Dragon Keeper (2010)

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The first half of the book, I didn't mind that it was so slow and fairly repetitive. I was still intrigued and considering picking up the second book because I found the characters interesting enough. But that feeling didn't last. [Minimal spoilers] The main characters don't even meet each other or the dragons until 300 pages in to a 500 page book. For a book that claims to be about misfits on a journey with dragons, that did not bode well. Then, they don't even leave for their journey for another hundred pages. So we get about 1/5 of the book being about the promised journey - and it's not even that satisfying because it's just the beginning part where they don't fully trust each other yet. The book ends on an incomplete note. It's almost like Robin Hobb had the sequel included as the rest of the book, but someone told her it was getting too long, so she just chopped out the rest. Sigh. ( )

The Dragon Keeper is a return to the Realm of the Elderlings 'verse. I love the first trilogy of books in it dearly, struggled through the second, and enjoyed the return to form in the third. I've detailed what I found difficult about the Liveships trilogy in my review of those, here. Some of those problems are repeated here: I find Hobb's writing stronger, in general, in the first person, because of her tendency to go off on long, long pages of exposition. At least when it's in the voice of a character, like Fitz, it becomes a part of the character. She does get into her characters' heads, even in third person, but there's so many of them. As with Liveships, it's hard to judge who are the real protagonists, because she hops between the minds of all of the different points of view. It does enrich the world of the story, but at the same time, it's awkward seeing characters from so many different points of views. What Fitz (and therefore the reader) didn't know was as important as what he did, if not more, in Farseers; here, I think the reader is told a bit too much.

The characters are somewhat more likeable than the Liveships characters. As with that, some of the non-POV characters (Ronica in Liveships, for example; Tats in this book) seem a bit more sympathetic, but perhaps that's because Hobb doesn't write from their POV. If she did, then perhaps we'd see the unpleasant side of them, too. It's hard to sympathise, though, especially with Sedric. I can't even really believe in his supposedly loving and intense relationship with Hest, because Hest just reminds me of Kyle in Liveships, and is pretty awful even without that. Alise is probably the character I'm most attached to, and I'm going to ache a lot for her if she doesn't get the love she deserves. I'd be more contemptuous of the more Mills & Boon ish parts of her relationship with the barge captain if I didn't want her to be happy.

It feels like nothing very much has happened, overall, for the dragons. This book was all set-up, and I dread to think how long the journey might drag on. I think the ambivalence to the dragons -- their beauty on the one hand, their arrogance on the other -- is interesting to read about, especially because a lot of fantasy writers assume that any other intelligent races would be more like us than not. It's interesting to have them be different, to think in a different way; it's both alluring and frustrating, because it's hard to relate to. For me, anyway, soft-hearted little human as I am.

Reserving final judgement until I've read the other book, of course, but I think this bodes well. It doesn't match Farseers for me, but it's way better than the Soldier Son trilogy, which I just found inpenetrable and discomforting. And it's better than Liveships, even if it shares some flaws with it. I finished this book in a single day, despite fearing it would take me ages: that's usually a good sign. ( )

I really wanted to love this book.

I adored the Farseer Trilogy and I had a love/hate with the Liveship trilogy. One of the best parts of the Liveship trilogy, I thought, was the mysterious Rain Wilds, so I was hoping that this book would be awesome.

And it was OK. So far I like the series, and I will be continuing with it, but the storytelling itself was a little grating. There was a lot of switching between perspectives within the story, without warning, and it detracted from the story, jolting me out of my happy reading immersion. A large portion of the book was slow, and not in a good "slow because we're having to set up backstories and story tell before the story can get going" slow, but "I think I'll skim this now because nothing important is happening" slow.

I like the premise - learning more about the Rain Wilds, the scholarly society woman doing the best she can to follow her passion while being trapped in a rigid patriarchal system, a whole bunch of not-so-majestic and damaged dragons trying to survive and find their home. The story starting finally moving interestingly towards the end, and I still look forward to the next book. ( )

Robin Hobb's characters are very real. They have strengths and failings and the ability to overcome their failings with effort.

Dealing with dragons is difficult at the best of times. But when they are misformed and need help that they are resentful for, it makes life even more difficult for those contracted to take care of them.

I enjoyed reading this book. I'm sure I would have enjoyed it more had I read the sets of series in their intended order rather than starting with this one, but I'll go back and read the others in her series when I can. ( )