City of Dragons (The Rain Wild Chronicles #3)

Accidentally pushed submit review before I was finished. As i started to say. Some of what occurred in the last part of the 4th book seemed written for a whole different storyline, but much of it also ended up being the most impactful and thought provoking of the whole series . Hopefully she will work work out some of her inner demons with her therapist, so in the future her novels will not be quite so depressing and include some of the beauty and joy fantasy is known for. Now for those individuals who gave these books a low rating on the soul purpose of the gay aspect and/or how it would affect your children, may I just say REALLY, YOU NEED TO MOVE INTO THE YEAR 2018. If you yourself are so offended by gay characters being included in your Fantasy Novels, then fantasy is a subject you should have never goten involved with in the first place. As this book was never intended as a childrens book in the first place and if its truely for your childs wellbeing and safety, exercise what I’m sure is your limited, narrow minded parenting skills and just dont let them read it. That simple. This isnt 1818 anymore and the last thing the world needs with all the MAJOR/REAL problems in the world is worrying about another generation of homophobic, bigoted, judgemental haters. Give it one star because you find it not well written, the gender unequally, the violence, the rape of Alise, mistreatment of animals, deception, etc, etc, etc . Maybe you should stick to the Bible or the Sunday funnies.

I don’t know what happened to the cover of this one. The prior two books had great covers (if not very story-accurate). Then suddenly this one. I like either the US or the UK covers of the first two, but not this strange amalgam.

More substantively, this book is basically a continuation of the prior two, and not, for once, the climax of a trilogy. In fact, it’s not really a series at all. The whole story is essentially one long novel broken into four books. City of Dragons picks up where

Dragon Haven

left off. The dragons et al. have finally found Kelsingra – sort of. There’s a complication that takes most of this (slimmer – despite the listing, mine was about 350pp) book to solve. I didn’t find that to be very credible, basically. They’ve trudged through miles of swamp, through danger and disaster, and survived it all. But now they can’t conquer what is really a pretty feeble obstacle. I had trouble suspending disbelief, since it’s not credible within the story world itself, and it reads mostly like a convenient device to delay satisfaction. Maybe Hobb felt three books of trudging would be too much.

The writing is almost up to the Hobb standard. Almost, because in this book (and to some extent in Dragon Haven), there are signs of sloppy editing. For example, there are several places where a line of description is repeated almost verbatim in succeeding paragraphs – a pretty clear sign that the tidying up didn’t get finished. It felt like watching one of those TV programs (e.g., Castle) where they’re so keen to ensure you got what’s happening that they keep telling you. Over and over. Granted, it didn’t happen a lot, but it made me feel someone was asleep at the screen. To some extent, that’s true of the series so far. It’s well written, and I read the books eagerly, but it’s just not as intriguing or intricate as prior trilogies in this world have been. Nor are the relationships as engaging; there’s nothing like the ambiguity of the Fool here. The closest thing is the wonder about whether dragons will turn out to be likable, or just majestic.

The book does finally include some news about Tintaglia, but nothing that really convinced me that it made sense for her to have been missing for so long.

All in all, a good book, and from someone else, I might give it a 3.5. Here, I’ll drop to 3 to note that the series is really a bit below Hobb’s standard, and not what I’d hoped for in a story revealing some of the secrets of dragons and Elderlings.

I’ve read everything Robin Hobb has written & am a big fan. If you have read Books 1 & 2, City of Dragons should be on your reading list. The short version of this review is that this is another good installment in a competent, interesting series.

The rest of this is written for her fans who are wondering if they should read the series. Yes- read it! But be prepared for something unlike her other series. The whole thing reads very “light”- on the edge of Teen/YA. The books are short, easy reads. There are lots of characters and “stuff” going on, but the plot is emotionally thin. The teen characters read a little too tv drama for me. (But then I really dislike the whole angsty Twilight vibe that is working its way into fantasy.)

This is the first book of Hobb’s in which I feel she like she is struggling with certain plot lines. While reading, I found myself wondering how the author related to the story and what was going on in her life while she wrote particular scenes. She seems very involved with the creation of events and interactions but distant from the characters living the story. I haven’t built up emotional ties to the characters, which surprised me. I get very wrapped up in what I read & talk to the characters, cry, laugh, & argue. (No worries, the characters don’t talk back.) Usually, her characters dominate the reading experience as distinct, full people with complex emotions. She has some of the best female characters out there. Best of all, she doesn’t sacrifice her male characters in order to develop the women. The potential for the characters are there in this series, but for whatever reason, I’m just not feeling it.

Plotwise, she set the stage for a fabulous book, but I wasn’t thrilled with her execution. It’s almost as if she is making a conscious choice to appeal to a wider market and is trying to emulate the trend of what I think of as MTV fiction- short, choppy scenes that overlap to build a bigger picture. It works for Martin but is disastrous for most authors. Hobb can pull it off, but why do it? It feels as if she simplified her writing style. That’s a tragedy. Even the vocabulary feels reduced compared to her other works. I reread a few of her other books to see if I had overbuilt them in my mind. Nope- this one is definitely “simpler” for all that she has thrown together lots of characters and plotlines. This was an excellent part one to a book that could be snugged up by about 50 pages and then expanded from there. I could see all sorts of possibilities as the story moved along. For whatever reason, those were left unexplored or just given quick cameos. When I read the foreshadowing of the Fool’s race when Althea explores the city, I was thrilled. The Fool is one of my favorite characters. Hopefully, she will pick this us in the future book. For now, it felt like a nod to fans. Similarly, I could have done without the cameo of Althea & Paragon (though again- favorites of mine). Cameos really interrupt the emotional flow (for all that they are fun to read.)

Summary: Robin Hobb is a master of writing smart, emotionally complex books, & she isn’t afraid to spend time world & character building. In this series, she seems to have scaled the intensity and complexity down a notch to target a different market. It’s still a good book, but it doesn’t have the impact of other books she has written.

The third book in the Rain Wilds Chronicles and twelfth overall in Robin Hobb’s Realm of the Elderlings series feels shorter and much more character focussed than most of the earlier books.

Rather than following a quest, as many of the other books in the series have, this book follows the daily lives of the characters from the previous two novels as they continue from the point these books brought them. It makes some interesting points about prejudice, society and childrearing, and the ensemble cast makes the drama feel more real and rounded than ever before.

The plot feels simple despite the array of threads that run through the book, and for the most part each is split into its own chapters, although there are some where the narratives are intertwined, which is a nice variation. I really love the asides between chapters that Hobb uses to expand the world in which her stories are set, and they provide a humorous and interesting companion to the main story.

While it felt a calmer story, I was really hooked by this book and can’t believe how quickly I read it compared to some of Hobb’s other books. I really enjoy spending time with these characters and hope that Hobb will find more stories to pen once this one is complete.

Latest novel from fantasy writer Robin Hobb. Also latest in her series ‘The Rain Wild Chronicles.’

Normally she writes trilogies, but the final book in this one got somewhat large and ended up being split into two. Thus this is technically the first half of one book, although it isn’t billed as such and does feel relaively self contained. But it’s by no means the end of the story and thus there’s lots unresolved come the end.

There’s no exposition to bring new readers up to speed, so there’s no point in reading this if you’ve not read the earlier books in the series. Start with

Dragon Keeper (The Rain Wild Chronicles, Book 1)

.

A little knowledge of her other stories will also help as well – there is a familiar face from one of those in here – but it’s not required.

This volume is divided into fifteen chapters plus a prologue and an epilogue, and runs for four hundred and twenty five pages.

It picks up from the ending of book two, with the expedition having reached it’s destination.

Some early moments come from the viewpoint of Dragons, and show us the main threat to them. The Duke of Chalced. Who needs Dragons in order to prolong his life.

Whilst those on the expedition and their Dragons get ever closer, and go through great changes as a result, the mysteries of the city await to be uncovered. A trip back to the start of their journey brings fresh problems for one character. Others draw closer. And nobody will be able to keep what they’ve found hidden forever.

There’s lots going on, and quite a few plot strands.

The lack of opening exposition does mean that if it’s been a while since you read the second book this does take some time to really get into. As a result, it takes a while to get going, and only really clicks close to page eighty or so.

But once it does, it becomes as readable as what has come before.

If you read Robin Hobb’s books, you will know how good her prose and characterisation can be. And this volume is no exception in delivering that.

It doesn’t feel like half of a bigger book. It feels like a book in a series. Which does what those need to do. Move things along and set things up for the finale. This it does very well, and it does at just the right pace for a volume of this length, meaning it reads very nicely and the pages flow. Once you get into it.

The fact that it takes a while to get into does stop it from being five star material. But even so, it’s a very good read in an entertaining series. And it made me want to know what will happen next. So it did it’s job.

To find out what does, read

Blood of Dragons (The Rain Wild Chronicles, Book 4)

Galaxyaudiobook Member Benefit

- Able to comment

- List watched audiobooks

- List favorite audiobooks

- Bookmark will only available for Galaxyaudiobook member