Name: Louis Norton's review of Dragon Keeper (The Rain Wild Chronicles, Book 1) by Robin Hobb
Item: Dragon Keeper (The Rain Wild Chronicles, Book 1)
Rating: 4
Author: Louis Norton

Robin Hobb

‘Fantasy as it ought to be written’ George R.R. Martin Return to the world of the Liveships Traders and journey along the Rain Wild River in this fantastic adventure from the author of the internationally acclaimed Farseer trilogy.

Dragon Keeper (The Rain Wild Chronicles, Book 1)

Brie East

Dragon Keeper

Louis Norton

The worst robin hobb is still leagues better than most genre fantasy? This woman is unstoppable

James Winduss

I know this particular chunk of the Realm of the Elderlings series isn’t the most well received, and I admit I was quite sceptical for the first third of this book, but I honestly really enjoyed it. Let’s be clear, it’s no Liveship Traders. It’s definitely a lot slower and it’s more contained as far as the locations and characters. That being said, I find it interesting learning more about the Rain Wild ways and seeing this aspect of dragon life. Looking forward to moving onto the next one. A solid 4 stars!

Dragon Keeper returns fans to Hobb's best-loved world, full of dragons, magical ships and unforgettable characters. 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.

andrea

when it's about robin hobb, i wonder if my thoughts count for anything because i love realm of the elderlings so much. i don't know if my opinion has any value at this point, but i will keep talking as long as robin hobb never misses.

dragon keeper is a character study of considerable size. the main characters we are going to follow in this series (alise, sedric, leftrin, thymara, and the dragon sintara) are introduced and fleshed out just enough for us to know them, be familiar with them and appreciate how three dimensional they feel, and at the same time be intrigued over the part that is still unknown. close to the end, all of them meet and start to form bonds between them that are going to be developed in depth in the next books.

even if the page number is not small, there is no plot per se. but that doesn't mean it is not entertaining, it actually is. if you reach this point in the realm of the elderlings series, you're already used to hobb's slow-paced stories. the new cast of characters carry this book effortlessly with their personalities and both inner and external conflicts. 
set years after the events that took place in liveship traders, rain wild chronicles now follows the newborn dragons and the problems the rain wild people and the creatures are facing. the main conflict of the book is that the dragons, which are all in poor condition and misshapen in one way or another, must be moved of the area they are currently settled in to assure their survival. these dragons have memories of an old city called kelsingra, which they inhabited with their elderling companions centuries ago. the main characters are going to team up to try and find this magical place, if it still exists. i love the concept of searching for a beautiful, lost mythical place, like atlantis.

the core of this book are the characters and, thus, their relationships. on the one hand, there is the terrible marriage between alise and hest; sedric's relationship with hest as both his best friend and lover, and, at the same time sedric's relationship with alise as old friend and chaperone for her rain wild's trip. the triangle alise-hest-sedric is fascinating, and hobb doesn't hesitate to extendedly elaborate on it. 
leftrin, a liveship captain, is going to take both alise and sedric towards the area where the dragons are currently living, and a spark is going to be felt between alise and leftrin. alise is going to realise that there might be more in life than her uncaring husband and her idle life, and sedric will have to deal with his own feelings for hest while trying to preserve alise and hest's marriage and reputation.
and on the other hand, thymara and other heavily marked rain wild youths are going to become keepers of said dragons. they will help the creatures on their journey towards kelsingra, and sintara is the dragon that thymara chooses to take care of. the bonds between dragons and keepers are going to be explored as well, and they are as entertaining as the ones between humans.

i liked it a lot. the atmosphere and the characters have captivated me, they're very realistic and engaging, a solid foundation for what is coming next. it is true that dragon keeper it's not on the same level as assassin's apprentice or ship of magic but, honestly, i don't care! the slow pacing and inexistent action worked for me, and i'm so glad to have found the fantasy jewel that is rote. it wins me over and over again.

Trader's wife Alise and 16-year-old Thymara must join the caravan traveling up the toxic and inhospitable Rain Wild River, with the aim of relocating weakened dragons from outside their home town of Cassarick to the long-lost city of Kelsingra. 75,000 first printing.

Volume One of the Rain Wilds Chronicles

Natalie

Milk

Superb in so many ways, yet it felt more like an introduction to the trilogy rather than a part of it. This might have been the point, and it's not something that I really mind. But, I'm not sure about whether I like her style of writing in terms of switching from character to character. I enjoy knowing each of them on an intimate level, but it causes the story to move a tad too slow. I also end up finding some chapters less interesting than others because the character isn't too dear to me/interesting. 

But it's a great piece regardless.

Hannah

Jade Flynn

Read for my 'Outstanding' N.E.W.T in Potions 2019 #magicalreadathon. Prompt - Read a book with a prologue. Career choice - Ministry of Magic, Department of Mysteries Worker. I'm so glad that I decided to embark on Hobb's extensive sixteen book Realm of the Elderling's series. The series has given me nothing but joy so far and no doubt it will continue to do so. Whilst reading the Liveship Trader's trilogy one of the places I was most intrigued to learn more about was the Rain Wilds so I can't wait to read on and it's always nice to catch up with old faces.

Ben Cardy

Joe Woods

Brianna

Matt Stedjan

Kate Hall

aurelia

Tobias Løfgren

Rachel Kanyid

Scordatura

Janice Hopper

Magnus Dahl

Stephanie Ridiculous

Nuno Figueiredo

Per Christian B. Viken

Danny Engström

Saskia Butler

FANTASY. Return to the world of the Liveships Traders and journey along the Rain Wild River in this standalone adventure from the author of the internationally acclaimed Farseer trilogy. 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.

Brie East &
Dragon Keeper (The Rain Wild Chronicles, Book 1) by Robin Hobb

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Brie East &Dragon Keeper (The Rain Wild Chronicles, Book 1) by Robin Hobb

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Brie East &
Dragon Keeper (The Rain Wild Chronicles, Book 1) by Robin Hobb