Dragon Haven

Let's make one thing clear at first. No, this is not part of a trilogy. The Dragon Keeper was originally written as one book, but it became so long that the publisher decided to split it and it was published in two volumes: Dragon Keeper and Dragon Haven. This might seem insignifant, except for the fact that most reviews of these two books seem to start with "this is a new trilogy by Robin Hobb" and comment on the abrupt ending of part one. I think it's only fair to take the publishing history of any serial work into account when reviewing it - however, I can understand the frustration of readers at the end of volume one and would recommend obtaining both parts before starting to read.

Dragon Haven does feel like the concluding part of show more a book, as it should. It picks up right where Dragon Keeper left off, and continues in a much quicker pace. I suspect the story feels somewhat different to readers who are new to Hobb and the Realm of the Elderlings than for old readers like me. There aren't that many new revelations about the magics or the mythology or the history of the world as there have been in the previous books - although I'm sure that for new readers the world is still full of mystery and alluring clues about the bigger picture. Compared to Hobb's previous works there is a somewhat limited set of characters and places and in that way this reminds me more of her previous writings as Megan Lindholm. The focus of the story is on the journey of the five main characters, both their uncertain passage up the treacherous Rain Wild River and their inner journey from a group of misfits and outsiders to ... well, I'll let you find out yourself what they might become. ;)

Hobb paints some incredibly touching pictures along the way, there are scenes that I would love to draw if only I had the skill to use a brush well enough to do them justice. I also found one new Top Favourite Character Ever from this book - Thymara. She's like Ki and Althea combined and someone I would really look up to in real life. There's true determination, independence, strength and wisdom in her. Another aspect about this book that I loved is that it continued Hobb's theme of carefully shifting the viewpoint and perspective from one culture/group of people to another. The virtuous and wise Traders we've come to know aren't necessarily just that from everyone's standpoint, just like the Outislanders weren't exactly the barbaric savages we thought they were when we only saw them through the eyes of the Farseers. There are very, very few truly "evil" characters in Hobb's books at the end of the day (and even those are mostly acting like they are quite justifiably).

The book ends on a really interesting note: it both concludes the story of these characters and leaves you hungry for more because things have been set in motion that will certainly affect not only the Rain Wild Traders but the outside world as well. show less

In book 2 of the Rain Wilds chronicles, the dragons and their keepers continue on their journey to discover the lost city of Kelsingra.

In typical Robin Hobb fashion, this is full of excellent character development. It's less political than some of her other books, and more zoomed in on the smaller politics between a close-quartered group of people who must figure out how they plan to live going forward. I'm always impressed by how she can reinvent a character over the course of a single book -- how are you going to make me hate Sedric at the end of book 1 and sympathize with him by the end of book 2? Excellent as always and I'm enjoying this series. 4.5 stars.

Robin Hobb has created a fascinating world, well thought out and developed over the course of 11 books. This is the conclusion to the story started in [The Dragon Keeper], which ended on a cliffhanger.

This is a book about the journey — the physical journey through the Rain Wilds in search of the lost Elderling city of Kelsingra and the emotional journey of the characters. The hardships of travel, and close proximity between dragons and humans, change the dynamics of the group. Sexuality; leadership; acceptance of society's rules; are all questioned and developed against the backdrop of the search for a place to belong.

If you've been following the story started in [Assassin's Apprentice] all those years ago I think you will welcome show more this addition to the series and will look forward to many more books to come. show less

Dragon Haven is the second in the Rain Wilds Chronicles by Robin Hobb. Events pick up immediately where the first book leaves off. This makes a whole lot of since as apparently they were meant to be one larger novel and split in two due to size. This was definitely a step up for me as if feels like this is where the story really takes off.

With the liveship Tarman and its crew in tow, the dragons and their keepers continue the long journey upriver. Their destination: Kelsingra. If it even exists. Some of the dragons have ancestral memories of the place but these memories are incomplete and are in doubt. The journey treacherous and the dangers of the Rain Wilds are not to be taken lightly. And when the price for dragon parts is so high, show more there are those among them who will cave to temptation and do anything to make their fortune.

As anyone who is a Robin Hobb fan knows, one of her main strengths are her characters. She creates some of the most fully fleshed, believable characters around. Each point of view character goes on a fairly significant arc, as do some of the secondary characters, leaving them in completely different places than when they started this journey. Sedrec went on one of the best arcs for me. Hobb worked her magic taking this highly unlikable guy and turning him into a person of integrity through the various hardships he endures. I was proud of Alise for finding her courage and determination to make herself more than a useless, spoiled Bingtown lady. The Dragons change too, though differently as they work to patch together their missing memories and learn what it means to be true dragons. I am absolutely in love with little Relpda. Her simple view of the world is changing as her bond with her keeper grows. I will be heartbroken if anything happens to her before this series is done.

On the downside, this book almost has a YA feel to it with all the romance plots. It seems like there's someone for everyone. And many of the characters agonize internally about "should I or shouldn't I" with regards to sex. I liked how as part of Thymeria's arc she realizes that all the other keepers have been having sex, making the world not so innocent after all, kind of like that realization you get in high school. That did lend a nice coming of age slant to the story. But it just went on for too much of the book and I felt the point became belabored by the end.

I was quite surprised at all the reveals in this book. Everyone's dirty laundry is aired and worked through. The bad guys get their comeuppance. Answers are given for relationship between Dragons and Elderlings as well as why Rain Wilders are so heavily marked, both mysteries which were started in the Liveship books. Almost all the story threads started in book one reach a form of resolution. Normally these are things that I would expect to be gradually revealed through the whole series if they were going to be revealed at all. It makes me wonder what is set in store for the second half of the series. show less

I was gonna four-star this, but then the ending had me all iojGDEJsdggjkngs-dvlgjköfdgsdgklgjkl and like, if all you can do at the end of a book is keyboard smash because you loved it so much, well, then that's basically the highest regards you can have for it and that's worth five stars.

Just ommggggggg things go bad but then they get good again and it's all working out and I love it. All the OTPs are working out and the dragons are actually becoming dragons and it's just soo good all of it.

I especially like how the characters TALK to each other. Like yeah, they lie and fuck up, but then thank the gods they don't let a minor misunderstanding ruin everything for them forever, they clear it up and move on, when they can. The last books I show more read did this too, and it's just sooo refreshing from the old misunderstanding-not-talking tropes I've seen a million times already.

NO idea how the next two books are gonna go, but I am definitely excited to see what happens. There are quite a few things that I need to happen, but I'm sure we'll get there eventually. Like we did in this book. show less

Dragon Haven is the second book in the Rain Wilds series, which is the fourth subseries in the larger Realms of the Elderlings series. I really, really enjoyed this book. I liked the first book a lot, but this one was even better. It forcefully grabbed my attention and refused to let go. Work ate into my reading time more than usual this week, and I was very annoyed at that. Don’t these people understand that I have dragons to worry about? ;)

Whereas the first book felt like it ended right smack in the middle of the story, this book had a lot more closure. There is more story to be told, and I really look forward to reading that story, but I was also happy to see several plot lines wrapped up nicely. I realize now that both books were show more published in 2010, so maybe they were originally intended to be a single book.

The character list that I felt was spoilerish for the first book is repeated, but this time all the info it presents was already revealed in the story from the first book so it’s safe to read for the strongly spoiler-adverse.

A few more comments in the spoiler tags…
I think the part of this story that made me more anxious than anything else was Relpda, the copper dragon. I was so worried about her fate! I actually had to stop reading due to a work issue right at the point when Sedric was waffling about whether or not to help Jess kill her. Talk about torture.

On the other hand, I was never in much suspense as to the fate of Heeby and Rapskal. For some reason I saw that one coming from the moment they were lost, that Heeby would have learned to fly and that they went on to Kelsingra. My prediction was that everybody else would find them when they got thre. I was a little off there, but close.

I think it’s been clear from the first book that Mercor used to be the serpent Maulkin, even though it hasn’t been explicitly stated yet. What I’m wondering is whether Shreever and Sessurea survived to become dragons. We know they made it into cocoons, at least. My best guess is that Shreever is Heeby and Sessurea is Sestican.

Thymara is still my favorite POV character. She’s prickly, but at least she considers the consequences of her actions and doesn’t just heedlessly do things just because she wants to. That’s more than can be said for a lot of the other characters.

Sedric did get some redemption in this book, but I still don’t care for him. He’s made so many bad decisions, that I tend to see his better behavior as being the result of Relpda’s and Carson’s influence rather than a true change in himself. The book does imply that his recent attitude is more like what he used to be before Hest changed him, but I'm skeptical. Either way, he's too easily influenced by the people around him. I'm waiting to see how he behaves in the rest of the series before I make any final judgments.

I really look forward to finding out what happens next, now that they’ve found Kelsingra. show less

Slightly plotless and a little repetitive at times, but with a pleasingly strong focus on characterisation and growth (particularly for Sedric, as I expected, but Alise and Thymara were also well-served) and thematically strong. In particular, Hobb is examining female agency and sexuality in an interesting fashion (I don't actually find it that dogmatic, though some reviewers have). While I think this series lacks some of the "magic" of her earlier trilogies set in this world, Dragon Haven was still a very satisfying read (I devoured it in the space of a day). Bring on the next book!