Book Summary

Title: The Dragon Keeper
Author: Robin Hobb
Series: The Rain Wild Chronicles (Book 1)
UK Release Date: 26th June 2009
Recommended Prior Reading: The Farseer Trilogy, The Liveship Traders Trilogy, The Tawny Man Trilogy

What is the book about?

The Dragon Keeper is the first of two books in The Rain Wild Chronicles and is set in the same world as The Farseer, Liveship Traders and Tawny Man books and is a sequel of sorts to all of them. The first book follows the start of the journey of the “stunted dragons” from the Rain Wilds up to the Elderling city of Kelsingra, accompanied by assorted humans from Bingtown and the Rain Wilds.

When is the book set?

The majority of the book is set shortly after the end of Fools Fate (Tawny Man Trilogy) and events in it are mentioned in passing

Are there any returning characters?

While several characters from The Liveship Traders including Paragon, Althea and Malta make cameo appearances, and you find out a little of what happened to them, the main focus and Point of Views are on entirely new characters both human and dragon.

What did you think of it?

In terms of style it is closest to the early Liveship Traders books, with its multiple points of view and relatively slow pace. I also understand that the 2 books in this series were initially one book and it shows given the to me at least unsatisfactory ending.

I was not totally satisfied with the book as it stands, as there was little sense of urgency found within it to drive the plot forward, and as it is not the first part in what was intended to be a duology but the first half of what was intended to be one book, the plot does not come to a satisfactory end.

I was also disappointed that characters from The Liveship Traders only made cameo appearances, as there were a number of roles which could have been adapted for characters from this series. These could then have served as more of a hook and then been supplemented by new characters.

Whats your Recommendation?

I think this book is best read by die hard Robin Hobb fans only FOR THE TIME BEING, and even then I would suggest holding off the the second book to be released as it is only in light of that book, that a true judgement of The Rain Wild Chronicles can be made.

For more casual fans I recommend holding off for the second book, and reread the Liveship Traders and possible The Tawny Man books in the meantime to refresh your memory of what happens, since while the book does not need you to have read them to understand what is going on, they do add depth and make things easier to follow.

Your Rating

6/10

Speculation on the next book

Given the content and references in The Dragon Keeper, I think that in the second book a lot of questions surrounding the “magic” of the world may be answered and they also appear to be travelling to one of the cities that Fitz visited or saw in visions. This indicates that when they reach their destination, some characters from the Farseer and Tawny Man books may make cameo appearances.