Ship of Magic cover art

Ship of Magic

Liveship Traders, Book 1

 Preview

Get 30 days of Standard free

£5.99/mo after trial. Cancel monthly.
Try for £0.00
More purchase options

Ship of Magic

By: Robin Hobb
Narrated by: Lucy Tregear
Try for £0.00

£5.99 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for £31.42

Buy Now for £31.42

About this listen

‘As addictive as morphine’ THE TIMES

From the author of the classic Farseer trilogy, SHIP OF MAGIC is the first part of the Liveship Traders. Set in a land bordering the Six Duchies, Robin Hobb begins her epic tale of pirates, talking ships, magic, sea serpents, slave revolts, dashing heroes and bloody battles.

Wizardwood, the most precious commodity in the world, comes only from the Rain Wilds. But only a liveship can negotiate the perilous waters of the Rain Wild River, and liveships are hard to come by. They quicken only when three family members from successive generations have died upon their deck.

The liveship Vivacia is about to undergo her quickening: Althea Vestrit waits for the ship that she loves more than anything in the world to awaken. But her dream of taking her father’s place at Vivacia’s helm is not to be, for her family have other plans…

And the dark, charming pirate Kennit also lusts after such a ship: he well knows the power of wizardwood and has plans of his own …

(P)2026 HarperCollins Publishers Dark Fantasy Dragons & Mythical Creatures Epic Fantasy Historical Military Magic Pirate

Critic reviews

‘Hobb is superb’ CONN IGGULDEN

‘Hobb is a remarkable storyteller’ GUARDIAN

'Even better than the Assassin books. I didn't think that was possible' GEORGE RR MARTIN
All stars
Most relevant
I’ve come back to Robin Hobb after a decade. I really enjoyed the multiple POV of characters, and slow building of a ‘new’ world. I liked the unhurried approach and enjoyed the development of the characters. Already purchased the next in the series and started it straight away!

Excellent Slow Build

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I’ve listened to these books quite a few times, and this new recording makes them even better, the new narrator does a really great job 🙂

Good

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
My deepest thanks to whoever decided that theese needed a narrator change. Robin Hobb is my favourite author, and yet Anne Flosnik (the previous narrator) made me buy the books in print because I could not stand her narration. Lucy Tregear absolutely knocks it out of the park. I can finally listen to my favourite books read by a competent narrator not having to wince every two seconds. The story is as good as I remember and the whole of the Farseer, Liveship and Rainwild Chronicles possibly the best fantasy universe out there, and I have read most of them.

New narrator!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
after having battled my way through most of this book with the previous narrator, i am so happy and grateful to listen to this version instead! the narrator has a great feel for the story and characters and, indeed, has made the story come to life! I almost gave up listening to this book entirely, but the new narrator came in and saved the day :)

Great narration for a great story

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I found Robb Hobb after finishing Game of Thrones, just what I needed :)
This is the third time round,
I am so pleased with the new narration!
Recently I had another book read by her, and it took a while for me to realise it kept brought up images of dragons!
I very much hope the rest of the Lifeship books will follow soon.

Wonderful new narration !

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews