French cover: Le Vaisseau Magique
The Liveship Traders — French volume 1

Ship of Magic (Part 1)

The Vivacia awakens. And the Vestrit family will never be the same.

This page follows the French volume split. Several French volumes may belong to one original English novel. The cover and linked ISBN may come from different French editions.

Original novel published
1998
French publishers
Pygmalion / J'ai Lu
Linked French ISBN
9782290325711
Original English novel
Ship of Magic

Synopsis

In Bingtown, a port city born of a pact with the Elderling Traders, ships of wizardwood come to life at the third death of a family member. When old Captain Vestrit dies aboard the Vivacia, his eldest daughter takes the helm — defying the unwritten rules of the Bingtown Traders. Meanwhile, the pirate Kennit dreams of a throne, and the sea serpents draw nearer.

Robin Hobb expands her universe. Far from the Six Duchies, here is Bingtown, its haughty Traders, its tattooed slaves, its ships with conscious figureheads. Ship of Magic lays the groundwork for a grandiose maritime trilogy, where each character — from pirate to captain, from wife to slave — carries a truth of the world. For the first time, we glimpse the origin of dragons.

A liveship remembers every soul that has walked her deck.Ship of Magic (Part 1) — Robin Hobb

Key characters

Themes

Sea, Family, Slavery, Sentient ships

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