Blood of Dragons (The Rain Wild Chronicles, #4)

by Robin Hobb

'Fantasy as it ought to be written' George R.R. Martin

The final instalment of Robin Hobb’s Sunday Times best-selling series The Rain Wild Chronicles.

Dragon blood and scales, dragon liver and eyes and teeth. All required ingredients for medicines with near-miraculous healing powers. The legendary blue dragon Tintaglia is dying of wounds inflicted by hunters sent by the Duke of Chalced, who meanwhile preserves his dwindling life by consuming the blood of the dragon’s poet Selden Vestrit.

If Tintaglia perishes, her ancestral memories will die with her. And the dragons in the ancient city of Kelsingra will lose the secret knowledge they need to survive. Their keepers immerse themselves in the dangerously addictive memory-stone records of the city in the hope of recovering the Elderling magic that once allowed humans and dragons to co-exist. In doing so they risk losing their own identities, even their lives.

And danger threatens from beyond the city, too. For war is coming: war between dragonkind and those who would destroy them.

• ISBN13: 9780007444168
• Publish Date: 27 March 2014 (first published 14 March 2013)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 3 December 2016
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Imprint: HarperVoyager
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 544
• Language: English
• URL: http://harpercollins.co.uk

Reviews

[layawaydragon]

Disclaimer: Won this as an ARC from Goodreads First Reads Giveaway.

TW: Rape. The scene is neither titillating nor is the act graphically detailed. It’s tragically unsurprising and its inclusion is narratively unavoidable. As a survivor I found it relatable and wasn’t triggered thought that will vary. Its aftermath is particularly well done and unifying like group therapy.

Recommended for: everyone. If you want a vibrant fantasy realm with lifelike characters on an epic coming of age journey, The Rain Wild Chronicles are perfect. Hobbs remains my favorite author and highly recommend her books to anyone.

Pros
Conclusion is thorough and satisfying yet makes me want to read more
Villains have clear motivations with on point mindsets beyond matte evil
Realistic and brilliant showing of re-establishing Kelsingra
Breath-taking, descriptive, clever writing
Flush & vibrant world building
Awesomely dynamic & diverse characters
Spot-on switching perspectives
Love the mini-story between Keepers of the Birds told through messages at beginning of chapters, which ends well and lends meaning and depth to the whole.
Character growth galore
Pitch-perfect tempo
Love how dragons have been built, evolved, and grown, not just as creatures but as characters
Love how Hobb’s fantasy worlds don’t stay static in technology or culture, there’s always people striving forward and some stubbornly holding back, geography changes, animals adapt which makes Hobb’s world feel more real like it adds another dimension
Young adult triangle is handled in a logical, genuine and arresting way with a refreshing conclusion
Loved the Cast of Characters descriptions (e.g., “Grisby: Ship’s cat. Orange and insouciant.”) but I’ve never had a problem remembering characters when reading Hobb. I hadn’t even realized how many I was keeping track of until browsing the list.
Dying to know…everything & YAY when we discover more but there’s plenty to ponder before and after reading, which I find exciting rather than frustrating because their world is so rich, it’s full of discoveries to make

“Humans could never accept the world as it was and live in it. They were always breaking it and living among the shattered pieces.” Pg. 88

The Rain Wilds are known for its priceless treasure but it comes at a cost paid for by its people in blood and pain. One motley crew travels farther up river than anyone else in centuries making discoveries and sacrifices others could only dream of. They succeeded on a fool’s errand (it should’ve been Fool’s anyways…) but surviving will take more as the piranhas swarm to rip apart the colony they’ve cobbled together. Now, they must keep searching for the impossible while protecting the meager beginning they’ve founded if they Dragons and Elderlings have any hope of returning. Will it all be for naught?

It’s a soaring fantasy filled with action, adventure, drama, and romance with some treachery, conspiracies, and war. Take an amazing journey about finding oneself and making your own life whether it’s coming of age, out of the closet or midlife realizations. They battle each other as they war within themselves with what they want and the boxes society has shoved them into while dealing with larger scale corruption, and oppression. They re-discover history and themselves, walking the tight rope between traditions and adaptation.

Blood of Dragons was so good, I lingered. Amid the action and drama, I found myself stopping to savor it all along the way. As much as I wanted to know the outcome, I dreaded not having more of it to read. Then the threads started twisting more and verging on merging so, its last quarter was unputdownable.
The ending was so exhilarating. It made me fist-pump and shout along. After all they endured, it was rewarding and brought full closure to the whole ordeal.

As rewarding as the ending is, it makes me excited to read more Realm of the Elderlings books. Of course, I want to see how their settlement fairs in the future and follow these characters again. However, I’m also dying to see how it effects their world and what happens when they collide with the Six Dutchies.
And where the fuck is my Fool? Damn it, xe missed it! After everything done for Elderlings and dragons too. Fool was robbed, robbed. Okay, so I understand why xe wasn’t included yet…I can’t help but feel for my favorite character ever.

I was right: the conflict with Jerd ends in a non-slut-shaming way though we never read her point of view, sadly. I’d think that’d be interesting extra tidbit but Blood of Dragons is perfect as is and she remains a background character.

Thymara took longer than I expected but I’m glad she’s happy and finally found her footing and became her own woman. It was interesting to see dragons manipulate Elderlings and humans beyond just glamor. I understand their resistance to Rapskal’s ideas writ memory stones but I think he’s got the right of it.

[Jo]

Originally posted on Once Upon a Bookcase.
I have been eagerly awaiting this fourth and final book in Robin Hobb's Rain Wild Chronicles, Blood of Dragons. I was expecting an awesome end to the series, but I should know by now that Hobb over delivers. This is a brilliant conclusion to the series!

The dragons have got to learn to fly and make their way over to Kelsingra, so they can reach the hot baths that will help them grow and fully develop into the dragons they always should have been. They also need to find the silver wells, too - desperately. Without it, dragons are likely to become more like animals. And they're not the only ones who need it; the Elderlings won't survive as they should if it's not found. There is an urgent search to find it; the dragons and Elderlings need it soon, but Malta and Reyn's sickly Elderling child needs it now. With Tintaglia out of reach from everyone, the only dragon who can save the baby, Silver in their only hope. What they don't know is Tintaglia is making her way to Kelsingra, badly injured herself, and almost at death's door. And still people hunt for dragon flesh for the Duke of Chalced, who will go to desperate lengths to prolong his life.

Blood of Dragons is such an incredible story! What I've mentioned above covers perhaps half the book, and only scratches the surface. It's one of those books that so much happens in, it's hard to believe it happens just in this one book - a lot is packed in to these 481 pages, and most of it is pretty epic. There are parts of this book that are really quite disturbing. There are those that are so upsetting, and others that are sickening. There's a fair amount of action in this novel, that we haven't seen much of in the others, and it's wonderful! The dragons don't take too kindly to being hunted for their flesh. There are also people who get what's coming to them, and it's brilliant to see!

There are also questions that are answered, questions that arose through this series, and questions that arose from the very first series in the Realm of the Elderlings. We finally understand what we first discovered in The Farseer Trilogy, with Verity creating his Elderling dragon with liquid Skill - the Silver that the dragons need to much are is what flows in what we know as the Skill river from Assassin's Quest. And with discovering this about Silver, we discover more about things we first learnt about in The Farseer Trilogy. We start to fully understand exactly who and what Elderlings were - and who and what the Keeper Elderlings will become. Again, it harks back to the things we learned about how the stone dragons were created - but in this book we realise what we learned in The Farseer Trilogy was just the tip of the iceberg.


Blood of Dragons is an incredible ending to a fantastic series! I finished this book sad at having to say goodbye to these characters, but even more eager to read Fool's Assassin, the first book in the next series in the Realm of the Elderlings, Fitz and the Fool. So looking forward to reading it, and I have a feeling we may not be saying goodbye to these characters for ever.