Dragon Keeper (Rain Wilds Chronicles, Vol. 1)

A town wants to rid itself of strange looking folk and deformed dragons that cannot take care of themselves. An interesting journey and forging of relationships between humans and dragons and of course humans with humans.

Years have passed since the last fatal hatching and the residents of Bingtown and Cassarik have become somewhat complacent as if those who died during the previous infestation never occurred. However, the townsfolk are stunned when the cocoons left behind by the nomadic sea serpents rupture open releasing a new generation of dragons that must be controlled rapidly before they devastate the town towns. These hatchlings seem substandard with many expected to die; those who live must be controlled before their hunger drives them to Cassarik. The Traders Council quickly reacts choosing special humans who contain mutations on their bodies to escort the young dragons to a different locale, the lost city of Kelsingra where they can be controlled easier away from the cities. Among the selected are uneducated teenage Rain Wilds Thymara and overly-educated unhappy dragon guru Alise, wife of a Bingtown Trader. The journey along the deadly Rain Wild River will prove arduous with only the strong surviving. Returning to the Tawny Man world with the first entry of a duology, Robin Hobb provides a superb fantasy. The story line is mostly seen through the eyes of the two women as they face danger and treachery on the quest. In some ways, the opening of Act Three (see the Liveship Traders and the Tawny Man sagas), is a coming of age duet. However, what makes Dragon Keeper a keeper is the cast as the travelers human and dragon seems real while the menaces come from the land, the river and within. Fans will look forward to the finish wondering whether Kelsingra will prove to be a Dragon Haven or hell. Harriet Klausner

I am a huge fan of Robin Hobb and have read every single one of her books with the exception of the Soldier Son series, which I couldn't get into. How happy I was to discover she was writing a follow-up to the Liveships trilogy, set in the Rainwilds. Happily, she began the novel with brand new characters, not wearing out the beloved ones from past series although some did have cameo parts. I do believe it would be possible for a new reader to pick up this series without having read the previous ones, although it would be important to understand the significance of Wizardwood, the Live Ships, and the Chalcedean Empire to get the full flavor of what is going on. This book picks up on the story of the sea serpents that struggled throughout the LiveShips series to reach the nesting grounds in the RainWilds, where they would become dragons, the first dragons in centuries. As the book opens, we learn the experiment was mostly unsuccessful. Few lived to make their cocoons and even fewer emerged intact. Those that did become dragons are only a shadow of true dragons, with malfunctioning wings, weak musculature and stunted brains in some cases. The dragons, unable to care for themselves, and abandoned by the great dragon Tintaglia, become a burden on the Rain Wilds villages. One of the protagonists is Alise Kincarron Finbok, a Bingtown trader's pampered wife, or so most people think. Sadly, Alise, who has a quick mind and a fascination with dragons that has led her to become the foremost expert in the area, is saddled with an unhappy marriage to a man, Hest, who is in love with someone else entirely. Her only friend in the world is also her husband's secretary - Sedric. As part of her marriage contract, her husband agreed to allow her to study dragons in the Rain Wilds, and when he grows tired of her, he sends her upriver. Sedric must accompany her, although he is very much a city boy and does not enjoy the travails of outdoor living. Another protagonist is young Rain Wilder Thymara. Marked by the rain wilds, she is an outcast even among the strange folk of the Rain Wilds community. She, and other young people similarly marked, are chosen to escort the dragons to a new nesting place. Also in the group is her friend Tats, a tattooed former slave, who has few opportunities for acceptance and an honest life in the Rain Wilds. Then there is the manipulative Greft, whose goal is to make a new life with new rules, outside of the Rain Wilds community that spurned him. It is a grand adventure, but at the same time, there is a chance that they will never return home. These two young women form the basis of an intertwining story that contains a bit of a romance and a bit of coming-of-age, and a lot of adventure. If the previous books perked your interest in the dragons and elderlings, this series will build upon that. I just loved this book. I started to read it more slowly in order to stretch out the experience. Like most of her trilogy b

This novel is the first book in a two volume series. (The Rain Wilds Chronicles) The story plays out in the world first seen in Ms. Hobbs wonderful Farseer Trilogy, more specifically in the Rain Wilds area of that world. As the novel begins a young Rain Wilds girl, Thymara, hangs suspended over the muddy shores of the serpents beach. She is lying on a far branch in a canopy of trees, hoping for the best possible view of the birth of a new generation of dragons. Below her lie the sun heated cocoons from which the dragons will soon emerge. Further up the river stands have been erected, notables are ready to speechify, celebrations are imminent the majestic dragons will break from their cocoons and take to the skies. The Dragon Queen Tintaglia is on hand, having personally guided the serpents to the cocooning place and assisted in the cocooning process. Slowly the beasts begin to emerge, red, blue, black, Thymara marvels at the sight and stretches out further on the branch, using her black claws to grip the soft bark. She hears her father shout a caution at almost the same moment she hears one of the dragons mind-speak to her. For Thymara with her black claws and rain forest induced scaling this is not a moment of danger, but of awe. She calls back to her father, does he see the dragon eating it's cocoon, what marvelous creatures these are. Then she notices one of the smaller beasts, he is in trouble, something is wrong, and surely it is only this one. But he is not alone in his hideousness, all of the dragons look wrong, none take to the skies, they stumble about with their malformed limbs, oversized torso's and insufficient wings. Thymara knows, better than most, the Rain Wilds are not a kindly place for those who are born deformed. In a different part of the world, Bingtown society struggles to right itself after the Chalcedean invasion. (See Liveship Traders Trilogy) Things have changed for the traditionally prosperous Trader families. The minor families scramble to survive, sons are encouraged to make valuable associations and alliances and daughters to make beneficial marriages. One of these daughters, Alise, strives to find her way in this changed society. For a time during and after the war it appeared that womens roles in society might be changed. Alise wishes to be more than just another Traders wife. She has begun a study of dragons and their Elderling companions. She longs to travel to the Rain Wilds and establish herself as a notable authority. But, her family is not wealthy and their hopes for her have been raised by the attentions of an attractive, wealthy Trader son, Hest. Hest has his own reasons for pursuing the oddball intellectual daughter of a minor family. They reach a bargain, she will provide him with a much-desired heir and he will finance her dragon studies and, in time, allow a journey to the Rain Wilds. Dragon Keeper is as much the story of these two women as it is the story of the survival of the mutant dragons. S

DRAGON KEEPER is the first book of a new trilogy by Robin Hobbs, a fantasy writer known for the richness of her creations. Hobbs has launched an unlikely and diverse set of characters on a fantasy quest up an uncharted jungle river in search of the legendary city of Kelsingra, where dragons and humans once dwelt in peace and untold wealth. There is the queen dragon Sintara, who we meet as first as a sea serpent arriving late and out of season with a tangle of other serpents to cocoon on the bank of the river. They are the last hope for a new generation of dragons; the Rain Wild people have agreed to care for the new dragons when they hatch the following year. But when the cocoons break, the emerging dragons are deformed and unable to fly. Thymara is a girl of the Rain Wild. Because of her scales and black claws, the midwife took her at birth and exposed her, but her father came and brought her back in uneasy defiance of the custom. As Thymara grows, she is made brutally aware how much keeping her has cost her parents. When the town council decides that it can no longer afford to feed the defective dragons, Thymara signs up for the expedition to help the dragons move up river in search of Kelsingra. She becomes Sintara's keeper. She's uneasy as Tats, a former slave and her old friend from childhood, squares off against Greft, a 20-something Rain Wilder who is even more reptilian in appearance than Thymara. Alise Kincarron Finbok is a young woman from a Bingtown Trader family. Studious by nature, she is enraptured by the idea of dragons and collects and deciphers ancient scrolls about them. Her family fortunes have suffered and she isn't considered attractive so she is surprised when handsome Hest Finbok offers for her hand. She doesn't know what dark secret he is hiding from her, but she agrees to a marriage of convenience if it will allow her to pursue her dragon studies. Captain Leftrin, master of the liveship Tarman, also hides a secret--he wishes he never bargained with that Chalcedean. He's hoping he never hears from the man again, but is afraid he will. Leftrin falls head over heels in love with Alise the moment she first sets foot on his ship. Sedric, Hest's secretary and Alise's childhood friend, finds himself in a difficult position. He's currently out of favor with Hest and has been sent to chaperon Alise on her trip to see dragons. He has secret designs of his own to try to make his fortune from the creatures. The only thing more entangled than the passions and intrigues of the characters is the Rain Wild river itself. When the waters are churned up by a flood, it runs milky white and is so acidic it will melt the boots off your feet and then your feet off your bones. Setting, plot and characters are all strong. Don't let the deceptively flat prose of the opening prologue discourage you from reading this one. Start with the first chapter to really understand the richness of Hobb's created world and the elegance of