Dragon Keeper
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4.1 • 75 Ratings
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- £5.99
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- £5.99
Publisher Description
‘Fantasy as it ought to be written’ George R.R. Martin
Return to the world of the Liveships Traders and journey along the Rain Wild River in this fantastic adventure from the author of the internationally acclaimed Farseer trilogy.
Guided by the great blue dragon Tintaglia, they came from the sea: a Tangle of serpents fighting their way up the Rain Wilds River, the first to make the perilous journey to the cocooning grounds in generations. Many have died along the way. With its acid waters and impenetrable forest, it is a hard place for any to survive.
People are changed by the Rain Wilds, subtly or otherwise. One such is Thymara. Born with black claws and other aberrations, she should have been exposed at birth. But her father saved her and her mother has never forgiven him. Like everyone else, Thymara is fascinated by the return of dragons: it is as if they symbolise the return of hope to their war-torn world. Leftrin, captain of the liveship Tarman, also has an interest in the hatching; as does Bingtown newlywed, Alise Finbok, who has made it her life's work to study all there is to know of dragons.
But the creatures which emerge from the cocoons are a travesty of the powerful, shining dragons of old. Stunted and deformed, they cannot fly; some seem witless and bestial. Soon, they become a danger and a burden to the Rain Wilders: something must be done. The dragons claim an ancestral memory of a fabled Elderling city far upriver: perhaps there the dragons will find their true home. But Kelsingra appears on no maps and they cannot get there on their own: a band of dragon keepers, hunters and chroniclers must attend them.
To be a dragon keeper is a dangerous job: their charges are vicious and unpredictable, and there are many unknown perils on the journey to a city which may not even exist…
Reviews
'What makes her novels addictive is not just their imaginative brilliance but the way her characters are compromised and manipulated by politics' The Times
‘Hobb is superb’ Conn Iggulden
‘Hobb is a remarkable storyteller’ Guardian
About the author
Robin Hobb was born in California in 1952 and majored in Communications at Denver University, Colorado. Assassin’s Apprentice was her first novel, and was followed by the equally successful Royal Assassin and Assassin’s Quest. She lives outside Seattle, Washington
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Here be dragons but debilitated, deformed, damaged dragons, hatched too soon, sick and starving, into a world that has mostly forgotten them. The first of Hobb's Rain Wild Chronicles, an absorbing extension of her Liveship and Tawny Man trilogies, introduces 15 young dragons who struggle to survive with the grudging help of mutant Rain Wilders. Eventually driven out by the Traders Council, the hatchlings decide to seek Kelsingra, their ancient home. Caught up by the dragons' plight and longing to escape unhappy families and the stifling Rain Wild culture, self-taught dragon scholar Alise Kincannon and teenage tree-dwelling mutant Thymara volunteer to accompany them on the quest, with the help of magnetic liveship captain Leftrin and a host of colorful characters. Hobb's meticulously realized fantasy tale is a welcome addition to contemporary dragon lore.
Customer Reviews
Another good work
An independent story that builds on the background from the assassin / liveship / fool trilogies. A good read and my first on iBooks. Well told and hard to put down before bed.
Rain Wild Chronicles
Another excellent adventure from Robin Hobb!