Dragon Keeper

Rain Wilds Chronicles, Volume 1

By: Robin Hobb

Narrated by: Anne Flosnik

For years, the Trader cities valiantly battled their enemies, the Chalcedeans. But they could not have staved off invasion without the powerful dragon, Tintaglia. In return, the Traders promised to help her serpents migrate up the Rain Wild River after a long exile at sea - to find a safe haven and, Tintaglia hopes, to restore her species.

But too much time has passed, and the newly hatched dragons are damaged and weak, and many die. The few who survive cannot use their wings; earthbound, they are powerless to hunt and vulnerable to human predators willing to kill them for the fabled healing powers of dragon flesh.

But Tintaglia has vanished, and the Traders are weary of the labor and expense of tending useless dragons. The Trader leadership fears that if it stops providing for the young dragons, the hungry and neglected creatures will rampage - or die along the river’s acidic muddy banks.

To avert catastrophe, the dragons decree a move even farther up the treacherous river to Kelsingra, their ancient, mythical homeland whose mysterious location is locked deep within the dragons’ uncertain ancestral memories. To ensure their safe passage, the Traders recruit a disparate group of young people to care for the damaged creatures and escort them to their new home. Among them is Thymara, an unschooled forest girl of 16, and Alise, a wealthy Trader’s wife trapped in a loveless marriage, who attaches herself to the expedition as a dragon expert. The two women share a deep kinship with the dragons: Thymara can instinctively communicate with them, and Alise, captivated by their beauty and majesty, has devoted her life to studying them.

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.

©2010 Robin Hobb (P)2020 HarperAudio

New adventure, still in love with this world

I loved this start to a new series of stories within this amazing world Hobb has created. I especially like that it's focusing more of the dragons and the lore behind them. We get new characters and treated with old ones as well. It is different from what we'd be use to with the Fitz and the Fool, but it was still a great book.

Very slow paced, little action

I absolutely LOVE Robin Hobb’s works as well as Anna’s narration so I was a bit disappointed that this book had such a slow paced and low action plot. I’m used to following many characters on their own timelines and piecing it all together beautifully throughout to uncover well-placed “secrets” that enhance the story. I found most characters in this story blended into each other and I did not feel any particular attachment to any of them. Other than a hatred for Hest, I felt no strong emotion about any character. Perhaps the remaining books in this series will help to appease these feelings? I am committed to following the story through. I cannot wait to get back to Fool!

Good

Good, but it just sort of ends. Usually a book in a series still has some sort of satisfying end to it, but this one just kinda stops. It teases some mystery and I do want to read the next one, so job done I guess. The abrupt end just to me for surprise.

Just when it got started it was over

After reading other reviews complaining about this being a romance novel I kept waiting for the romance to overtake the story and it never did. There is a little romance in this book (much less than in any of the liveship books) but there is a lot of interpersonal conflict and drama, between family members, friends, friends who could be lovers some day, between people who should be in love but aren’t, between people who think they’re in love but aren’t. To say it’s a romance novel because of that is quite a superficial view. I suspect most say that because they are squeamish about any pairing but the traditional.

The story itself was essentially a preface. It had the same amount of movement and plot as the opening setup chapters of a novel before the story really starts . Hobb could have accomplished the same characterizations and events from this one book in a few chapters and jumped into the journey for the dragon city after that. There was a lot of lines repeated—one POV would say the exact thing another had a few pages earlier. We see characters showing the same traits over and over and over without any growth. It makes the story long winded and frustrating.

I genuinely thought I was at most halfway through, at most, and the story ended. I can’t even call it a story, it was truly just a setup for the next books.

The narration is only endurable at 1.5X speed and above. It was weirdly inconsistent in diction/tone. Sometimes it would hit perfectly, then other times she’d use a completely different voice for a character from one page to the next. Or I’d not be sure if it was one character talking or another or the narrator talking. The emotion she put into characters voices seemed oftentimes either too dramatic or too robotic. She makes the women sound whiny or hysterical any time they’re showing any emotion, even anger. I kind of regret listening rather than reading these books cause I feel she’s flattened out characters that would have more depth from my imagination straight from the page.

The weakest Realm of the Elderlings series

These books aren’t bad, and they actually add a lot to the world building of the Elderlings series. However they are the weakest. The plot is plodding and sometimes just feels like such a slog. Occasionally it hits high points and is really enjoyable, but it never really attains the highs of the rest of the Elderlings books. I don’t recommend skipping these if you really love the rest of the books, but be aware that they aren’t the best.

Dragon Keeper is probably the slowest of the books as it is introducing us to characters that we’ll follow over four books. Alise’s set up is particularly long in its build-up. Leftrin is a bit of a confusing one to follow as well, but he gets better. Thymara is generally pretty cool. I liked her parts.

Anyway, hang in there if you’re a completionist like me. It’s definitely not the worst I’ve read.

it doesn't get better than Robin Hobb

there's no better writer to explore the rich inner lives of her characters, and develop them masterfully.

Least favorite Robin Hobb book this far

I love all of the prior trilogies and am a bit disappointed with this book. It’s still entertaining because I love the world and characters but it lacks depth. I also did not enjoy the narration.

Dragons have dreams different from ours

A sparkling exploration of the bargains we make with each other and with dragons. Forbidden feelings abound amongst young people, grown ups and majestic creatures.

Longing and intrigue, plus dragons

Wasn't expecting this much romantic longing and relational issues in this book, but it did fit the story even if a bit much for my taste. Definitely adds more details around dragons and the rainwilds, but you would be missing out on a lot (plus getting some spoilers) if this is your first read in the series.

Some places it reads like a romance book

The dragon parts of the story are great but in other places it reads more like a romance novel.