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While I don’t agree with fantasy king George R.R. Martin that the Liveship Traders books are “[e]ven better than the Assassin books��, I loved them almost as much, albeit in a different way. Those two trilogies are just so different they are hard to compare. Most notably, the Assassin books had my darling and tragic hero Fitz and I got quite close with him in that first trilogy, mostly because these books are predominantly told in his PoV, and also because of what fate has in store for him. I suffered alongside him (boy, did I suffer!) and I cherished him and loved him �� and hated Regal, his cruel uncle, with the passion of a thousand suns.

The Liveship books, on the other hand, feature a plethora of points of view so that your affection (and hate) of the characters needs to be spread out more. My most hated character is, without a doubt, the Satrap Cosgo, whose hedonism and selfishness make him one of the worst rulers imaginable. (For now, the most-loathsome-character award still goes to Regal though.) But since Hobb has the remarkable talent of crafting unlikeable characters who manage to grow and thus grow on you, I guess anything is possible.

13-year-old Malta Vestrit, by now one of the MCs, is probably the most notable example when it comes to character growth. Initially a spoiled, devious, selfish little bitch only looking to amuse herself and to practice her feminine wiles, she is forced to change her ways and becomes quite impressive. Her aunt Althea, 19, no longer only sailor at heart but sailor through and through, has undergone a similar character development and I‘ve really come to like her. And I still SHIP her and fellow sailor Brashen.

As for the aspiring pirate king Captain Kennit, I am more and more intrigued by him. I wonder what horrors he has experienced in his youth �� his callousness speaks of someone who has had to become unfeeling as a coping mechanism. His talent of appearing very much the benevolent leader, disguising his own private agenda is a constant source of amusement to me.

Apart from the amazingly realistic characters Hobb has given us, I also love her prose so much. It’s so immersive that I always lose any sense of time and those 900-page books just fly by. Now that‘s talent.

I was also really excited to learn more about the magic system in the Realm of the Elderlings. It was rewarding to see elements from the Farseer (Assassin) trilogy become relevant here and be expanded upon. I just love how both magical stone and wood are used as repositories for memories and I’m actually kind of envious of that. We also finally get answers about how the sentient liveships have come into being and let me just say that a lot makes sense now. It’s always so fun when puzzle pieces in books set in the same world come together.

I can but reiterate that Hobb is on pace to become one of my favorite fantasy authors, joining Sanderson, Robert Jordan, and Michael J. Sullivan at the top. I’m so happy I have so many more books of hers to read!

Onwards! (It feels so good to be able to say that!)

PS: Both the Farseer trilogy and the Liveship Traders trilogy can technically be read as stand-alone series but I recommend reading both.