Robin Hobbs managed to take me by surprise with the Farseer trilogy, where she took one of the stock characters of fantasy fiction - the assassin with the heart of gold - and deftly wove an epic of magic and betrayal that left me gasping. But the third book in the trilogy was a disappointment, with an ending that was completely wrong.
So when I began reading the third Liveship Traders book, I was worried that Hobbs would once again fumble the ball at the finish. I needn't have worried.
If anything, "Ship of Destiny" is the strongest of the three Liveship Traders books. Fast-paced plotting makes this book hard to put down, and increasingly complex characterization left me liking characters I'd earlier found unsympathetic, and unable to guess what they would do next.
Particularly praiseworthy is Hobb's characterization of the would-be Pirate King, Captain Kennitt. Kennitt started off in Book 1 as the most interesting person in a set of (I thought) rather bland characters, and in this book significantly falls from grace – so much so that I almost felt sorry for him by the end. In "Ship of Destiny" we get some insight into Kennitt's past, and it is well worth the wait.
Finally, the ending of the book not only wraps up the Liveship trilogy, but puts a surprisingly different slant on the conclusion of the Assassin series, with hints of more to come. I hope Robin Hobb comes out with the next Farseer book soon, because I'm now an established fan.
I highly recommend this series to any fan of the fantasy genre and I am looking forward to her next series!

sent as a Bookmooch