Still, if the momentum isn't quite as swift as in the previous novel, Hobb's other strengths remain on full display. Hobb's net is cast wider here and the story, world and characters remain fascinating, but there's also much greater periods of time in which nothing much seems to be happening, or we touch base (again) with the Vestrit family having another grim conference about the status of the lower field and getting embarrassed with a family friend whose clothes are a bit old. However, the novel definitely loses some of the pace and momentum of Ship of Magic, which remains my favourite Hobb novel (again, only having read the first six). The storylines begun in Ship of Magic are pretty strong so having them continue is fine, and the new additions to the world - a subplot involving the Satrap of Jamaillia and one of his Consorts, and a new story set in an Elderling city in the Rain River Wilds - are well-judged and engrossing. The story doesn't really start or finish, instead transitioning from the beginning to the end without necessarily having a defining storyline itself. The Mad Ship is the middle volume of The Liveship Traders trilogy and very much reads like one.
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