With over 20 fantasy novels in print, Robin Hobb has firmly established herself in the fantasy community, garnering praise from both her readers and her peers as “one of the most gifted fantasy authors writing today”, and deservedly so. What I discovered as I began to read Dragon Keeper, the first book in her new The Rain Wilds Chronicles series, was an endearing gem that struck a cord with me the way books like Terry Goodkind’s The Sword of Truth, Raymond E. Feist’s The Riftwar Saga and Marcia J. Bennett’s Ni’Lach series did.
From the moment I first laid eyes on Dragon Keeper, I was excited. The cover of the book appears to be 3D animation, with the kind of color and depth you’d find in a scene from an Ubisoft game such as Myst. It features a girl and a dragon standing along the banks of a river at sunset with a tree village sprawling in the background against an overcast sky. The image is so detailed, I feel as if I could step into the scene and wander the grassy banks or walk across the suspended bridges between the tree tops. I am pleased to say that the world painted within the pages is just as vibrant and detailed as that depicted on the cover.
Dragon Keeper is the story of an ill-fated attempt at restoring dragons, a near extinct species, to their former glory. After being rescued by dragon Tintaglia from a savage invasion by the Chalcedeans, the Trader cities strike a bargain with her: she will continue to protect them from their enemies if they assist her in trying to restore her species.
Dragons begin their life as sea serpents and must make a voyage upriver to their former breeding grounds in order to start the transformation process into dragons. Tintaglia disappears soon after only a handful of dragons hatch, and the Traders find themselves stuck with the burden of having to care for them. A plan is made to “help” relocate the dragons to the fabled city of Kelsingra, the ancient homeland that has long ago disappeared into the jungles and into myth. The only clues to the location of Kelsingra lie in the ancestral memories of the dragons and a handful of ancient scrolls that have been translated by Alise, a woman who has dedicated her life to the study of dragons.
Having made her way to the riverbanks of Cassarick to continue her studies, Alise soon finds herself caught up in the expedition to Kelsingra. Chaperoned by her husband’s much-disapproving secretary, she travels up the Rain Wilds River with a motley assortment of misfits and castaways in hopes of discovering the past while helping the dragons find their future.
At risk of sounding like a fangurl, I have to admit how very enamored I am with this book. Not just enamoured, but deeply, madly in love with it. I simply devoured it, reading about 150 to 180 pages a day (it’s 474 pages long), giving it every waking moment I could spare. All of the characters are interesting, even the unlikable ones. In many books with a lot of supporting characters, those characters remain very two-dimensional and you are left with only an impression of who they are as they fulfill whatever their purpose is in moving the story along. The characters in this book, however, truly round out what should be considered an ensemble cast. There is a depth to them, each personality, emotion and motivation ringing true and breathing life into them. Even the relationships and interactions between characters are compelling.
One of the nice little touches that forward the story is the correspondence between towns that begins each new chapter. Carrier pigeons are used to carry scrolls between the towns and, along with those scrolls, two of the pigeon keepers attach personal notes. These notes not only give us some information about their own lives, but add additional tidbits about what’s happening back at home as Alise and the others make their way up the Rain Wilds River.
Dragon Keeper explores the internal workings of each character with both humor and levity. The world is beautiful and wild, the characters are compelling, and the story is so interesting — and so easy to submerse yourself in — that by halfway through the book I was already lamenting the long wait for the next book in the series. Imagine my joy when I noticed this little note at the very end of the liner notes at the back of the book:
Look for the second book in the Rain Wilds Chronicles, Dragon Haven, coming in May 2010 from Eos.
This book didn’t just make my week, it looks like it will be making my summer as well.
Order now at Amazon.com:
Dragon Keeper (Canada)
Dragon Keeper (US)
You can also get your copy of Dragon Keeper in the fantasy section of your local book retailer.