The Mad Ship
2000 Voyager paperback cover
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| Author | Robin Hobb |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | John Howe |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Series | Liveship Traders Trilogy |
| Genre | Fantasy |
| Publisher | Voyager |
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Publication date
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19 November 1998 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover) |
| Pages | 400 pp |
| ISBN | |
| OCLC | 41214530 |
| Preceded by | Ship of Magic |
| Followed by | Ship of Destiny |
The Mad Ship is a book by American writer Robin Hobb, the second in her Liveship Traders Trilogy. It appeared in the USA as simply Mad Ship.
Aboard Vivacia, Kennit is dying, but Wintrow gets the courage together to cut off the infected part of his leg, and Kennit agrees to try. He's starting to bond with the ship, and the operation makes the bond much deeper. It's not quite clear which one changes the other more, but Vivacia starts to believe in Kennit even as Kennit seems to start to believe that he's actually trying to do good in becoming King of the Pirate Isles. And Wintrow comes to believe in Kennit as well. Kennit imprisons Kyle on the secret isle where his mother lives in seclusion. Kennit was taken prisoner as a child by Igrot the pirate, who killed Kennit's father, cut out his mother's tongue, and made him a pirate. Kennit and his two ships return to Divvytown to find it has been ransacked, and Wintrow talks the survivors out of killing him, Kennit, and Etta. Kennit decides that Wintrow must go to the Other's Isle and receive a prophecy. When they get there, Wintrow goes off to look along the beach, but instead of an artifact, finds a path that leads him to a cage with a trapped serpent. Taking pity on her, he breaks her out of the cage, and she in turn helps return Wintrow, Kennit, and Etta to Vivacia. The serpent he rescues is She Who Remembers, whom the Others have imprisoned as their oracle.
Althea is serving aboard the liveship Ophelia. A Chalcedean galley stops her in the pirate isles and demands to board and check her cargo. Captain Tenira believes this to be piracy and refuses to allow it, even when they claim to have the writ of the Satrap. They fight, and Ophelia herself damages the galley enough that they can escape, but she is burned. When they return to Bingtown, Captain Tenira discovers that the Satrap's customs officials believe they can claim as big a bribe as they want to let him through. He refuses, and they tie Ophelia up at the customs dock. Althea goes to her family and tries to convince them to join with the Teniras in standing up to the Satrap, but it's tough going.
Meanwhile, Brashen has been serving with a pirate when he's called upon to help dispose of a piece of pirate booty—a painting that he knows was Althea's, from Vivacia. He had heard the rumors that Kennit had captured Vivacia but didn't believe it. Now he does, so he agrees to go to Bingtown to try to get a top price for some of the stolen stuff, but he jumps ship and goes to the Vestrits. Althea of course wants to arrange a rescue, but they quickly realize that nobody is going to be willing to mount a rescue mission. So Brashen, Althea, and Amber come up with a plan to refit Paragon and sail him after Vivacia. Davad Restart has already been handling negotiations for the Ludlucks to sell Paragon, and between Amber's own wealth and the other money they can come up with, they manage to do it. Things are getting bad with the politics in Bingtown, with more of the Old Traders starting to realize that they have to stand up to the Satrap and his Chalcedean mercenaries, but Paragon leaves before the war hits.
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