Dragon Keeper by Robin Hobb (The Rain Wild Chronicles: Book 1)

9/10

I have found it very sensible to always listen when my editors speak. In a past review I happened to mention my souring love for Robin Hobb, which subsequently cued the recommendation-instincts of my editor here at FBR, Lee, who mentioned in an email that I should give Robin Hobb another shot; like a lover once spurned given a second chance at redemption.

I’m glad I listened.

I received ‘The Dragon Keeper’ by Robin Hobb back in 2009, and got halfway through the book before I put it down in a huff and refused to ever read anything Hobb would ever write. I was enamoured with the whole of her ‘Realm of the Elderlings’ work, and even enjoyed ‘Soldier Son’. But for some reason, The Dragon Keeper ticked me off.

I say ‘for some reason’ because, sitting here at the beginning of 2013, I’m quite truly lost as to what it was that put me off the book.

There are reviews across the internet that decry her slow pacing and lousy characters, and both of these may have been the cause of my righteous indignation: in all honesty, I do believe that the pacing of this book is a little too slow to be comfortable, and the characters verging on two-dimensional.

But considering that it took me maybe six hours to finally finish the book which had been sitting on my shelf with a sticky note reminding me of its failure, I can’t quite figure what shook me so hard as to give up entirely on the author.

The Dragon Keeper is by no means in the same league as Hobb’s ‘Liveship Traders’ trilogy, nor even in either ‘The Farseer’ and ‘Tawny Man’ trilogies. But it is an enjoyable read. The dragons are interesting in their malformed and retarded states and their keepers even more so. The world of the Rain Wilds is fascinating and the promise of returning to Kelsingra is tantalising.

So, here I publically announce my complete reversal of my unworthy and unjustified dismissal of Robin Hobb’s writing and sincerely beg her forgiveness for any wrongs done. I’ll be picking up ‘Dragon Haven’ within moments, and am looking forward to returning to the world of the Rain Wild Chronicles.
Joshua S Hill, 6.5/10 (updated review)

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Rarely will I not make it through a book. I can count on one hand the amount of books that have failed to see me make it to the last page. Even if I don’t like the book, I’ll try and finish it in case I miss something. And really, it has to be a poor book to put me off from being able to push through. Think about it, I made it through Brisingr!

But I have a method as well. Sometimes a book might not capture me, and I’ll put a bookmark in it and put it back on the shelf. If it goes too long I’ll swap out the bookmark and put in a sticky note. If, after all that time, I really don’t want to go back to it, then I take out the sticky note.

I took the sticky note out of Robin Hobb’s The Dragon Keeper recently.

And, putting aside the fact that I don’t like not finishing a book, it was by one of my favourite authors! One need only spend a little time at the site to realize how much we love Robin Hobb. Her Liveship Traders series ranks as one of our best ever. So to find this book so truly disappointing was, truly, disappointing.

Hobb returns us to the Rainwilds, a location from the Liveship Traders series we didn’t spend a whole heap of time in. We are introduced about a year after the Traders finished, and the dragons are about to be hatching. But nothing is the same anymore. The characters are two-dimensional and boring and the story is half-hearted at best, as if Hobb had realized how much money she had made off the series and was forcing herself to return.

I made it about halfway through the book before it went back into the bookshelf. I had held so much hope for the series, which in and of itself might be a problem and why I didn’t enjoy it, and was so disappointed with the flat and uninteresting story being told.

I’m waiting for other readers to let me know what they think. Whether I have to push on, whether I am being too harsh. But for right now, I honestly cannot recommend The Dragon Keeper to anyone.
Joshua S Hill, 3/10 (original review)

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An intriguing, albeit slower paced, return to the Realm of the Elderlings in this much-anticipated new fantasy from one of our greatest fantasy authors. 

Guided by the great blue dragon Tintaglia, they came from the sea: a Tangle of serpents fighting their way up the Rain Wilds River, the first to make the perilous journey to the cocooning grounds in generations. Many have died along the way. With its acid waters and impenetrable forest, it is a hard place for any to survive. People are changed by the Rain Wilds, subtly or otherwise. One such is Thymara. Born with black claws and other aberrations, she should have been exposed at birth. But her father saved her and her mother has never forgiven him. Like everyone else, Thymara is fascinated by the return of dragons: it is as if they symbolise the return of hope to their war-torn world. Leftrin, captain of the liveship Tarman, also has an interest in the hatching; as does Bingtown newlywed, Alise Finbok, who has made it her life's work to study all there is to know of dragons. But the creatures which emerge from the cocoons are a travesty of the powerful, shining dragons of old. Stunted and deformed, they cannot fly; some seem witless and bestial. Soon, they become a danger and a burden to the Rain Wilders: something must be done. The dragons claim an ancestral memory of a fabled Elderling city far upriver: perhaps there the dragons will find their true home. But Kelsingra appears on no maps and they cannot get there on their own: a band of dragon keepers, hunters and chroniclers must attend them. To be a dragon keeper is a dangerous job: their charges are vicious and unpredictable, and there are many unknown perils on the journey to a city which may not even exist!

Robin Hobb is of course the author behind the three trilogies that make up the incredibly well-written and compellingly-readable Realm of the Elderlings series. Dragon Keeper sees a welcome return to the acid waters of the Rain Wilds in a brand new series, from one of the most gifted authors within the genre.

Hobb is a skilled wordsmith and readers will once again experience a wonderful array of imaginative and vivid descriptions of people and places. Readers of preceding books in the series, and those in particular that were intrigued by the Elderlings, their cities and their relationships with dragons, will be delighted with Dragon Keeper as Hobb slowly unveils their lore and legend, thereby removing the veil of mystery that surrounds these fascinating half-human, half-dragon people. The book also further explains how dragons come into being and the whole sea serpent to dragon development.

However, Dragon Keeper may not be for all. Fans of Hobb may well find lacks the instant hook of her earlier works may find the pacing problematic as character development is everything in this first instalment.

Dragon Keeper is a book that will reward the patient, perfect for those looking for thoughtful, unrushed fantasy that is very strong on character. It is written at a slower pace than the preceding trilogies but, like Thymara, many will be fascinated by the return of dragons.
Floresiensis, 9/10