Dragon Keeper

Volume One of the Rain Wilds Chronicles

The first book in Robin Hobb’s New York Times bestselling Rain Wilds series, set in an immersive world full of dragons, magical ships, and unforgettable characters—reissued with beautiful cover art by renowned illustrator Jackie Morris.

New York Times Bestseller | Narrated by Anne Flosnik

Too much time has passed since the powerful dragon Tintaglia helped the people of the Trader cities stave off an invasion of their enemies. The Traders have forgotten their promises, weary of the labor and expense of tending earth-bound dragons who were hatched weak and deformed. If neglected, the creatures will rampage—or die—so it is decreed that they must move farther upriver toward Kelsingra, the mythical homeland whose location is locked deep within the dragons’ uncertain ancestral memories.

Thymara, an unschooled forest girl, and Alise, wife of an unloving and wealthy Trader, are among the disparate group entrusted with escorting the dragons to their new home. And on an extraordinary odyssey with no promise of return, many lessons will be learned—as dragons and tenders alike experience hardships, betrayals, and joys beyond their wildest imaginings.

New adventure, still in love with this world

I loved this start to a new series of stories within this amazing world Hobb has created. I especially like that it's focusing more of the dragons and the lore behind them. We get new characters and treated with old ones as well. It is different from what we'd be use to with the Fitz and the Fool, but it was still a great book.

Always love Robin Hobb but so far this is my least favorite

I’ve been recommending the Elderling books to a friend as I work through them I’ve been telling them to just pretend each trilogy is not 3 books (or four in the case of the Rain Wild chronicles) but just one long book. This book is the best example of this, it just suddenly ends. That’s fine I’m just going to immediately start the next chapter (aka the next book) . Love this world, and her writing. I do wish there wasn’t so much “romance”.

Longing and intrigue, plus dragons

Wasn't expecting this much romantic longing and relational issues in this book, but it did fit the story even if a bit much for my taste. Definitely adds more details around dragons and the rainwilds, but you would be missing out on a lot (plus getting some spoilers) if this is your first read in the series.

Some places it reads like a romance book

The dragon parts of the story are great but in other places it reads more like a romance novel.

The weakest Realm of the Elderlings series

These books aren’t bad, and they actually add a lot to the world building of the Elderlings series. However they are the weakest. The plot is plodding and sometimes just feels like such a slog. Occasionally it hits high points and is really enjoyable, but it never really attains the highs of the rest of the Elderlings books. I don’t recommend skipping these if you really love the rest of the books, but be aware that they aren’t the best.

Dragon Keeper is probably the slowest of the books as it is introducing us to characters that we’ll follow over four books. Alise’s set up is particularly long in its build-up. Leftrin is a bit of a confusing one to follow as well, but he gets better. Thymara is generally pretty cool. I liked her parts.

Anyway, hang in there if you’re a completionist like me. It’s definitely not the worst I’ve read.