The Mad Ship by Robin Hobb

I'm reading book 2 of the Liveship Traders at the moment. Took me a week to finish "The Ship of Magic" even though I was reading practically non-stop. As I had expected, I changed my mind about a lot of "faults" I found with the book. Having finished it, I can honestly say that it's absolutely brilliant. The complex, intricately detailed plot runs as smoothly as clockwork, gradually picking up the pace. As always, Robb's characters are vivid and alive. The scale of the story surpasses that of the Farseer novels. I think the only reason I love the Assassin books more is because I read them first, and then re-read them. The character from the Farseer are much dearer to me because of that.

So, I loved "The Ship of Magic" and expected "The Mad Ship" to be just as good... Instead the second book blew my brains out with the first few chapters. This is SO BLOODY GOOD! It's not just the fact Hobb can turn and twist the plot until you're wriggling on the floor in ecstasy, drooling all over the carpet. The way she touches upon the subject of spirituality and religion is something I haven't seen done so well by any other writer but Paulo Coelho. The book is amazing!