Dragon Haven (The Rain Wild Chronicles #2)

3.5 stars
This book was much stronger to me than the first, which I almost didn’t get into. I had, and still have, a real eversion to the opening chapter dialog of the ‘odd’ year and day, from where it comes and that entire first page of names. The inclusion of the pigeon carrier correspondence was fine and a fun side story..but the over produced version of speech to suggest the date and year just bugged me every single time..I actually passed over this. I also had a real hard time with the names in the beginning. I don’t like to have to stop every time to figure out how a name is pronounced…or when they are so over the top attempting to be different and fantasy driven. However, as the story unfolded for me I got use to this, so I did continue with the first book and was pleased enough in the story to move on to the second.
I’m attached to the lead characters and found the path the story took interesting and compelling. I’m more than a little creeped out by Thymara’s physical transformation… will see how that plays out. Still found some mis-spelled words and ‘wrong’ words in fact…like she said serpents where dragons should have been..it really confused me for a bit until I realized this. Considering this is someone who has many books out there, and is apparently a successful author, I really don’t understand the lack of editing. The first book was worse in that regard…way worse.
I’ve never read a book with male lovers, so that’s interesting and not too over stated for me. And the continuing relationship of Alise to herself and the men in her life is a captivating read. All in all the series is picking up for me. Just began the third book, so we’ll see where it all lands soon enough.

I’ve been a fan of science -fiction fantasy since I was 20 years old. That was 50 years ago when I first read The Hobbit and then The Lord of the Rings. I read them straight through, barely pausing to eat and sleep. Since then, I’ve had the pleasure of reading many of the best sci-fi authors including some of best. I won’t bother the reader with a list of the authors I think are the best, but I would without hesitation, include Robin Hobb. Robin has an incredible gift for creating characters with amazing reality. Her sensitivity to those characters and the lives they lead makes them jump off the page. I feel touched by the way they deal with the issues they face and moved by their depth. Robin’s ability to paint all kinds of people with very real issues allows them to jump off the page. Generating an entirely different yet just as plausible set of experiences and problems for dragons is a stunning accomplishment. The first two volumes of the Rain Wild Chronicles causes to wait impatiently for the next volume. Thank you for the incredibly entertaining experience Robin.

My mother made sure we always had some kind of dessert or sweets to snack on. At the same time, with two teenage boys in the house, she got a little upset if an afternoon of baking disappeared in under an hour.

I finished

Dragon Keeper

yesterday morning. While it wasn’t as good as Hobb’s best, I liked it. And when I found two sequels on sale for a few dollars apiece, I picked them up immediately. Now, less than 24 hours later, I’ve finished Dragon Haven. My mother would be appalled, but it tells you something about the book. I did some other reading yesterday (as well as actually rising from the sofa for a good part of the day), but it’s fair to say that reading this book was a major focus. The story is not perfect, but it’s very readable.

Unlike most of Hobb’s trilogies, not a lot has actually happened in the two books. Mostly, it’s dragons and their keepers sloshing up the Rain Wilds rivers. The story is about the personal interactions, and the development of both the humans and the dragons. It may that latter that makes this second book read a bit like a young adult novel – most of the characters are relatively immature, and the emotional turbulence they face is largely of the coming of age sort. With dragons.

It may also be the reason that Dragon Haven succeeds better than Dragon Keeper. My complaint there was that it was disheartening to see struggles about sexuality that we’ve resolved (to some extent, in some place) in real life. The struggles in this book are also not new, but some are things that will never go away so long as young people keep growing into older people. There are others as well (efforts at male dominance over females) that are disappointing to the idealist in me, but that didn’t trouble me as much narratively, perhaps because the story is also about an isolated group establishing new rules. Mostly, the story is an engaging adventure story with lots of personal interaction to absorb, and quite a few moral dilemmas to consider.

The weakest part of the story is the dragons themselves, in some ways. I give Hobb credit for making the individuals, and not always very pleasant ones. But she comes very close at times to the stereotype of ‘dragons as wise, ancient creatures who know all’. Or rather, since the dragons clearly aren’t to humans treating them as if they were – living only to serve these beautiful creatures. It’s not quite that clear-cut, and some humans do stand up to the dragons, but not as much as I want them to. It’s an ongoing frustration, and Hobb’s explanations don’t go far enough for my taste.

This book also wraps a few things up a little too neatly. There’s conflict and drama, but also a bit of ex machina that I think could have been handled better.

At the same time, I did read the book in one day, and I’m going on to the next later today.

All in all, a solid fantasy book with an intriguing, enjoyable story, and well worth reading.

I can’t say enough good things about her writing. Hands down, her books are the best I’ve ever read and I will treasure them for life. I really wasn’t sure I would enjoy this series compared to the Farseer, Fitz & Fool, and Liveship series, but it’s been great so far. On to book 3! Oh, and for what it’s worth, I realize I’m not reading this series in sequence (technically) but it matters not. There wasn’t really a noticeable gap when I skipped from the Tawny Man series to Fitz & Fool series. The story of the dragons definitely deserves its own series and can be enjoyed independently of the other books.

I was sceptical about starting to read the first book in this series – Dragon Keeper – that my daughter had bought for me, after a previous fantasy novel by a different author had failed to capture my imagination and I’d abandoned it early-on. However, as I began to read it, I very quickly got drawn-in to the diverse, different characters, seemingly unconnected at first, yet wonderfully described and provided with their own histories and endearing characteristics.
As that book had progressed, the different characters gradually became involved together and the story itself became one I found difficult to put down.
By the end of that first book I was panting for this second volume, to see what would happen next, so I bought myself a Kindle, specifically for the purpose of following this quadrilogy in the most convenient way for me, and I’m already three-quarters of the way through “Dragon Haven” and I’m still enthralled by this amazing saga. Robin Hobb is one talented lady and I’d heartily recommend anyone who enjoys a good, well-written and well-thought-out fantasy tale to seek these books out and start reading – in the right order, of course!

Galaxyaudiobook Member Benefit

- Able to comment

- List watched audiobooks

- List favorite audiobooks

- Bookmark will only available for Galaxyaudiobook member