In volume one of the Rain Wilds Chronicles, we learn that after centuries, dragons have hatched again around the Trader Cities. The Traders owe a debt to the dragons. They have promised to care for them as payment to the dragon Tintaglia for her past services to the cities. Even though Tintaglia hasn't been seen in the Rain Wilds for years, the Traders are understandably reluctant to renege on their past promises.
The newly hatched dragons are all weak and deficient in some way, and the Trader Council is eager to be rid of them if possible. The council arranges for the dragons, along with their human keepers, to travel to Kelsingra, the dragon's ancient homeland. Among the group are two young women; Thymara, an uneducated woman who can communicate with the dragons and Alise, a young woman who has bartered her way into an unhappy and loveless marriage. Kelsingra turns out to be the red herring, of vital importance to the humans and dragons making the dangerous trip, but to the reader it's only about the journey and the relationships that form along the way.
DRAGON KEEPER is everything I've grown to expect from a Robin Hobb novel. An engrossing story complete with vivid world building and a complex cast of characters.
Enter the spellbinding world of dragons . . . One of the
most gifted fantasy authors writing today, New York Times
bestselling author Robin Hobb has dazzled readers with
brilliantly imaginative, emotionally resonant, and
compulsively readable tales set in far-flung realms not
unlike our own. In this enthralling new novel, she returns
to the territory of her beloved Liveship Traders and Tawny
Man trilogies with a story of dragons and humans, return
and rebirth, and the search for meaning, belonging, and
home.
For years, the Trader cities valiantly battled their
enemies, the Chalcedeans. But they could not have staved
off invasion without the powerful dragon Tintaglia. In
return, the Traders promised to help her serpents migrate
up the Rain Wild River after a long exile at seaโto find a
safe haven and, Tintaglia hopes, to restore her species.
But too much time has passed, and the newly hatched
dragons are damaged and weak, and many die. The few who
survive cannot use their wings; earthbound, they are
powerless to hunt and vulnerable to human predators
willing to kill them for the fabled healing powers of
dragon flesh.
But Tintaglia has vanished and the Traders are weary of
the labor and expense of tending useless dragons. The
Trader leadership fears that if it stops providing for the
young dragons, the hungry and neglected creatures will
rampageโor die along the river's acidic muddy banks. To
avert catastrophe, the dragons decree a move even farther
up the treacherous river to Kelsingra, their ancient,
mythical homeland whose mysterious location is locked deep
within the dragons' uncertain ancestral memories.
To ensure their safe passage, the Traders recruit a
disparate group of young people to care for the damaged
creatures and escort them to their new home. Among them is
Thymara, an unschooled forest girl of sixteen, and Alise,
a wealthy Trader's wife trapped in a loveless marriage,
who attaches herself to the expedition as a dragon expert.
The two women share a deep kinship with the dragons:
Thymara can instinctively communicate with them, and
Alise, captivated by their beauty and majesty, has devoted
her life to studying them.
Embarking on an arduous journey that holds no promise of
return, the band of humans and dragons must make their way
along the toxic and inhospitable Rain Wild Riverโan
extraordinary odyssey that will teach them lessons about
themselves and one another, as they experience hardships,
betrayals, and joys beyond their wildest dreams.
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