Ship of Magic (The Liveship Traders, Book 1)

Rating:
Summary: A sort of magical "Two Years before the Mast"
Review: "Ship of Magic" is a little over 800 pages long and tells a slo-o-owly developing story from the multiple viewpoints of a family of liveship traders, the liveship herself once she is awakened, plus various sea serpents, a pirate king, and other more peripheral characters--at least they're peripheral in "Ship of Magic" but this is the only the first book of a trilogy, 'The Liveship Traders.'

I've also read this author's 'Farseer Trilogy,' and once settled into one of her books, it is very hard to put down until the last page is read. I'm kicking myself because I didn't immediately order the two concluding books of this trilogy as soon as I started "Ship of Magic." If Patrick O'Brien had collaborated with Charles Dickens and written "Oliver Twist Goes to Sea in a Magical Ship," this book might have been the outcome.

All of the characters are minutely detailed and believable, even the would-be pirate king, who is a much nastier man than Gilbert and Sullivan would have him. He ends up performing glorious deeds by accident, and I wouldn't be surprised if his title turns out to be 'the Great Liberator' rather than 'King' by the end of this trilogy.

The man who does the most evil in this book is a merchant captain who believes that he alone knows the right course to steer, both for his liveship and his family. In fact, I wonder if "Billy Budd" was also an inspiration for "Ship of Magic." The relationships between the self-righteous captain, his unworldly son, and an evil Claggart-like second mate are almost pure Melville. The innocent boy is even accidentally responsible for the deaths of his shipmates, brought about when he tries to comfort a dying slave.

Merchants, pirates, slavers, and hunters (meat ships) are all brought to life in a fantasy setting that seems to draw on the 18th century British Empire for its inspiration. The trading port of Bingtown is only a few generations away from having been forcibly settled by convicts and debtors. The fortunes of its most prominent merchant families are bound to their liveships, which are sailing vessels partially constructed of wizardwood. When the well-respected Captain Vestrit dies in his prime, he wills his liveship 'Vivacia' to his priggish son-in-law rather than to his daughter.

Thus begins his family's precipitous decline, and the start of what promises to be a fascinating saga. I am very much looking forward to the arrival of "Mad Ship," the second book in this magical seafaring trilogy.