Ratings70
Average rating3.9
Executive Summary: An improvement over [b:The Dragon Keeper 4703450 The Dragon Keeper (Rain Wild Chronicles, #1) Robin Hobb https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1330079386s/4703450.jpg 4767778]. With everything set the story is just able to move forward at a brisker pace. This is really Dragon Keeper part 2 from what I understand and it feels like it. If you enjoyed the first one, you'll likely enjoy this at least as much if not more. If you found the first book a let down, you may find you gave up on the story too soon.Full ReviewAfter completing [b:The Dragon Keeper 4703450 The Dragon Keeper (Rain Wild Chronicles, #1) Robin Hobb https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1330079386s/4703450.jpg 4767778], I really wanted to jump right into this one. However with other obligations and coordinating reading schedules it had to wait a little bit.I enjoyed the first book, but this one was a step up for me. The characters and the main plot are set. The journey is on. Now we can just sit back and see what happens. Ms. Hobb has always had a slow plot development to me. For some reason it just works with me in a way other authors don't. This is really the second half of [b:The Dragon Keeper 4703450 The Dragon Keeper (Rain Wild Chronicles, #1) Robin Hobb https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1330079386s/4703450.jpg 4767778].The way Ms. Hobb writes animals has always impressed me. Nighteyes felt like a real wolf to me. Her cats were especially good too. She's done it again here with Dragons.Of course no one knows what a dragon would be like, but she still seems to paint a picture that just feels right to me. Intelligent and arrogant. Only these aren't full dragons. Their development was stunted. Their memories aren't complete. They can't fly and have to rely on humans to help care for them.There is a lot of development of both the dragons and their keepers in this book, as well as the supporting barge and crew. They face the first real adversity of their journey to find an ancient lost city of the Elderlings where the dragons may be able to thrive.At its heart, this is a story about relationships. Sure there are dragons, but as intelligent creatures that are able to communicate with their keepers, their relationships play as large of a role (if not a larger one) than the interpersonal relationships of the humans.Her characters are once again superb. I don't think I despise fictional characters quite so much as some of the ones Ms. Hobb has written. While none of these are quite as despicable as Regal or as frustrating as Malta, they are memorable.The way Ms. Hobb writes, I feel like I could just fall right into her books and stay there. Not that I'd really want to see the acid Rain Wild River. But I'm all for checking out ancient cities with magical wonders and remnants of dragons.I can't wait to jump into [b:City of Dragons 11801463 City of Dragons (Rain Wild Chronicles, #3) Robin Hobb https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1322613975s/11801463.jpg 16754534]!