City of Dragons

Volume Three of the Rain Wilds Chronicles

De: Robin Hobb

Narrado por: Anne Flosnik

New York Times best-selling author Robin Hobb - "one of the most important writers in 21st-century fantasy" (Contra Costa Times) - continues her enthralling fantasy saga of dragons and their keepers.

Once, dragons ruled the Rain Wilds, tended by privileged human servants known as Elderlings. But a series of cataclysmic eruptions nearly drove these magnificent creatures to extinction. Born weak and deformed, the last of their kind had one hope for survival: to return to their ancient city of Kelsingra. Accompanied by a disparate crew of untested young keepers, the dragons embarked on a harsh journey into the unknown along the toxic Rain Wild River.

Battling starvation, a hostile climate, and treacherous enemies, dragons and humans began to forge magical connections, bonds that have wrought astonishing transformations for them all. And though Kelsingra is finally near, their odyssey has only begun.

Because of the swollen waters of the Rain Wild River, the lost city can be reached only by flight - a test of endurance and skill beyond the stunted dragons’ strength. Venturing across the swift-running river in tiny boats, the dragon scholar Alise and a handful of keepers discover a world far different from anything they have ever known or imagined. Immense, ornate structures of black stone veined with silver and lifelike stone statues line the silent, eerily empty streets. Yet what are the whispers they hear, the shadows of voices and bursts of light that flutter and are gone? And why do they feel as if eyes are watching them?

The dragons must plumb the depths of their ancestral memories to help them take flight and unlock the secrets buried in Kelsingra. But enemies driven by greed and dark desires are approaching. Time is running out, not only for the dragons but for their human keepers as well.

©2012 Robin Hobb (P)2012 HarperCollinsPublishers

Fill of action

This book was very fast moving. It went by so quickly! I love this narrator. She does such a great job!

Love these books

There are some weird boomer things going on in this series- but over all it’s such an amazing fantasy series!

Robin Hobb is a genius of storytelling

An amazing piece of fantasy. The epic tale of the 6 duchies and the rain wilds is one to enjoy over and over

Ever expanding world

Robin Hobb keeps growing her universe and it is ever more interesting. The narrator does a good job at differentiating the cultural accents to make the story more vivid.

Can’t get over calling Malta’s father Ephran… hello KYLE HAVEN

Malta and Reign named their son Ephran. Which is great. Except Malta says “after my father?” And Reign says “I heard he was a good man” then she even says “my father went by Phren when he was a boy” HOW COULD SHE GET THAT DETAIL WRONG. The whole last book was based on Malta trying to rescue her father Kyle Haven. Ephran was her Grandfather. That so very wrong detail makes me irrationally angry haha. Otherwise great story. I don’t like how the narrator made Althea sound like a dowdy old woman in this one when she was the ultimate badass adventure women but whatever.

Weak sounding females

I love Robin Hobbes' wold and books. I like this particular series, but not as much as the Liveship or Fitz and Fool segments. I think unfortunately the rendition of all the female characters by the narrator turned me off. Every exclamation is delivered with a tone that is helpless or pathetic, rather than annoyed or forthright. I think some segments I would have interpreted as sarcasm, she interpreted as victimized. Maybe I have more expectations for strong women than she does, but I like my interpretations better. I will not buy more audio books with this narrator.

I hope you have some time off!

A wonderful series sequel from one of my favorite fantasy writers! In order to really enjoy this series and avoid spoilers, you need to have read the Liveship trilogy first. And by several references, i suspect that the Tawney Man trilogy also ties in between Liveship, The Royal Assassin trilogy, and this one. I'm checking those out next time i can escape to another world for a while.
As several other reviewers have commented, the narrator has an unusual accent which i found distracting at first, although once captivated by the story i no longer noticed it.
There is a fourth book in the series, Dragon's Blood, which i haven't reviewed here since i read the book rather than listened to it.
Don't start Dragon Keepers until you have Dragon Haven, City of Dragons, and Dragon's Blood on standby. Each book ends on a cliffhanger and leads directly to the next.

I Really Like This Series. Very Interesting

I'll review the whole series here rather than just 1 book. It has a very interesting plot that keeps you wanting to know more about the history of dragons & the traders that lived close to them. It is best to read these in the order written or you will miss many of the references. Surprising turns that keeps you interested. The narrator is good but different. For my tastes I would have chosen a different narrator however she does not distract the story. I hope there will be more in this series!

Sparse in content

I feel like not a huge amount actually happened in this one. Was pretty shocked when it ended where it did. I guess it's a disadvantage of an audio book.

Didn't end right

Is there anything you would change about this book?

I

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

Very disappointed with the ending. I was listening to the book, really enjoying it and it ended right in the middle. There are characters that you're left wondering what happened to them. I wish the author would write another book to properly end the series!

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Anne Flosnik?

The narrator did a good job.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

I would go see it only if the author would finish the series and sum up what happened to each character in the book.