Oh no, characters are briefly happy again!
***Heavy spoilers for The Liveship Traders through chapter 14 of Ship of Destiny. Minor references to The Farseer Trilogy***
Thus begins our regularly scheduled programming. My tentative (and highly flexible) plan is to read a few chapters at a time and post my reactions as I make my way through the rest of Ship of Destiny. If all goes well and my heart survives the remainder of this trilogy, I will sail straight into The Tawny Man Trilogy (I think that’s next?) and keep this party going!
Well, Robin, you’ve done it again, you clever, clever lady. I came out the gate hot, titling my first post “Robin Hobb, You Raggedy Bitch.” At the time, I wondered if I should soften it, worried it might sound a tad aggressive. But if I’m going to be anything on this journey, it’s authentic- so couth be damned, I let it rip. Now, I hope it’s beyond apparent that no one has ever been called a raggedy bitch with more love and admiration in the history of the phrase. And Robin “the Weaver” Hobb has got me again. The reveal of the Kennit-Paragon connection truly blew my mind.
There is certainly more to uncover in this tangled history, but when the trail of breadcrumbs led to Paragon revealing he was Kennit’s family ship – wow! (If this was exceedingly obvious to everyone else, please just let me revel in my simpleness).
All those little hints – Kennit’s past abuse, his connection to Igrot, Paragon’s visceral reaction to pirates, his discomfort at Althea and Brashen’s consensual coupling (!!) on-board. Once Paragon began piecing it together, my mind was racing through so many little moments and hints dropped along the way. I am sure a re-read would reveal even more layers leading up to this moment. Bow down to the queen weaving this rich, devastating tapestry.
Abject Terror Watch: The Robin Hobb phenomenon of “something good happening to a character = something horrifying incoming” continues its reign of terror. This edition features Althea and Brashen enjoying a romantic interlude in Divvytown. Far too much pleasantness for two characters in this universe for my comfort. I must admit, when it said Brashen “tugged her into a dry goods store,” I thought it was for a quickie in a supply room or something; but no, it was to buy her a scarf and some earrings, which is nice too. We did get Brashen making a move in Divvytown’s finest dark alley, but Althea had pants on, so the logistics were never gonna work out (girl, c’mon, you’re in pirate town, live a little). Then, right on cue, shit went to hell.
The interwoven relationships between these two liveships-on-a-collision-course are making my head spin. We’ve got Paragon-Kennit, Bolt-Kennit, Althea-Vivacia, Wintrow-Vivacia, Paragon-Amber, and that is just ship-human dynamics! What’s next, Clef turns out to be Brashen’s bastard? (Dear god, even typing this I’m not evening finding it out of the realm of possibility.)
I can only assume the natural conclusion is some sort of polyamory arrangement between Althea, Brashen, Kennit, Etta, Amber, Paragon, Vivacia/Bolt, and Jek (wasn’t going to include Jek, but as the person who would most be down for the arrangement, it felt rude to leave her out). You’re all Traders? Prove it!
Now that I got that bit of unhingedness out of the way, here are some other thoughts:
Can’t believe I’m saying this, but I found myself most relating to Serilla in this section when she thought:
“The tangled threads of accusations and suspicion were difficult to follow.”
GIRL, SAME. I am doing my best to keep up with Bingtown politics, but between the New Traders, Three Ship Families, Old Traders that are good, Old Traders that are bad, Mingsley (??), Grag, et al.- it’s a lot. I’ve at least figured out Roed Caern = bad, so that’s a start.
Who’s going to stumble across Malta and the Satrap (quietly climbing the ranks of the Most Useless Characters Hall of Fame)? The Divvytown harbormaster mentioned Chalcedean ships poaching ships heavy with stolen wares this time of year, and we know Malta’s ship is struggling up to the coast at the moment. Live look:
🤔
Sweet Baby Fitz has a bit of competition from Sweet Baby Reyn. My boy is heartbroken. The whiplash from spotting Malta alive from the dragon to her being nowhere to be seen on the rescue mission is brutal. He immediately accepted that the only outcome was “eaten by the river” and moved right into full mourning. We had the dramatic veil removal. I can’t quite wrap my head around Reyn’s appearance, but I’m imagining a Fitz-with-the-scar situation: “ok, so you’ve got some scales, but it’s working for you.” Perhaps I’ve read too much dragon-shifter fanfic* (no such thing), but I definitely clocked that “bruise”-scale on Malta’s neck, and now she’s got some bumpy-ridge scar on her brow. I like the potential dragon-hybrid power couple in our future. Really putting the wild in Rain Wilds.
*You can take the girl out of AO3, but you can’t take the AO3 out of the girl, iykyk.
Still no word from Kyle in the Chamber of Secrets.
Kyle’s “missing person” status hasn’t spared him from taking (well-deserved) strays. Althea with the savage:
“The only sympathy she felt was for Keffria. Better she mourn her husband’s death, Althea thought grimly, than to mourn a long life with him.”
It’s giving Shiv and Tom on the beach.
Thoroughly enjoying the continued deification of Captain Kennit. Yes, King. Heal Wintrow, heal thy inner child. The legend grows.
A final Althea note: I love her reaction to hearing rumors of Bingtown’s fall and being immediately ready to bail on her plans and start a new life in Divvytown with Brashen. Like, “This Kennit seems like a solid sort of guy. Who am I to break girl code and interfere with whatever Vivacia’s got cooking? Let’s hit the skirt shop and find a romantic alleyway, stat!”
See you next time, friends!
wizardwordship 