Item: Dragon Keeper
Rating: 5.00
Author: tweetybugshouse

by 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.

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...

My Review.

Let me just say this is the first book i read by Robin Hobb and I have to say that i am a total fan and will be devouring all of her books. How have i missed out on knowing about this wonderfully talented story teller? This is her fourth series but and if your a dragon lover this is a great series to start out with. Some authors you have to start out with the first book they wrote because all their series are interconnected and if you jump in the middle you really feel your missing a big chunk of what going on.

I did not feel lost at all by starting with this series. I got to know the characters very well, the descriptions of the dragons as they are hatching and how they got to where they are is easily woven into to the story. I do know that onece i finish this series i will be going back and picking up her first book. Robin has wonderful a wonderful story with characters you want to root for, characters you can not believe are doing what they are doing, and characters you just hope get their just deserts. I am totally heading over to the library and queuing up the sequel dragon haven.

Happy reading.

Dragon Keeper (The Rain Wild Chronicles, #1)

by Robin Hobb

Reviewed by tweetybugshouse on Aug 24, 2013

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