Ship of Magic

It's been 26-27 years since I first read this and I'm so glad I've dived back in after all this time. Robin Hobb writes fantasy with grit, with teeth. Her world building is amazing; her characters are complex and believable and just come to life in your mind as you read. The frustrated young woman who just wants to live the life she's always dreamed of. The weary mother/grandmother trying to hold a family together in the midst of grief and potential major tragedy. The charming and determined pirate willing to do whatever it takes to achieve his dream.

And Paragon, the mad ship, who breaks your heart.

"Ship of Magic," in among family drama, political drama, piracy and slave uprisings, also paints the most accurate picture of a pre-teen/barely pubescent girl that I've ever read. A spoiled, selfish, single-minded preteen girl in the early grip of hormonal insanity. My vague memory is that she has a fantastic character arc over the three books of the trilogy, and I'm looking forward to it because by the end of "Ship of Magic" I just want to shake her until her teeth rattle. 

Now that's good writing. So good that I'm gonna force myself to read a different book in between each two of Hobb's, just to make the whole long series last longer.