![]() There’s the hostile landscape: the acid-tinged river, the dangerous gallators, the lack of open land, the flood. The novel really sets up as the Rain Wilds as the villains. Though as the series progresses, Hobb perhaps spends too much time dwelling on which Keepers are mating as opposed to actual journeying up the river, or learning about the dragons’ vibrant histories, but there’s enough balance to maintain a consistent and pleasant reading.ĭragon Haven was originally the second part of Keeper, but was split due to length. The relationships between the Keepers are interesting to watch develop. The Keepers must find Kelsingra with only the ancestral memories of the dragons to guide them. The latter is forced to deal with a more difficult lifestyle, cramped conditions, coarse sailor’s manners and bad food, while Alise must deal with her attraction to Captain Leftrin, who despite his background, presents a new, free way of living her life. An expected twist in the party is the arrival of Alise and Sedric. Both are shunned for being different from what society expects of them, an initial spark in their long and difficult relationships. ![]() It’s a joy to watch Hobb mirror the dragons and their keepers. It’s brilliant.ĭragon Keeper takes flight half-way through when the Keepers, a meeting of Rain Wild misfits, finally begin their journey to discover Kelsingra, the fabled city of the Elderlings. There isn’t a single main character that hasn’t grown by the very end. Less perspectives mean Hobb really has time to develop her characters over the course of the four books. Tintaglia and Sintara, a dragon hatchling, finish the varied roster of perspectives. Leftrin, a Liveship captain, is another interesting character, caught between his attraction to Alise and a Chalcedean merchant’s threat that his own secret will be divulged. Hobb introduces a character, and when they are settled into the reader’s expectations, she twists them to keep us engaged. Torn between his long-time friendship to Alise and his devotion to his master, his motives are often unclear, giving the character an unpredictable air. His secretary, Sedric Meldar, is the most interesting of the characters. ![]() Despite her middling years, she is offered a marriage of convenience with Hest Finbok, a handsome trader with a secret. Alise Finbok, a Bingtown bachelorette, initially offers the weakest of the perspectives, her introduction a passively written rumination on all the things wrong in her life, besides a bunch of exposition that, after the harrowing experiences of the young dragons, is difficult to engage with. There are less point-of-view characters than the Liveship books. The scene poses enough questions to hook the reader: will the dragons survive to full strength? Will any fly like the glorious beasts of old? When it becomes clear that the dragons must be moved from their hatching grounds, plot threads twist and characters come together in interesting ways. They are grotesque imitations of what dragons should be and are shunned by most. The hatching is a sad affair, the dragons born stunted. Her father’s refusal to accept these traditions is the first link in Hobb’s major theme, that traditions can be broken to entertain a new, perhaps better way of life. Born ‘marked’ by the magic of the region, society deemed that she be exposed at birth. The hatching of the dragons is witnessed through the eyes of a reptilian Rain Wilder named Thymara. Hobb’s command of colourful and vibrant language is impressive, the writing flows far better than her previous foray into third-person. Maulkin’s tangle of lost serpents have made their way up the Rain Wild River and are building their cocoons under the dragon Tintaglia and Selden Vestrit’s supervision. The opening of the first instalment, Dragon Keeper, acts as a reminder of the closing events of the Liveship Traders. A continuation of those events, with many allusions to the Farseers, it’s another string in Hobb’s richly woven word tapestry. No spoilers for the Rain Wilds Chronicles.Īfter the impressive Tawny Man trilogy, Robin Hobb once again switches the action back to Bingtown and the Rain Wilds, the vivid, dangerous southern regions home to the nautical dramas of the Liveship Traders. Spoilers follow for Hobb’s first, second and third trilogies.
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