After the flaws in the Farseer trilogy, I wasn't sure about tackling another huge Hobb saga, but so far I am enjoying it a lot more. The set up of ships, including liveships animated by an intelligence, pirates and the politics of Bingtown, torn between the Old Traders with their secrets and contracts with the mutated Rain Wilders on the one hand and the crass New Traders, given illegal land grants by the corrupt and drugged up satrap of Jamaillia, provides far more interest and conflict, and does not require characters to constantly behave stupidly to make the plot work. Some characters do act stupidly, such as Malta, the spoiled brat, and the odious Kyle, but their behaviour arises from their character flaws - there is far more character development in this book than in the Farseer books. There are also the odd sections from the POV of some of the sea serpents who keep attacking ships, especially the slaver ships, which throw dead bodies over the side, and I expect they will turn out to be more important than at first appears. And I can't help wondering if Amber is like the Fool in the Farseer books. Anyway, I am interested to see how things develop in book 2.