u/jdvancesbutthole

SOSOS my brain is on fire with the passion of a thousand suns for this freaking book. It has permanently altered my brain chemistry. I eyeball-read it the first time and loved it so much that I picked up the audiobook, and WOW. The audiobook elevates it so much and is so immersive and wonderful. And now I literally cannot stop listening.

I am on my 5th or 6th listen and the obsession isn't dying down. I devoured 5 Kate Daniels books in a week to try and get myself weaned off and I just keep crawling back.

WHAT DID THEY PUT IN THIS BOOK?! It is the perfect combination of complex plot machinations, characters that feel real and alive, and a romance I am kicking my feet and blushing over.

There are certain scenes that I could listen to infinitely. Particularly scenes with Solentine+MMC+Maggie. But I love all of the characters so much and all of the dialogue scenes are wonderful.

And Kristen Sieh's narration?? Are u kidding me? She's a one woman theater troop! The voices are SO GOOD (Solentine and the Man in the Garden are my FAV but I love Reynald's voice too).

I don't know what to do with myself. HELP. DON'T HELP. I don't want to stop.

(I almost wish I had never picked this up because I don't know if I can bear to wait for the second one)

Holy shit so I just finished Mad Ship at literally 3am because I couldn't stop reading. Between this and the Farseer Trilogy I can safely say that Robin Hobb NAILS second-books. Wow. The last third of Mad Ship was a tear towards a crescendo that left me reeling.

What I love most about Hobb so far is that I never really know exactly where tf things are going to go. I may have some idea or inkling, and then a character does something unexpected that takes it in a totally different direction, or a character blocks the path of least resistance in some way and alters the course of the story. I may have some vague guesses as to what major things are going to be at play, but I can safely say I have NO idea how Ship of Destiny is going to end. And I love that!

I have been pretty burnt out on fantasy lately because it feels like I'm reading the same formula over and over again, and I get sick of predictable stories. Robin Hobb has totally cured that. She is able to take the story in unexpected directions, expand or introduce concepts in sophisticated ways. She stops the story from going down predictable paths and lets the characters dictate where everything will go-- and her characters are so complex that I never know exactly what they are going to do when facing something, while still feeling consistent and vivid.

I love this series so much, I am having a grand-old time.