Dragon Keeper (The Rain Wild Chronicles)

• Publisher:   HarperVoyager
• Number Of Pages:   553
• Publication Date:   2009-06-25
• ISBN-10 / ASIN:   0007273746
• ISBN-13 / EAN:   9780007273744

Robin Hobb writes in her usual brilliant fashion. For anyone who has not read her books before it is easy to follow, for all those who already love her books, it is more of the same seemingly effortless story telling. Only she can draw you in so talking dragons seem the most normal thing in the world. The characters from previous books are mentioned and it all ties in very well. My only criticism, and that of my daughter and her friends, is that it seems the book has been written as one book, and the publishers have decided to make it two and it just seems to stop - a bit like a commercial break on the TV, except in this case you have to wait for the next book, not the next few minutes.

This is significantly better than the Soldier Son books where it seems the author somewhat lost her way. The characters are rich and the story returns to the Rain Wild River and Bingtown which are arguably the most interesting settings of the world. There are editing and pacing issues with references to an individual being 'single' that seems a jarringly modern term and the classic Robin Hobb spending 80% of the book building things up and then a rush of activity in the last 20%. Aside from this there are superb explorations into how various characters both Human or Dragon feel and react to various situations. Robin Hobb is very good at describing the way her characters interact with the world and feel about what they should do, don't do and actually do. This book could have been a return to five star form however I found the Victorian setting and attitudes of the Bingtown characters to be dangerously drifting into same disjointed Fantasy/modernity issues as the Soldier Son stories but fortunately not with the same damaging effect.

brilliant start of a new series and continuation from the previous at the same time, although it definitely helps if you've read the Liveship Traders series. I really enjoy the dragon characters as well as the love and friendship issues amongst the rainforest human population. Great read!

Robin Hobb has to be my most favourite writer of all time, so whatever I write here, remember I am biased! I savoured it like the last piece of chocolate in the cupboard, and tried to read it as slowly as I could, so it would last longer.........however I finished it, just wanting more.... Is very much a case of 'whatever is going to happen next?' - you just want to know. I enjoyed the characters, especially the lead roles, so to speak.... what more can I say, cept, read it!

I didn't realise this was in the pipleline and was really excited when I came across it in a bookshop. Like others have mentioned I was also a bit dubious because I got bored with the Soldier Son series mid-way through book 2 and didn't bother reading any further. This series is much better and more along the lines of the Farseer and Liveship books which I love. The spelling mistakes throughout really irked me and some parts were unnecessarily repetitive. Overall though I enjoyed this book and read it within a couple of days. I especially liked the way familiar characters from the Liveship trilogy appeared in "cameos". Definitley worth a read particularly if you enjoyed the Liveship books. But not worth the hardback price.

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