Ship of Magic

Infobox Book |
name = Ship of Magic
title_orig =
translator =


image_caption = 1st edition cover
author = Robin Hobb
cover_artist = John Howe
country = United Kingdom
language = English
series = Liveship Traders Trilogy
genre = Fantasy novel
publisher = Voyager Books
release_date = January 9 1998
media_type = Print (Hardback & Paperback)
pages = 667 pp (first edition, hardback)
isbn = ISBN 0-00-225478-6 (first edition, hardback)
preceded_by =
followed_by = The Mad Ship

"Ship of Magic" is a 1998 fantasy novel by Robin Hobb, the first in her "Liveship Traders Trilogy."

Plot summary

"Ship of Magic" is the first book of the Liveship Traders series and is reminiscent of C.S. Forester's and Patrick O'Brian's writing style concerning the details and subtleties of ship life. It follows the fortunes of the Vestrit family, centered around the liveship Vivacia. A liveship is a ship made of Wizardwood, a mystical substance, giving it magical properties. Wizardwood is very valuable, and the Vestrits, a prestigious Bingtown merchant family have a four-generation-old debt that is still being repaid. When three generations of a ship's owners die on board, a liveship "quickens", meaning that the ship awakens and becomes a sentient being with all the memories of the ancestors who have contributed to the ship's quickening. There are certain responsibilities and privileges to be had in an Old Trader Family. The Rain Wild Trade is one such privilege, with the Old Trader Family responsible for keeping contracts with the Rain Wild Trader families, either in blood or gold. The liveships are constructed by the Rain Wilders, and there is a massive price to be paid for such a rare construction. Captain Vestrit's grandmother had ordered the liveship Vivacia, and the Vestrit family is still in debt to the Rain Wild Trader family, even before the ship was quickened. Only a liveship is capable of crossing the perilous Rain Wild River to trade with the Rain Wilders, who have valuable goods plundered from an Ancient Elderling ruin.

The Vestrits live in Bingtown, which borders the sea, Jamaillia, Chalced and the Rain Wilds. Their charter comes from Jamaillia; however, the current leader of Jamaillia has ignored the promises his ancestors made with Bingtown, which causes outrage among Bingtown's citizens. Chalced's influence is spreading throughout the world, because of the profitable slave trade. Chalcedean customs are changing Jamaillia, which is affecting Bingtown, where there is conflict between the New Traders and the Old Traders.

The story begins when Ephron Vestrit dies on Vivacia and quickens it. His daughter, Althea, who had assumed that the ship would come to her after her father's death, is shocked to see that her father has given the ship to her sister, who in turn had given ownership to Kyle, her husband. Deeply humiliated, she had disappeared on the day Vivacia quickened, unwilling to see such a legacy denied to her. Kyle, a Chalcedean, believes that he can restore the family fortune by entering the slave trade. Ephron Vestrit, a traditionalist, had always abhorred this trade, even though it would have cleared the Vestrit family debt. Kyle said that Althea would never sail the Vivacia until she proves her seamanship by showing him a ship's ticket. Althea sets off to prove she is a capable sailor. Kyle discovers that he is unable to control the ship, as Vivacia will sail only with a blood relative of the Vestrits on board. Without Althea, the only alternative is to force his son Wintrow, who wants to be a priest, to serve aboard the ship. Wintrow finds it hard to adjust to life on the ship. Despite his bitterness at being torn from the priesthood, he has a growing bond with the ship that he can't ignore.

At the same time, the ambitious pirate Kennit desires to become more than a pirate: he wishes to unite all pirate townships under him as king. With Sorcor, his first mate, and Etta, a whore from Divvytown, Kennit sails the Marietta and pursues slaver ships to free the slaves while throwing the slavers overboard. The freed slaves then crew the captured vessels as a pirate fleet under Kennit's command. A crafty man with a gift for foresight, Kennit realizes that if he frees the slaves, he'll gain the allegiance of their family and friends. Kennit has gained a reputation among the Pirate Isles as word spreads about him. However, Kennit desires to a liveship of his own for his flagship. He targets the Vivacia, who was became a slaver ship under Kyle's persuasion. Also, we see the minds of the sea-serpents who are searching for She Who Remembers to regain memories they have forgotten of a place that has been long forgotten for reasons that have also faded from memory.

Althea works on board the Reaper, a slaughtership, under the name of Athel. Unfortunately, she is denied a ship's ticket when the captain of the Reaper discovered her true name. Kennit manages to capture the Vivacia and becomes her captain. Still trying to regaining her rights to the liveship, Althea manages to bring together Brashen Trell, the original first mate of the Vivacia, the mysterious woodcarver Amber and the mad liveship Paragon, which then leads to the next installment of the Liveship Trader series, "Mad Ship".

Publishing details

*1998, UK, Voyager Books (ISBN 0-00-225478-6), pub date 9 January 1998, hardback (First edition)
*1998, USA, Bantam Doubleday Dell (ISBN 978-0553103243), pub date ? April 1998, hardback
*1999, UK, Voyager Books (ISBN 0-00-649886-8), pub date 1 Mar 1999, paperback
*1999, USA, Bantam (ISBN 978-0553575637), pub date 1 February 1999, paperback
*?, ?, Bantam (ISBN 978-8498002133), pub date ? ? ?, paperback (trans to Spanish, "Las Naves De La Magia")