The Mad Ship
core novel 1999 Realm of the Elderlings
Record
| First published | 1999 |
|---|---|
| Original language |  EN |
| Work type | novel |
| Canon status | core |
| Reader rating | 4.35 (92,817 ratings, collected 2026-09-11) |
| Page count | 906 |
| First-edition ISBN | 9780002254793 |
Synopsis
With the liveship Vivacia now in the hands of the pirate captain Kennit, young crewman Wintrow Vestrit finds his loyalties torn between Kennit's charisma and his growing concern for the ship's well-being under a captain who does not fully understand what he holds. Meanwhile, Althea and her family attempt to mount a rescue by refitting another liveship, the volatile and long-neglected Paragon, whose troubled history makes him as dangerous as he is powerful. At the same time, political unrest grows in Bingtown as the ruling Satrap's Chalcedean allies begin to threaten the city's long-established merchant families, pushing the Vestrits and their rivals toward choices that will determine the fate of the trading city itself.
Where it sits
- Universe: Realm of the Elderlings
- Series: Liveship Traders Trilogy core; position 2 of 3 in the series' recorded order
- Author: Robin Hobb
Neighbouring works
Publication order and internal chronology are tracked as two separate orderings and are never conflated: a book's place in one says nothing about its place in the other.
- Publication order, within the series Liveship Traders Trilogy: position 2 of 3: previous Ship of Magic (1998) · next Ship of Destiny (2000)
Sources
← Realm of the Elderlings dossier · All universes
Part of the Library. Fields without an identified source are omitted, never guessed.