While I don’t mind multiple POV books, I generally prefer single POV. This book, though, masterfully demonstrates just how useful multiple POV can be. It was so different from the Farseer trilogy in which we’re always in Fitz’s head, and the emotions are unrelenting. In Ship of Magic, when you need a break from the drama with one character, there’s a different character whose drama you can jump into! It’s written in the 3rd person, but don’t expect that to spare you from the author’s toying with your emotions. There’s almost as much anxiety-provoking and depressing content in this one as in the first trilogy.
This second trilogy in the Realm of the Elderlings largely follows members of the Vestrit family and other characters associated with them. They are an old Bingtown Trader family who are starting to struggle financially and are hoping their newly awakened liveship will help turn things around. We also get the POV of pirate Kennit, who aspires to be a pirate king and to capture a liveship for himself.
Robin Hobb continues to excel in her character work and world-building. She fills out the world without info-dumping and provides nuance to characters, all of whom are well-grounded and layered, even the villains to at least some extent. None of them is perfect, even the characters you like, and readers may often find themselves exasperated with a character’s decisions while still understanding why the character made that decision. Although you may just want to yell at least one of the characters (Malta!).
The slow-paced story itself is also engaging. I wanted to know what was going to happen next and how situations would play out. I’m looking forward to starting book two next month.