The direction these plots take within the overarching theme of the dragons’ enfranchisement is entirely predictable, and the gradual revelations Hobb leads the reader to can be anticipated well in advance. Within the larger plot arch of the book there are several smaller ones the strained relationship between Alise and her husband by arranged marriage the struggle of Thymara with the hostility of her mother towards her malformed and societally ostracised daughter and the mysterious actions of the rascal Leftrin. However by the end of the book I couldn’t help feel that Hobb did not give those actors a large and dramatic enough stage to play out their parts on. I can’t fault Hobb’s characterisation and ability to get her readers to identify with the characters she creates. As with her previous books, I found myself fascinated by the details of their daily lives their sufferings, joys, and ultimately their pursuit of their dreams. The author describes the lives of her subjects with pinache.
Then there’s Leftrin, owner and captain of an old-style liveship. Hobb primarily tells her story through the viewpoint of several key characters: Sintara, a stunted but arrogant queen dragon who cannot fly Thymara, a young and somewhat mutated Rain Wilder who faces the pangs of growing up, and Alise Kincarron, a homely Bingtown trader’s daughter obsessed with studying the dragons and their attendant Elderings. With the dragons becoming a danger to the humans who tend them and live nearby, the logical next step is to move them to a more appropriate setting a glorious ancient city the dragons themselves dream of: the fabled Kelsingra.
Stunted and deformed, they cannot fly some appear witless and bestial.” The creatures entered the cocoons as serpents they leave them as dragons.īut, as long-time Hobb fans will perhaps have expected due to her penchant for introducing difficulties her characters are forced to resolve and live with, that re-birth is not quite as expected.Īs the book’s blurb notes: “The creatures which emerge from the cocoons are a travesty of the dragons of old. The focus of Dragon Keeper, then, is the triumphant emergence of the dragons from the cocoons they entered in the Rain Wilds. The gradually revealed grand theme of the Realm of the Elderlings saga was the restoration of dragons, and the associated magic and marvels that their presence brings, to a world which had almost forgotten them. The book takes place in the Rain Wilds, the exotic area located upstream of Bingtown, the city where much of the action in The Liveship Traders is set, at a time shortly after the concluding events at the end of The Tawny Man trilogy. Instead, it can perhaps best be seen more as a sequel to The Liveship Traders trilogy: the middle, and I feel the best, trilogy in the nine book Realm of the Elderlings saga. The sense of deep mystery and Hobb’s glorious ability to gradually reveal the true workings of her complex world are somewhat lacking in her latest effort.ĭragon Keeper is not a direct continuation of the story of perhaps Hobb’s most iconic character, FitzChivalry Farseer, and his companion The Fool. The experienced reader will be easily able to predict the plot and much of the character development ahead of time, due to the abundant clues Hobb leaves littered throughout her text. However, the book is ultimately a disappointment due to its lack of challenging ideas. If you haven’t read Hobb’s previous works in this series, you should not be reading Dragon Keeper or this review. Spoiler warning: This review contains some important background on Robin Hobb’s Realm of the Elderling series, although it does not contain spoilers for Dragon Keeper. Review Dragon Keeper, the long-awaited continuation of the events set in Robin Hobb’s Realm of the Elderlings series, represents a solid accomplishment that that the revered author’s steadfast fans will enjoy as much as a hearty meal.
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