperate to be noticed as an adult.

I also really appreciated how Althea recognises that she and Malta are not so dissimilar, that they're both willful and headstrong and if they'd traded childhoods they might have ended up just the same.

Malta and Reyn... Lord give me strength. He's 20, she's 14. I am almost impressed by how adept Malta is at manipulating the situation to her advantage, but that does not negate the danger she is in and while she does think fast on her feet she seems to overestimate how clever she is. I think neither Keffria nor Ronica would allow him in the same room as her if they knew what he was saying, consequences be damned! There were multiple lines where I just had to put the book down and wonder what Olivia Benson would say.

At least Malta recognises that Reyn is attracted to her at least in part because she is young and he can shape her. That his family manouevered themselves so swiftly into a position where they would hold power over the Vestrit family via the debt on the liveship is also significant; this is still a business contract. That Reyn chooses to call on it in the end in order to override her family's will and take her to the Rain Wilds is also very significant. Even if he does try to retract it later, he still used the financial and social power he had over her to put his relationship with her ahead of her relationship to her family and claim ownership over her. The worst bit is he's otherwise a genuinely likable character that is both interesting and sympathetic (he's a head-in-the-clouds academic obsessed with a lost city and a hopeless romantic for crying out loud!). They might even make a good couple; they're both headstrong, a bit self-centred, and often single-mided in pursuit of their goals while also being romantically inclined and even whimsical when the occasion calls for it. I just wish he'd stay away from her when she's still a fucking child!

I also do appreciate how Hobb makes it clear over and over again that Reyn's courtship of Malta is unusual. Malta is literally the only person that doesn't think she's too young, everyone else either expresses some qualms about it or outright objects. It's pushing the boundaries of acceptability by her own culture's standards. Our concerns (and frankly our disgust!) are validated. This isn't normal. Unless you're in Chalced (we don't want to be in Chalced).

On a related note, I really wish Kyle Haven was just dead. Please just kill him. He will literally ruin everyone's lives (and mine!) if he comes back. Wintrow, obviously, but also Malta. You think Kyle Haven wouldn't sell her to the highest bidder? He wouldn't have even paused to think about it, whether she's his "pet" or no. Fuck Kyle Haven. The one bit of value he brought to this book was his brief conversation with Kennit where we've got two absolute nutcases mask off revealing who they are to one another.

Now this leads me to my least pleasant part of the book: Kennit and Wintrow.

On the one hand, Kennit is as flamboyantly pirate-y as ever. He may even be the most pirate to ever pirate. He has a fucking peg leg and his most meaningful relationship is with a ship. And by meaningful relationship I mean the person he is investing the most effort into manipulating at a given time. One the other, it's wearying to see just how irredeemably awful this man is and yet have to watch everyone fall more and more in love with him and have everything go his way.

Etta, Vivacia, Sorcor, Wintrow: Wow! Kennit is such a righteous man out to do good in the world, look at how much he's bettering our lives! He cares so much for others and thinks only of us 🥲

Meanwhile Kennit:

It almost beggars belief (almost) how successful he is at keeping everyone enthralled. I think maybe that's what makes it more tiring for me, because I'm sure there's been equally evil men who have risen to power and never seen any sort of comeuppance. I also don't find him all that intriguing as a character. Yes, he clearly has a terrible backstory, he was obviously abused, but honestly no amount of trauma is going to explain just how chillingly unfeeling he is. We get 1,524 pages into a three book series before he even registers a positive emotion (I counted).

I am also increasingly worried about Kennit's proximity to Wintrow. That Wintrow is gradually falling for his lies and essentially giving up now that he's manipulating Vivacia is upsetting in itself. Aside from Kennit percieving similarities between his younger self and Wintrow's circumstances and building any affection he has for him on this, he also keeps noting what a "pretty lad" Wintrow is. The wizardwood charm notes how everything is a cycle, history repeats itself, or something to that effect when Kennit begins to take Wintrow under his wing as it were. Knowing that Kennit was abused by a mentor figure (Igrot?) makes that observation particularly worrying. The man already has well established psycho-sexual issues with his strange approach to sex with Etta even at the start of Ship of Magic. Now he's thinking about an heir to the liveship and trying to manipulate Etta and Wintrow into sleeping together. Which is just next level insane.

It feels very vicarious and ultimately I don't know if Kennit is going to be satisifed with that. I am once again calling the team at SVU 🚨 Just... COULD EVERYONE FOR ONE MINUTE STEP AWAY FROM THE CHILDREN?

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