It was a tough call to give this a five, but I think it probably earned it. Hobb displays a mastery of her characters and her shifting of audience sympathies and expectations. It takes a long time to reach this point, but taken together this trilogy is solid and impressive, even with all of the trade politicking going on. It's also interesting to note multiple female perspectives in fantasy, as written by an actual woman.

It's sad to think that would be a turn off for a lot of readers, because Ship of Destiny and its predecessors are well worth the effort. This is compulsive reading of the highest order, and there are only more dragons to come after this.