Helpful Score: 3
I had waited a long time for this series to begin. Now I learn that this is really the first half of what was to be a single book. I'm disappointed in that because Robin Hobb is great at world building and character development. She also has a very readable style. Reading this book was a pleasure after some of the recent books I've forced myself through.
But about this book: It has gotten panned by many reader/reviewers who have liked her previous books. They say there is no action and little story. They are right that it is quieter than the Liveship trilogy. But it's very big on character development. I enjoyed reading about people from effectively 2 different worlds becoming fellow travelers in a hostile "jungle" environment. I enjoyed reading about dragons that are less than they are expected to be. It is a story about flawed individuals and how they learn to work together with a subtle and unrecognized "villain" in their midst. The book doesn't build to a big cliffhanger since it is only half of a conceived single book. But I do look forward to reading the second half which comes out in a couple of months (the 2 halves out within about 6 months of each other). The goal of the travelers is to make it to a fabled city of the extinct (but maybe not extinct) Elderlings and home to all the previous great but gone dragons of this world. It is about recovering memories and unknown histories. It is about love and honor. It is about people (and dragons) with physical "defects" living full lives despite society's rules against it.
It is very readable, and I enjoyed every line. I recommend it if you can enjoy a lower level action but rich with description story.
But about this book: It has gotten panned by many reader/reviewers who have liked her previous books. They say there is no action and little story. They are right that it is quieter than the Liveship trilogy. But it's very big on character development. I enjoyed reading about people from effectively 2 different worlds becoming fellow travelers in a hostile "jungle" environment. I enjoyed reading about dragons that are less than they are expected to be. It is a story about flawed individuals and how they learn to work together with a subtle and unrecognized "villain" in their midst. The book doesn't build to a big cliffhanger since it is only half of a conceived single book. But I do look forward to reading the second half which comes out in a couple of months (the 2 halves out within about 6 months of each other). The goal of the travelers is to make it to a fabled city of the extinct (but maybe not extinct) Elderlings and home to all the previous great but gone dragons of this world. It is about recovering memories and unknown histories. It is about love and honor. It is about people (and dragons) with physical "defects" living full lives despite society's rules against it.
It is very readable, and I enjoyed every line. I recommend it if you can enjoy a lower level action but rich with description story.
Amy B. (BaileysBooks) reviewed Dragon Keeper (Rain Wilds Chronicles, Bk 1) on + 491 more book reviews
This is Book 1 of the Rain Wilds Chronicles.
For starters, I love Robin Hobb's books. The Farseer, Tawny Man, and Liveship Trilogies resonated with me in ways that few series ever have, and I count them among my all-time favorite books. I approached Dragon Keeper with some reservation based on all of the mixed reviews and reader complaints. However, I actually liked the book (although perhaps not as much as the other works of hers that I have read) and I'm looking forward to continuing the series.
I have never found any book by Robin Hobb to be full of "action" in the traditional sense, because she develops so much of the tension and conflict through her characters. I would describe all of her books as slow, but never boring. Granted, Dragon Keeper was slow even by Hobb's usual standards. There was very little action or conflict, but I did not feel like that ruined the book.
There is no official ending to the book in the sense that there is no resolution or closure for any of the story arcs. The book simply ends. This is due to the fact that Dragon Keeper and Dragon Haven were intended to be one long book that ended up being chopped in two. Had I not known that in advance, I probably would have had more of an issue with the non-ending. Instead, I just finished one book and began immediately on the next.
Like most books by Robin Hobb, this is a book about flawed characters in difficult circumstances. This is not a glamorous book about dragons (they are, perhaps, the most flawed characters of all) and it is not a swashbuckling fantasy epic with a lot of flash and fireworks. It is a slow and gritty book that moves at the pace of life, which is an approach that will draw in just as many readers as it turns away. I don't feel like this particular set of characters has the same quality and depth as her earlier works, but I hope that they will grow on me in time as I get to know them better.
This book was not Robin Hobb at her best, but I will gladly take a slightly sub-par work by her over the best works of many other authors out there.
For starters, I love Robin Hobb's books. The Farseer, Tawny Man, and Liveship Trilogies resonated with me in ways that few series ever have, and I count them among my all-time favorite books. I approached Dragon Keeper with some reservation based on all of the mixed reviews and reader complaints. However, I actually liked the book (although perhaps not as much as the other works of hers that I have read) and I'm looking forward to continuing the series.
I have never found any book by Robin Hobb to be full of "action" in the traditional sense, because she develops so much of the tension and conflict through her characters. I would describe all of her books as slow, but never boring. Granted, Dragon Keeper was slow even by Hobb's usual standards. There was very little action or conflict, but I did not feel like that ruined the book.
There is no official ending to the book in the sense that there is no resolution or closure for any of the story arcs. The book simply ends. This is due to the fact that Dragon Keeper and Dragon Haven were intended to be one long book that ended up being chopped in two. Had I not known that in advance, I probably would have had more of an issue with the non-ending. Instead, I just finished one book and began immediately on the next.
Like most books by Robin Hobb, this is a book about flawed characters in difficult circumstances. This is not a glamorous book about dragons (they are, perhaps, the most flawed characters of all) and it is not a swashbuckling fantasy epic with a lot of flash and fireworks. It is a slow and gritty book that moves at the pace of life, which is an approach that will draw in just as many readers as it turns away. I don't feel like this particular set of characters has the same quality and depth as her earlier works, but I hope that they will grow on me in time as I get to know them better.
This book was not Robin Hobb at her best, but I will gladly take a slightly sub-par work by her over the best works of many other authors out there.
