The war in the north has interrupted the trade that is the lifeblood of Bingtown, and the Liveship Traders have fallen on hard times despite their magic sentient ships.

Pirates, a slave rebellion, migrating sea serpents and a newly hatched dragon are but a few of the obstacles she must face on her way to discovering that Liveships are not, perhaps, what they seem to be, and may have dreams of their own to follow.

[9] The women of the series often defy stereotypical expectations of their femininity: the rebellious sailor Althea Vestrit, who dresses as a man to work on a ship, re-kindles her sensitive side; the submissive housewife Keffria discovers her independence; and the conservative, traditional matriarch Ronica adapts to social change.

[6] Describing the Liveship Traders as his favorite work by Hobb, author Orson Scott Card felt that she "arguably set the standard for the modern serious fantasy novel".

[16] In a survey of Hobb's writing under both pseudonyms up to 2006, critic Don D'Ammassa called the Liveship Traders "certainly her best work to date",[17] and The Weekend Australian echoed this view in 2009.

[19][11] Interzone's Chris Gilmore lauded how Hobb's characters "come alive" with a mix of strengths and human flaws, in a way that made the reader "care for them", even the wooden liveships.

[20] In a more negative review, Kirkus faulted Hobb for yielding to "Doorstopper Syndrome", and felt Ship of Magic failed due to "bloat, irresolution, logorrhea, and brake failure".

[21] Kirkus went on to criticize the second book as having "cast aside any remaining inclination toward control",[22] while Gilmore conversely found it constructed with "exceptional skill, deployed on a grand scale but without longueurs".