REVIEW: BLOOD OF DRAGONS

Cover art by Jackie Morris

BLOOD OF DRAGONS

BOOK FOUR OF THE RAIN WILD CHRONICLES

BY

ROBIN HOBB

ISBN: 978-0-00-744413-7

Pages: 535

Publisher: HarperVoyager UK

First published: 1 March 2013

This edition published: 14 March 2013

On the cover:

Dragons will fly over Kelsingra once more...

Dragon blood and scales, dragon liver and eyes and teeth. All required ingredients for medicines with near-miraculous healing powers. The legendary blue dragon Tintaglia is dying of wounds inflicted by hunters sent by the Duke of Chalced, who meanwhile preserves his dwindling life by consuming the blood of the dragon’s poet Selden Vestrit.

If Tintaglia perishes, her ancestral memories will die with her. And the dragons in the ancient city of Kelsingra will lose the secret knowledge they need to survive. Their keepers immerse themselves in the dangerously addictive memory-stone records of the city in the hope of recovering the Elderling magic that once allowed humans and dragons to co-exist. In doing so they risk losing their own identities, even their lives.

And danger threatens from beyond the city, too. For war is coming: war between dragonkind and those who would destroy them.

    This novel is really the end of a long journey, one that begun in Ship of Magic , the first book of the Liveship Traders Trilogy, continued in The Tawny Man trilogy, to end here with the fourth book in The Rain Wild Chronicles. It is the story of the return of dragons to the Realm of the Elderlings, the story of the end of one era and the beginning of a new one.

   Dragon lore has been an important part of The Rain Wild Chronicles, in some ways it can be said to be the central theme of the quartet of books. We really learn a lot more about how dragons work in Hobb's world here, and much more about how they relate to the Elderlings. It's really a testament to Hobb's writing abilities that there is so much information being divulged in this book without there ever being parts that are info-dumping.

   The dragon lore is integrated in the story, and is very much a part of it. At times it's also something that adds tension and suspense. Hobb also manages to give the dragons a natural lace in the world, they don't feel like they are a beast that is inserted into a more realistic setting. They are a part of the setting and when it comes to the story of this quartet they actually add much to the worldbuilding as a whole.

   Worldbuilding is an important part of not just this novel but the whole of The Rain Wild Chronicles, although a more correct term would be society building. Throughout the story we have seen the characters grow from a group of outcasts into a whole new society, one that is integrated with the dragons and will undoubtedly play an important part in the world Hobb has created.

   All of this culminates in this novel. This is where we get (most of) the answers to what all that has gone before really means, all the while getting some glimpses that raises questions of what this will mean for the future.

   Hobb has managed to make all this an organic experience, a growth that blooms here at the end of this part of the story. And there is more layers to this than just the immediate one that the story of the dragon keepers suggests. We get to see how this all links back to the Elderlings, a lost people that has left traces that can be seen throughout Hobb's world.

   My interest in history meant that the discovery of what was before became as much of a joy to me as the present history of the setting. But the history doesn't intrude, it is intertwined with what happens in the present of the story and adds a lot to what is happening in the now.

   The characters experience a lot of growth and discovery in this book, the non-humans as well as the humans. Hobb has always been good at creating characters that are easy to get attached to. And spending as much time as I have with the characters of  The Rain Wild Chronicles as I have through these four novels, I have really gotten to know them. It is a fulfilling experience to see them come to the end of this stage of their journey in this book.

   These are really the most diverse cast of any of Hobb's books set in the Realm of the Elderlings. The dragons of course add to this, they are certainly an important part of the cast, but the others are also a diverse group that will make it easy for the reader to feel a connection to at the very least one of them. That they all have different personalities and personal journeys makes me confident when making the claim that this is the best cast Hobb has created for her four Realm of the Elderlings stories.

   I also feel the need to mention that those that want female characters in their Epic Fantasy will find several of them here.

   It is impossible to evaluate the story of this book in total isolation, as it is book four of a quartet. But not having read any of the preceding books since City of Dragons was published a year ago I can say with confidence that this is a novel that in itself offers a great deal to the reader. There is a lot of things happening here, we have three main storylines that are connected, and the smaller "bonus" story of the Rain Wild birdkeepers that has been running in the background.

   The main stories are of course connected and here they really come together to full effect, as the novel progresses the level of tension grows towards the crescendo of them meeting. Hobb does a very good job in letting these three storylines develop their own internal drama, and really shows off her storytelling prowess when she finally lets them come together. And although the one story who is set outside of the Rain Wilds does feel a little bit of a side trip at times, it becomes clear by the end of the novel that in the long run it may have almost as great an impact on the overall story of the Realm of the Elderlings.

   This is really one of those Epic Fantasy novels that is truly hard to put down. Once the beginning has settled you in to what is happening it keeps building all the time, and the urge to see what happens in the next chapter becomes greater and greater.

   The ending is a bit bittersweet. It is a very nice ending to this part of the story, but you realise that this is just the end of the beginning. I don't know what plans Hobb has for future stories, but the story of Kelsingra has just started and I hope we get to revisit it in the future. -And that is a great feeling to be left with after four good sized books.

   This is really a book that has it all. The worldbuilding is excellent, the characters are a joy to follow, and the story itself is a thoroughly immersive journey into an Epic Fantasy world.

   Fans of Robin Hobb, and of dragons, should be utterly satisfied with both this book and The Rain Wild Chronicles as a whole. And this is really something that every fan of Epic Fantasy should do themselves the favour of reading.

More Robin Hobb reviews, including for the first three books in The Rain Wild Chronicles, can be found here.

LINKS: Robin Hobb  HarperVoyager

REVIEW: WHAT THE NIGHT KNOWS

Cover photos: Shutterstock

Cover design: HarperCollinsPublishers

WHAT THE NIGHT KNOWS

BY

DEAN KOONTZ

ISBN: 978-0-00-732694-5

Pages: 495 (Including bonus novella)

Publisher: Harper

First published: 28 December 2010

Bonus novella first published: 18 October 2010

This edition published: 23 June 2011

On the cover:

Death is not always a one-way journey

Billy Lucas is a sadistic killer and proud of it. He is only 14 years old. So how does he know so much about a series of murders committed before he was born?

Detective John Calvino comes away from interviewing the boy with a terrible sense of dread. That night he feels that somehow Billy has come home with him.

This haunted feeling only gets worse in the weeks that follow. And when another killing spree begins, Calvino becomes convinced his own family will be the next victims. Billy might be safely locked u, but something is stalking the night...

   Koontz doesn't waste anytime establishing the mystery in this story. In fact he's revealing things a bit too soon, fifty pages in we have already leaned something that I think would work better if kept hidden for a longer time. But this is in many ways redeemed by the eerie atmosphere that is created, an eeriness that pretty much stays with you throughout the whole book.

   There are lots of supernatural happenings in this book, in fact it is a story about a supernatural series of events. This premise is really interesting but it doesn't really evolve from the initial premise, and thus it feels a bit stilted and unoriginal. The unoriginal feel isn't really helped by Kontz's need to place the spirit of a dead retriever in the story (, for what feels like the 200th novel in a row).
   I also felt that the rooting of the supernatural happenings so firmly within the Christian tradition hampered it a lot. The Christian aspect of Koontz's novels have been getting stronger lately, and I feel that he is placing his novels in a "Christian Horror" category, and in my opinion this makes them much weaker than they could have been.
   I am well aware that not everyone will have a problem with this, and I am sure Christians will find this a great addition rather than the detraction I found it to be.

    Ignoring the Christian aspect of it, the story itself is a good one. Koontz knows how to write good Horror, and he does that here. The atmosphere is great, and there's plenty of action and suspense.
   When it comes to the characters, they are not so good. They feel very stereotypical, and lack in depth. The main character, John Calvino, has a family that is so standard, and perfect, that it almost becomes more unbelievable than the supernatural elements. And one of his children seem to exist solely to be so stupid and naive that the events that center around here doesn't require much exploration.

   Overall this is a good book for Horror fans, especially those who want their Horror to have a firm supernatural base. As mentioned above it has a strong Christian leaning, and for Christian Horror fans I think this will be near perfect. For others, it will stand and fall depending on your feelings about the Christian elements. But if you don't mind Horror having that angle, I will recommend you pick it up. It is a great supernatural Horror story.

DARKNESS UNDER THE SUN

   This is a fifty page bonus story that is available separately in electronic and audio editions, but is included in the edition of What the Night Knows I have.

   This is a companion piece to the main story, and is directly connected to it. As companion stories go, this is a really good one. It gives us much more information about one of the main characters in What the Night Knows, information that really makes him come to life much more vividly.

   The other main character here, not present in the main story, is very interesting and his history is very well fleshed out for such a short story.

   In some ways I wish I had read this story before What the Night Knows, it was published before the novel came out, but then again I am not sure if it really would have made much sense if it was read as a standalone without being aware of the main story.

   If you have an edition of What the Night Knows that does not contain this, and liked the novel, I would urge you to get it.

LINKS: Dean Koontz  Harper

REVIEW: WOLF'S BROTHER

Cover art: Jackie Morris

Cover design: HarperCollinsPublishers

WOLF'S BROTHER
BY
MEGAN LINDHOLM

ISBN: 978-0-00-742543-3
Pages: 266

Publisher: Harper Voyager

Originally published: 1988

This edition published: 28 April 2011

On the cover:

 Kerlew stared at the immense stone that jutted up from the tundra. Power radiated from it like heat from a fire. It attracted the boy and filled him with fear. There was a brush of sound, of dark moving shadows and then the sudden flash of a glistening eye. He pressed his palms back against the stone’s rough surface and faced the night creatures that surrounded him.

Every day, Kerlew's magic grows, reaching out to his guide, the Wolf. But the magic also calls to Carp, the evil old shaman, who is pursuing Kerlew and his mother, Tillu, across the frozen waste. Meanwhile, someone - or something - is committing terrible atrocities in the village that Tillu now calls home. With fear and suspicion at fever pitch, a strange old man appears, with an offer of help...

   NOTE: This is the second half of a split book, the first half, The Reindeer People, is reviewed here.

   As with The Reindeer People this is not very action packed, but there is actually a lot more happening in this book. In fact it is almost jarring when there comes a relatively fast paced sequence after getting used to the slow pace of the story.

   But this second half of the story is in many ways about wrapping up what started in The Reindeer people, and this means that everything is given more urgency. It also means that things feel a little bit rushed at times.

   The characters development is done very nicely, they seem to find their roles and accept them here. This goes especially for Kerlew, who has a special journey of his own. And it is his journey that is perhaps the most interesting, and also the most Fantasy-like. However I don't think it is fair to call what is actually part of shamanistic religion Fantasy as such.

   There is also a bit of a romantic plot going one, one that has been building since The Reindeer people. And I think many who read this will be satisfied with the conclusion to that part of the plot.

   All in all this was one of those stories where the journey as a whole was much more interesting to me than its parts. Lindholm has written a story, in two parts, that is both interesting and in many ways exotic. If you like a story that takes its time, and is very centered on the characters inner journey this is two books I urge you to pick up.

   I would also like to say that it is interesting to see both the differences and likenesses of Lindholm's and Hobb's writing styles. This isn't a bad place for Hobb fans to get a taste of the former.

REVIEWS: The Reindeer People  The Inheritance

LINKS: Megan Lindholm  Harper Voyager  Voyager Blog

REVIEW: THE REINDEER PEOPLE

Cover art: Jackie Morris

Cover design: HarperCollinsPublishers

THE REINDEER PEOPLE

BY

MEGAN LINDHOLM

ISBN: 978-0-00-742544-0

Pages: 348

Publisher: Harper Voyager

Originally published: 1988

This edition published: 28 April 2011

On the cover:

Living on the outskirts of the tribe Tillu was happy spending her time tending her strange, slow dreamy child Kerlew and communing with the spirits to heal the sick and bring blessing on new births.

However Carp, the Shaman, an ugly wizened old man whose magic smelled foul to Tillu desired both mother and child. Tillu knew Carp’s magic would steal her son and her soul. So begins the Harrowing and desperate pursuit across the winter-ravaged lands, as Tillu's flight leads them into an uncertain, and deadly, new future.

   This isn't an action-packed book, the pace is slow and what happens in the story takes a long time to arrive anywhere. But that isn't a negative in this case, that is just how the story is structured.
   I'm pretty much OK with books that take their time, but I did have a problem with how you could see important plotpoints coming a long way in this book. The narrative uses a long time to come to things that are obvious to the reader and this removes much of the suspense in the story. Normally this would put me off the story, but here that is not the case. I found the story both compelling and interesting.

   There are two elements that makes this story a good one, the characters and the setting. The characters are all interesting, and as an ensemble they work very well together. That being said, they are pretty standard. It doesn't take long before you get a grip on their place in the story and where it is going to take them. But as with the slow pace I mentioned above, it works. You get sympathy for them and they are interesting to follow on their journey.

   The setting is what I liked best about the story. I don't know if Lindholm has used the Sami of northern Scandinavia, and north-east Russia, as a template for the setting but I strongly suspect she did. Lindholm is very good with this setting, and especially the nature of it. As someone who has grown up in Norway I am sensitive to descriptions of winter that doesn't ring true. That is no problem with Lindholm's writing here, she makes the winter come to life very well.

   It may seem from what I've written above that I didn't like this book very much, but I did. The individual elements may not work very well isolated, but they come together top make an interesting and well written story.
   I also have to say that this is not Fantasy, it is Historical Fiction. And comparisons to Jean M. Auel's Earth's Children series are a bit unavoidable. In that respect this compares favourably, and I would urge any fan of Auel or Pre-History in general to pick it up.

NOTE: This is a split novel, I have reviewed book two, Wolf's Brother here.

REVIEWS: Wolf's Brother  The Inheritance

Links: Megan Lindholm  Harper Voyager  Voyager Blog

REVIEW: CITY OF DRAGONS

 Cover art: Jackie Morris

CITY OF DRAGONS

BOOK THREE OF THE RAIN WILD CHRONICLES

BY

ROBIN HOBB

ISBN: 978-0-00-727380-5

Pages: 425

Publisher: HarperVoyager UK

Published: 23 April 2012 (UK) 1 March 2012 (Aus) 7 February 2012 (US)

On the cover:

Kelsingra awaits for those brave enough to enter…

The dragons and their keepers have discovered Kelsingra but so far only Heeby has succeeded in flying over the river to enter the fabled city. The other dragons, with their deformed wings and feeble muscles, are afraid to risk failure and humiliation.

But wondrous things await in Kelsingra, a city built for dragons and their Elderling keepers. Alise, overwhelmed by the treasures she finds there, records her finds for posterity. Once the rest of the world knows about the riches the city contains, nothing will ever be the same again.

Already, rumours of the city’s discovery have floated down the Rain Wild River and reached envious ears in Bingtown and beyond. Adventurers, pirates and fortune hunters are coming in droves to pillage what they can from the city. As is Hest Finbok, Alise’s husband…

Meanwhile, Selden Vestrit finds himself a prisoner of the ailing Duke of Chalced, who believes him to be some sort of dragon-man whose flesh and blood may work miracle cures.

Where is Tintaglia, the great sapphire-blue dragon, when all have such need of her? Has she really abandoned her beloved Selden and the fledgling dragons forever? Or will she too return to seek the wonders of Kelsingra?

   I feel like I have waited forever for this book, I was hoping Hobb would continue the story about Kelsingra when I finished Dragon Haven. (Nothing was announced back then, and the two first books were talked about as a split one-shot.) It has been a longer wait than is usual between books in a series, so I was very curious as to how the story would continue.

   This novel starts where Dragon Haven finishes, nothing has really happened since the end of the last book. It also doesn't change the concept of the two preceding books, which can in a way be summed up as exploration not action.

   Since there is some archaeology (, at least sort of,) involved I think a good way of explaining this volume of the Rain Wild Chronicles is that it is like a documentary about the Ark of the Covenant. So if you are looking for Raiders of the Lost Ark, you will probably be disappointed by the slow pace and lack of action.

   I mentioned the slow pace, for me that was not a problem. It's not slow in a "come on, something has to happen soon" way, but rather a case of the narrative taking its time. There's plenty of time to get to know the characters even better, and see how they have been changed by the events that have happened since the story started in The Dragon Keeper.

   It is however in its place to mention that there is a slight tendency to go to far in the "infodumping" in places, and I'm sure this will not be to everyone's liking. And this novel, and the whole Rain Wilds Chronicles-series, is not for readers who are impatient and want lots of action.

   What I really found fulfilling here is that we are starting to see quite a bit of the details, and inner workings, of what is hinted at in Hobb's previous books in the Realm of the Elderlings setting. There are some links that go so far as back to The Farseer Trilogy, and there is a direct link from The Tawny Man Trilogy. And of course The Rain Wilds Chronicles is in many way a direct continuation of The Liveship Traders Trilogy.

   This time around we also get a point of view from one of the main characters from The Liveship Traders. And she is in many ways set up to take an even bigger role in the next volume.

   Her characters are, in my opinion, the greatest strength of Hobb, and the ones we meet here are no exception. The novel mostly centres around the female characters, although there are a couple of male points of view. Most of the characters are also young, this does not mean the story is Young Adult, but it does mean that there are character interactions that are perhaps more often found in Young Adult novels.

   If you are looking for Epic Fantasy with female characters this is a good series. In this novel we get another one, and she is a welcome reacquaintance with someone from The Liveship Traders Trilogy. And if you, like me, enjoyed that trilogy this is definitely a must.

   Back to the story. Although it is slow, there is a lot happening towards the end of the book. And one of the events is a great revelation that feels like it could have repercussions for the whole of the Realm of the Elderlings setting.

   The end of the book is very much a set up for the next, and as far as I know final volume in the series. It has a very "middle volume non-ending" in many ways, but I had no trouble with that. There was enough happening that I felt satisfied, although I must say I am already a bit impatient for the next book to be published.

   All in all this was a very good book from Hobb. It does take its time, but that felt justified to me. And after reading eleven previous books in this setting I got a satisfying feeling that everything is at the point of coming together. This is a real treat for Hobb fans, and a really great exploration of the history of dragons and Elderlings.

Reviews: The Dragon Keeper  Dragon Haven  The Inheritance

Links: Robin Hobb  HarperVoyager  Voyager Blog

REVIEW: DRAGON HAVEN BY ROBIN HOBB

 Cover illustration: Jackie Morris

DRAGON HAVEN

BOOK TWO OF THE RAIN WILD CHRONICLES

BY

ROBIN HOBB

ISBN: 978 - 0 - 00 - 733581 - 7

Pages: 570

Publisher: Harper Voyager

Publishing Date: 4 March 2010

On the cover:

Return to the Rain wilds.

The dragon keepers and the fledgling dragons are forging a passage up the treacherous Rain Wild River. They are in search of the mythical Elderling city of Kelsingra, and are accompanied by the liveship Tarman, its captain, Leftrin, and a group of hunters who must search the forests for game with which to keep the ragons fed. With them are Alise, who has escaped her cold marriage to the cruel libertine Hest Finbok in order to continue her study of dragons, and Hest's amanuensis, Bingtown dandy, Sedric.

Rivalries and romances are already threatening to disrupt the band of explorers: but external forces may prove to be even more dangerous. Chalcedean merchants are keen to lay their hands on dragon blood and organs to turn them to medicine and profit. Their traitor has infiltrated the expedition and will stop at nothing to obtain the coveted body parts. And then there are the Rain Wilds themselves: mysterious, unstable and ever perilous, its mighty river running with acid, its jungle impenetrable and its waterways uncharted.

Will the expedition reach their destination unscathed? Does the city of Kelsingra even exist? Only one thing is certain: the journey will leave none of the dragons nor their human companions unchanged by the experience.

   Unsurprisingly this book follows directly on from the events of "The Dragon Keeper". It does start off with a info-dump prologue that at first glance looks like a unnecessary read if you come directly from the previous book. But the prologue not only recaps the events of  book one, Hobb has hidden some interesting new info in it, so it is an essential read.

   This book takes place wholly away from the civilization of the Rain Wilds, and follows the journey of the dragons and their keepers further into the wilds. Not only the physical wilds of the Rain Wild River, but also the wild landscape of the human psyche.
   Parts of the book looks at the dynamics of a group of individuals who are cut off from civilization. Some of what happens reminded me of "Lord of the Flies", and i would not be surprised if Hobb has drawn some of her inspiration from William Golding's novel.

   There is a bit more action here than in "The Dragon Keeper", and the overall pace of events is stepped up a bit. There are still passages that are largely devoted to character building, and that is certainly still a large part of the story, but there is quite a few events happening in the physical world too.
   It quickly becomes clear that there actually was a bit more happening in book one than was told to the reader. This was mostly very natural, as it was hidden from the point of view characters at the time. One development did make me feel a bit cheated as I felt the character should have noticed earlier, or at the very least had a feeling of something going on.

    One thing that there is certainly more of here than in book one is romance. Not that it is in any way turned into a "Romantic Fantasy", but there is a bit of "action" in the book. This comes naturally with the story, and at least one of the developing relationships has been telegraphed since early in the previous book.
   Robin Hobb also manages to sneak in some surprises on the romance front, and one of them comes as such a surprise that I doubt anyone will catch on before the reveal.

    What was the most interesting part of the book for me was finding out about the relationship between humans, dragons and elderlings. This is revealed in more detail here than in any of Hobbs previous works. This relationship between three races is something that has been part of Robin Hobb's fantasy world since "The Farseer Trilogy" and to see what looks like most of the mysteries revealed is very satisfying.

    Having mentioned earlier in this review that there is more action here than in "The Dragon Keeper", I feel the need to say that it is by no means an action oriented adventure. But as with the previous volume in "The Rain Wild Chronicles" I felt that the slow pace fitted the story.
    I've read several reports that these two books were first intended as one, and I have no trouble believing that. It might be possible to read this book as a standalone, but I would definitely recommend you read these to books as a split volume and begin with the first one.

    The ending of this book, and as far as I know "The Rain Wild Chronicles", was a bit of a letdown. Not because it was a badly written ending, or that it didn't finish the story. It did however leave me with a lack of closure that almost screams for a follow up. I hope it comes in the form of another trilogy from Robin Hobb, and that she's working on it now, because I want to read it as soon as possible.

LINKS: My review of "The Dragon Keeper"   Robin Hobb   Harper Voyager

REVIEW: THE DRAGON KEEPER BY ROBIN HOBB

Cover Illustration: Jackie Morris

THE DRAGON KEEPER

BOOK ONE OF THE RAIN WILD CHRONICLES

BY

ROBIN HOBB

 

ISBN: 978 - 0 - 00 - 727374 - 4

Pages: 553

Publisher: Harper Voyager

Publishing date: 25 June 2009

On the cover:

17 Damaged Dragons, 13 Misfits, 1 Impossible Quest.

Guided by the great blue dragon Tintaglia, they came from the sea: a Tangle of serpents fighting their way up the Rain Wild River: the first to make the perilous journey to the cocooning grounds in generations. Many have died along the way. With its acid waters and noxious airs, it is a hard place for anyone to survive.

People are changed by the Rain Wilds, subtly or otherwise. One such is Thymara. Born with black claws and other abhorrences, she should have been exposed at birth. But her father saved her and her mother has never forgiven him. Like everyone else, Thymara is fascinated by the return of the dragons: it is as if they symbolise the return of hope to their war-torn world. Leftrin, captain of the liveship Tarman, also has an interest in the hatching; as does Bingtown newlywed, Alise Finbok, who has made it her life's work to study all there is to know about dragons.

But the creatures which emerge from the cocoons are a travesty of the powerful, shining dragons of old. Stunted and deformed, they cannot fly. Some do not even have wings; others seem witless and bestial. Soon they are seen as a danger and a burden: something must be done. Far upriver, so far it is shown on no map, lies the legendary Elderling city of Kelsingra - or so it is believed. Perhaps there the dragons will find their true home. But they cannot get there on their own: a band of dragon keepers, hunters and chroniclers must attend them.

To be a dragon keeper is a dangerous job: their charges are vicious and unpredictable. and there are many unknown perils: none are expected to return, or even survive...

   Robin Hobb is one of my favourite fantasy authors, and in my opinion her trilogy "The Liveship Traders" is one of the best Fantasy series ever written. So obviously I was excited to hear about this book, and could not wait to get my hands on it and read it, something I did when it came out. I actually re-read it for this review.

   The Dragon Keeper's starts out with a retelling of some of the events of Hobb's "The Liveship Traders" from a different perspective. And it continues with events happening at the same time as "The Tawny Man" trilogy, and an event in that trilogy is mentioned. 

   Despite all that, this book is not a direct follow-up to any of these two trilogies, it is however a continuation of events from "The Liveship Traders". I feel it is more a independent companion volume to that trilogy, and you do not have to read the 2500 pages of "The Liveship Traders" to read this book. In fact if you're unfamiliar with Robin Hobb's work, you can safely start here.

   If you have read and like me enjoyed "The Liveship Traders" however this book is essential reading.

   The story of The Dragon Keeper is about two thing, both of which are helpfully mentioned in the full title, Dragons and the Rain Wilds.

   

   The Rain Wilds of Robin Hobb's world remains a rather mysterious place despite appearing in "The Liveship Traders", but here most of that veil of mystery is lifted. Many of the things that have previously only been hinted at are talked about openly here. This demystification does not make the Rain Wilds a less interesting place. To me it lends depth, character and believability to the place.

  The story of the Rain Wilds society is mostly told through the eyes of the teenager Thymara. Her deformities make her an outcast, and through her we see the darker side of the harsh life along the Rain Wild River.

   The dragons in this book in many ways mirror the inhabitants of the Rain Wilders. They are flawed creatures, and do not resemble the god-like noble beasts that dragons usually are portrayed as in fantasy. This is both refreshing and necessary to give credence to the relationship between the dragon sand their keepers. It is through this relationship that the reader, at the same time as the keepers discovers the nature of Hobb's dragons.

    Not only do the dragons of this book differ from the kind you usually find in Epic/Medieval fantasy, so does the story. You will not find any dark lord that has to be defeated, no orphaned boy has to rise to save the world and there's a distinct lack of wizards lurking in the background.

   There is a quest, but it takes backstage to the development of the characters and it only starts towards the end of the book.

    

    Robin Hobb's writing has never been the most action-filled fantasy. "The Farseer Trilogy", her fastest paced so far, is slow compared to most other fantasy in a secondary world setting. And this is unquestionably the slowest paced Hobb has ever been. Not to say nothing happens, it does. 

   

    When I had finished this book I felt satisfied with the journey Hobb had taken me on. The detailed character development was both refreshing and relaxing. It was good reading fantasy that allowed me to really get to know the characters, and if that sounds interesting you should try this out.. 

     I would also recommend this to anyone interested in dragons and their interactions with humans. And finally, this is definitely an essential read for anyone who wants to gain more insight into the world of the Farseers and the Cursed Shores.

   

That said the ending of the book is rather sudden, there is no great cliffhanger, and it doesn't feel like a natural ending. This should be no problem for anyone reading it now, the follow-up "Dragon Haven" is out now. And I review it here.

LINKS:  Robin Hobb   Harper Voyager