Among them are Thymara, an unschooled Rain Wilds girl of sixteen, and Alise, a wealthy, educated, and deeply unsatisfied Bingtown Trader's wife.Witnessed from the viewpoints of these two very different women, Dragon Keeper tells the story of this disparate band of humans and dragons as they make their way along the toxic and inhospitable Rain Wild River in search of their new home-the ancient, long-lost city of Kelsingra. To avert catastrophe, the council rules to relocate the young dragons to 'a better location' up river, and residents are recruited to escort the valuable yet fearsome creatures on the arduous journey. The Traders Council, the city's leadership, fears that if the Rain Wilders stop providing for the young dragons, the hungry and neglected creatures will rampage and destroy Cassarick. Tending these stunted dragons has left the people of the surrounding area weary. ![]() But something is wrong with the creatures each is inferior or weak in some way, and many die. But something is wrong with the creatures each is inferior or weak in. Embarking on an arduous journey that holds no promise of return, the band of humans and dragons must make its way along the toxic and inhospitable Rain Wild River - an extraordinary odyssey that will teach them lessons about themselves and one another as they experience hardships, betrayals, and joys beyond their wildest dreams. The writing is really lovely, and there are three more books in The Rain Wild Chronicles so I’m interested to see what Robin Hobb does with the foundation she’s built here.After many years, dragons have hatched again outside the ancient city of Cassarick. After many years, dragons have hatched again outside the ancient city of Cassarick. Indeed, this book finished just as I was really getting my teeth into it! That’s not to say that it was unenjoyable, just that it was steady and built over time. The plot itself is rather slow moving, and it does not speed up. One of the point-of-view characters is actually a dragon, which was really fun! I did spend quite a bit of time yelling at some of the characters (cough Alise and Sedric cough), but only because I cared about them and I want them to be happy damnit! The cast was too big to mention everyone, so a quick favourites list: Thymara, a Rain Wilds girl who should have been killed at birth due to her scaly deformities, fiercely independent Alise Kincarron, a scholar of dragons trapped in a loveless marriage Rapskal, an endlessly cheerful Rain Wilds boy Erik and Detozi, pigeon keepers of Bingtown and Cassarick respectively, who we only meet in letters Tarman, a liveship Sedric Meldar, something of a dandy… They’re all very much products of their world, which is again something that I like in fantasy. The experienced reader will be easily able to predict the plot and much of the character development ahead of time, due to the abundant clues Hobb leaves. The characters themselves I found a bit tricky at times, but mostly I warmed to them. The point-of-view changes quite often, and was done in a way that was exciting rather than confusing. And also, I like reading fantasy worlds that aren’t thinly-veiled Europe. It’s also nice when fantasy writers have clearly thought about practicalities like, for instance, contraception. Animation In ancient China, dragons were once friends of humans, but our greed ended their alliance, and these magical creatures were hunted down. ![]() There are cities in the trees, political upheaval abroad, merchant towns and riverpeople, and they all merge and fit without having to try to be convincing. This is evident without being something that sidelines the plot: the world is just ticking over in the background, as worlds do. A lot of thought has clearly gone into the basics: geography, economy, politics and history. The advantage of this is that the world in this book felt very established. Now, as far as I can tell nearly all of Robin Hobb’s books are set in the same world, but they are handily grouped into quartets and trilogies so that it is possible to jump in as I have done. However, I’m really enjoying her writing and she has a backlog of about thirty books! Hooray! This is the first book by Robin Hobb that I’ve ever read, and it was a treat! I am always a little suspicious of “high” fantasy (although we could be here all day trying to define exactly what counts), which is probably why it’s taken me so long to read anything by this author.
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