Renegade's Magic - Robin Hobb

I'm a bit low on recent releases. There are a few waiting for me under the Christmas tree but since that is a few days off yet, I have taken the opportunity to read an older title. Renegade's Magic, the final book in Robin Hobb's Soldier Son trilogy, is probably the least popular book she wrote. Hobb is not known for writing fast paced novels, but even by those standards this concluding book does an excellent job of trying the reader's patience. While I am still fascinated with the premise and the worldbuilding, I do have my reservations about this novel. To properly explain why, I'm going to have to give away a bit more of the plot than I usually do. Be advised there are spoilers for the entire trilogy ahead.

Nevare has finally been cast out completely from Gernian society. His friends and former colleagues think he is dead. Magic has enabled him to get away, but he has quite literally lost everything. There is only one option open to him, follow the magic and see if the Specks will take him in. Once again the magic interferes and the Speck side of Nevare's personality takes over completely. Gernian Nevare becomes a spectator in his own body, watching helplessly as the magic leads the Specks into a desperate action against the invaders. Reason, fear and disease have all failed, fire will have to do the job. It is all or nothing for the Specks, in a fight that is so hopelessly unbalanced that victory seems impossible.

Magic has messed with Nevare's mind a lot over the course of the previous books and in this novel his personality completely splits. The Speck trained Great One takes over and the Gernian noble takes a back seat. Like the previous two books, Renegade's Magic is completely written in the first person. That means that for most of the novel, the narrator is not actually in control of what is going on. He watches the story unfold from the back of his Speck self's mind. For most writers, it would be a challenge to keep this interesting for a few chapters, Hobb attempts to do this for most of the novel. Combined with her tendency to plot the novel at a moderate pace, it can't fail to bore some readers. The inevitable confrontation with the Gernians and the equally inevitable realization that Nevare is doomed to fail as long as he is divided against himself, are a long time coming.

What we do get, is a detailed look at Speck  society. Their resistance to Gernian expansion is put into cultural perspective. Their society is ruled by magic but they are not nearly as ignorant of the outside world as the Gernians seem to think. What Hobb does very well is show us the desperation of the Specks and the huge price their magical resistance extracts from them. Being a Great One is not an enviable fate. Hobb also pokes a few holes in the idea that the Specks are a peaceful people by shedding light on their past conflict with the Kidona. It is another example of how well developed Hobb's world is.

The overarching conflict between the Specks and the Gernians reaches a status quo in the book. Not so much because of the Specks fighting in the more traditional sense of the word, but more because the magic manages to redirect the attention of the Gernians. Easier gains are made elsewhere, rooting out the rebellious Specks is no longer worth the effort. Hobb may have meant it as a happy ending but if you look at the situation more closely, it seems like a matter of time before the conflict will reignite. The Specks' respite is dependant on a gold vein and the goodwill of an eccentric Queen. When the gold runs out and the Queen's attention shifts, an ocean port will still be desirable. The cynic would say that the Specks have been put into a reservation but haven't realized it yet. With no noticeable change in the Gernian attitude towards the Specks, it very much seems like a temporary solution.

From reviews of the previous two books it should be clear I don't particularly like Nevare. His slavish devotion to what society and the Good God expects of him is very annoying at times. What's worse, in this book he has no control and plenty of time to brood over his mistakes and misfortune. After yet another failure, by Nevare's Speck self, he comes to the realization that without becoming one, there is no way he can ever succeed. A full merging of these two perspectives would have resulted in a drastic development of this character. Too drastic for the author apparently. She opts not to take that route and that makes the ending of this novel very disappointing.

Hobb effectively separates the two and allows Nevare to slip back into Gernian society with most of his prejudice and conservatism  intact. To add insult to injury, he is essentially rewarded for it by reconciling himself with his family and being appointed heir to both Burvelle estates. There is talk of buying him a commission too. In short, everything noble's son Nevare could possibly want out of life is within reach. After all he has endured because of society's confining social structure, all the misery he has seen caused by a rigid set of religious rules and cultural prejudice, he ends up fitting precisely in the role the Good God teachings destined him to fulfil.

Structurally the novel seems to follow the same pattern the final books in the Tawny Man trilogy also follows. The climax of the trilogy is quite early in the book and then Hobb takes her time wrapping things up. Although it is not quite as pronounced as in Fool's Fate, the final chapters do feel like Hobb wrapping things up. The central conflict has been (temporarily) resolved, whether or not Nevare knows it. The rest is just rewarding him for being such a dutiful protagonist.

Looking back at this reread of the series I think that the very thing that is Hobb's strength in the FitzChevalric novels is turning against her here. After three books inside Nevare's head I still think he is a short-sighted prick. While one can admire his work ethic and to an extent his loyalty, he is simply too unlikeable and static to make for a really interesting character. For a single first person point of view narrative, that is a big problem. Not even Hobb's worldbuilding can quite overcome this issue for me. Hobb obviously has things to say in these books, mostly about various forms of discrimination, but they always seem to stay one step removed from the characters. I enjoyed reading these books to a point, but they are not among the best she has written.

Book Details
Title: Renegade's Magic
Author: Robin Hobb
Publisher: Eos
Pages: 662
Year: 2008
Language: English
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 978-0-06-075764-9
First published: 2008

Forest Mage - Robin Hobb

I'm running low on recent publications again so I reached for a backlist title from the huge stack of books I mean to review one day. Forest Mage (2006) is the second volume in Robin Hobb's Soldier Son trilogy. The series takes us away from Hobb's successful Realm of the Elderlings setting to a technologically more advanced society. These novels are not Hobb's most popular works and I can see why. Although I recognized the skillful writing, we see the story through a frustratingly static main character. That is not to say the books are not worth reading. I may not like Nevare much, but Hobb's worldbuilding is nothing short of exceptional.

Nevare is recovering from the Speck plague he himself has unleashed on the capital. He nearly died but with the help of his cousin Epiny, he manages to defeat the tree woman and become one of the few cadets to survive. The academy has changed forever. With the loss of so many cadets to the plague, there is no way the separation between old and new nobles can stay in place. There are just too few left. Nevare appears to recover well from the plague. He lost a lot of weight but puts it back on quickly. The doctor has his doubts about his fitness however. When Nevare leaves for home to attend his elder brother's wedding, he is still gaining weight and by the time he gets home, he is so large his father almost has an apoplexy. It is the beginning of a number of dramatic changes in Nevare's life.

Even more than Shaman's Crossing (2005), this novel is about discrimination. It shows up in many guises, and while Nevare doesn't always recognize it, it is painfully clear to the reader. In his final days at the academy we see the difficult transition from rigid separation between old and new nobles to more mixed companies. Soon Nevare has other worries though. He quickly realizes being big is more than enough reason for people to dislike you. He is a target of bullying by complete strangers but also by his fiancée, his father and his sister. Hobb describes the changes and Nevare's problems adapting to his new size in excruciating detail. Early on in the novel, he still has hope to work off the excess fat but no matter how much effort he puts into it, he can't seem to lose weight. It's pretty much the only area in which Nevare changes. He admits to himself his weight gain is not natural.

His ambitions in life have not changed however. When he receives medical discharge from the academy, loses his fiancée and is disowned by his father, he is still determined to fulfil the good god's plan for his life and become a soldier. If not as an officer, then as a ranker. Given what he has experienced up to that point in the story, it is an astounding bit of stupidity. Cut loose from every bit of security he has ever known in his  life, he clings to the last scraps of the Gernian social structure still within reach. He is, in other words, still unable to see the world beyond what he was told it should be like.

To realize his ambition to become a soldier he has to accept the lowliest post imaginable. He ends up at the end of the King's Road, where desperate attempts are made to push it through Speck territory. It is here, in a place of despair and failure, that the dark side of humanity is even more obviously exposed. The Specks are considered to be savages, an obstacle to be overcome by technological progress. If they should perish in the process, well, that is the price of progress. Nevare, who is much more aware of what would happen to the Specks if Gernia succeeds, seems to think this inevitable and at one point even patiently explains to one of them why this would be so. The best the Specks can expect from the Gernians is a mild regret that their culture will have to go.

The metaphoric felling of the Speck ancestor trees clearly shows us the future in store for the Specks. Their cultural roots cut away, they'll be cast adrift in a society not their own. It's a story you'll find over and over again in the history of the United States (and many other places in the world). Nevare's attitude in this respect is painful to read, exactly because he is so aware of what is going on. His attitudes frustrates the Specks too. I have to admit that Hobb portrays the cultural gap and the misunderstandings that arise very well. The tension between the two sides keeps rising until Nevare is forced to make a choice. It gives this second book in the trilogy a very clear climax. No middle books syndrome for Hobb.

There is another form of discrimination that runs through the whole trilogy, and that is sexism. Again, Nevare is not exactly innocent here. Gernian society is patriarchal and in the upper classes at least, gender roles are sharply defined. Nevare has been taught a kind of behaviour towards women that is rife with double standards. Women to him, are either delicate creatures to marry, protect and have children with or prostitutes. When he meets one that doesn't seem to fit in either category, and he does on several occasions in the novel, he gets terribly unsure of himself. Nevare's casual sexism shows up in a lot of places in the novel. Sometimes subtly, sometimes blatantly obvious. It adds another aspect to Nevare's personality that makes him into a thoroughly unpleasant main character in my eyes.

Hobb's portrayal of Gernian society and it's many flaws is utterly believable, instantly recognizable and very detailed. By the end of the book, Nevare as been exposed to, or party in just about every one of them. The author is known to be very hard on her main characters but few sink to the level of Nevare in this novel. And yet he keeps trying. His father desperately tried to give the boy Nevare a spine and he has succeeded in ways he clearly didn't envision. I don't like him much, but in Nevare Hobb has created another main character with stubborn streak that rivals her most famous creation Fitz. I just wish he was a little less eager to accept Gernian moral standards and social mores as an absolute truth.

Book Details
Title: Forest Mage
Author: Robin Hobb
Publisher: Eos
Pages: 718
Year: 2006
Language: English
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 978-0-06-075763-2
First published: 2006

Fool's Quest - Robin Hobb

Fool's Quest is the second book in the Fitz and the Fool trilogy, in which Robin Hobb returns to her most successful character. The previous two trilogies were entirely written from Fitz' point of view though. In the first volume of this trilogy, Fool's Assassin, she adds the point of view of Fitz' daughter. This second volume is mostly focussed on Fitz again, although the Bee chapters do drive the story to a large extent. With 7 books on Fitz under her belt already, Hobb knows where she is going with this character. Fool's Quest is a strong book with a strongly character driven plot. Readers who like Fitz will love this book. It is a middle book in a trilogy though, so don't expect any resolutions just yet.

Fitz has returned to Buckkeep and this time, his role in keeping the Kingdom together during the last years of the reign of King Shrewd is fully acknowledged. Fitz is no longer Tom Badgerlock, he is a Farseer prince with all the power and obligations that come with the position.He doesn't get to enjoy his new status for long though. Word of the raid on Withywoods and the taking of Bee and Shun reaches the court. Fitz wants to go after his daughter right away but practicalities keep holding him back.

Fool's Assassin was a pretty hefty tome at 630 pages. This second volume is even longer. Hobb has never written fast-paced stories and she doesn't start now. Life at Buckkeep and the changes since Fitz' youth are described in detail. The changes in the relationships between the characters and their status also takes up quite a bit of Fitz' thoughts. Kettricken is still her queenly self. Dutiful has grown into his role as king, Chade enjoys his new freedom as member of the court but can't stop playing his games. Lady Rosemary is entirely absent, as befits her status as royal assassin, but between the lines you can feel the tension between her and Chade and the changing view on the usefulness of quiet work. Nettle is still her prickly self but these days, she is backed by impressive knowledge in the Skill as well as a number of coteries. I have rarely read a book in which the secondary characters and their relationships are as detailed as in Robin Hobb's work. The complexities of the court are a joy to read.

Most of the book centres on Fitz and the Fool however. The Fool is slowly recovering from his injuries. The first, reckless attempt by Fitz to heal him did not have the desired effect but after another attempt he appears to be making progress. Both Fitz and the Fool are impatient to be on their way. As Fitz coaxes the horrible tale of his stay with the Servants out of the Fool, it becomes apparent that Bee is in mortal danger and the Servants cannot be allowed to exist much longer. Fitz is not planning on taking the Fool anywhere though. He is simply too weak. The Fool will have none of it and it becomes the ground for another one of their famous spats.

The Fool's tale as well as what Fitz finds at his raided estate, make this book a very violent one. Hobb doesn't show that much of it but at Withywoods especially, the trauma of the raid is described in great detail. Where most fantasy authors would focus on the deed itself, Hobb pays attention to the mess left behind and that makes the book one of the darkest she has written. Where in other books Fitz suffers for what is done to him, in this novel, in part at least, he suffers for what is done to those he loves and cares for. His brief moments of triumph and tiny amounts of hope keep him going though.

Bee's storyline is less prominent in this book. Withywoods is deep within the Six Duchies and her kidnappers have a long way to go to safety. During the gruelling journey Bee begins to realize the full extent of her powers. They don't give her the means to escape though. Unlike Fitz when he was that age, Bee appears to be wise beyond her years. She is still naive in some ways but her magic, or perhaps I should say, her acceptance of it, gives her an edge. Where magic is a struggle for Fitz and has been his entire life, it comes naturally to Bee. You can already tell Fitz and Bee will have some issues to work through if they do get together again.

In terms of the world development there are two things that stand out in this book. The first is the new information we get on the Servants. In the previous seven books Hobb has given us hints but for the most part they remained mysterious. The Fool is giving us a more detailed look at how their settlement works and how much he was made to suffer at the hands of the Servants. Bee's storyline shows us the Servants at work. Although she doesn't understand their motivations, the reader does get to see what can only be described as religious fanatics through her eyes.

The second thing the reader will notice is that Hobb is weaving storylines of her Rainwilds books into these novels. The reappearance of dragons, to which both of these sets of novels have contributed, is obviously going to be important to the resolution of this story. We get to see a bit what has happened after the ending of Blood of Dragons. Events in Buckkeep point at tension between the Rain Wilds and the Six Duchies over the dragons. It will be interesting to see if this is just background or if Fitz will have to come to some sort of arrangement with them. Hobb also leaves herself an opening here to return to Kensingra for more stories.

What can I say about Fool's Quest that I haven't said of other Hobb books already? I'm a great fan of Hobb's novels (and Lindholm's for that matter) and this book delivers what I have come to love about the series. In terms of characterization Hobb is just way ahead of the pack in epic fantasy. It will likely be another year before it appears but the final volume in this trilogy is already on my to read list. With Hobb in this form, it promises to be a dramatic ending to the story of Ftiz and the Fool.

Book Details
Title: Fool's Quest
Author: Robin Hobb
Publisher: Voyager
Pages: 739
Year: 2015
Language: English
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 978-0-00-744421-2
First published: 2015

Shaman's Crossing - Robin Hobb

Last week I ordered some new books but since none of them have arrived yet I dug a backlist title out of the bookcase for this weekend's review. Shaman's Crossing (2005) by Robin Hobb is the first book in her Soldier Son Trilogy, a series that is a lot less popular than her work in the Realm of the Elderlings. Hobb took a chance by leaving the world she had at that point published nine successful books in and, commercially at least, I don't think it paid off. She went back to the Realm of the Elderlings after and hasn't left it since. Although the setting is different, the novel is very much Robin Hobb, I enjoyed reading it like I have enjoyed all of her books, and yet, there is something about it that prevents me from being carried away by it like her novels in the Realm of the Elderlings tend to do.

In the kingdom of Gernia, the order of birth determines the career of the nation's sons. The first son is the heir, the second the soldier, the third the priest, the fourth the artist and so on, as decreed by the Good God in his Holy Writ. Nevare Burvelle is born a second son and thus destined to become a soldier. His father prepares him for his eventual enrollment in the Cavalla Academy, where he will be trained to become a cavalry officer. His father has doubts about his fitness for command however, and in an attempt to teach Nevare independent thinking, he sends him off to learn from a man who was once one of Gernia's most dangerous enemies. This shaman of the Plains People, now subdued by the more advanced Gernians, takes Nevare on a trip that will change his life forever and severely interferes with Nevare's own ambitions.

The worldbuilding in this novel is wonderful. It is set in a world that has a technology level comparable to the second half of the nineteenth century. In a recent war with a neighbouring nation Gernia has lost possession of its seaports and is now expanding east to make up for the loss. The plains to the east of Gernia were once the domain of the semi-nomadic plains people, seen as savages by the Gernians. In a series of wars, the Gernians defeated all the tribes and are now trying to push though the territory of the Specks, another primitive people, to reach the shores of the eastern ocean. Where Bingtown is Hobb's version of colonial North America, this trilogy describes the western frontier and the drive to create a nation that stretches from coast to coast.

The Gernian expansion is the first level of conflict in this novel. Hobb frames it as a technology versus magic battle but it also carries with it a number of problematic concepts that the nineteenth century United States shares with Gernia. Most notably the idea of the noble savage, forcing Gernian civilisation on the plains people 'for their own good' and of course some appalling instances of discrimination against the Plains People and Specks.

That would be plenty of worldbuilding for many fantasy authors but Hobb doesn't stop there. She inserts an internal level of conflict among the Gernians too. Gernia is a kingdom and although rapidly modernising, it does retain vestiges of the feudal society it once was. To control the newly won territories, the king has elevated some of the bravest commanders to the status of lords. Nevare's father is among them. Although these new lords are all second sons of nobility, the old nobles resent their elevation, especially since the new nobles tend to support the king in his plans for eastward expansion, for which the king needs to raise additional taxes. Nevare is raised on an isolated estate in the east and doesn't understand much of the politics when he arrives at the academy. He is forced to learn quickly though.

On the surface, the conflict between the old and new nobility is the one that affects the nation, and Nevare personally most, but the stalled expansion to the east and the Speck's resistance is much more pressing. Nevare is the linchpin in this conflict. Something he does not recognize or dare to admit even to himself throughout the book. He clings to his ideas of how his future should look to the point where it almost kills him.

Like Hobb's book about Fitz Chevalric, The Soldier Son trilogy is written entirely in the first person, with Nevare the only point of view character. Where you can sympathize with Fitz, and at times curse his stupidity, Nevare is a different kind of character. He, as his father recognizes early on, lacks a spine. He is also not a very nice guy. In fact, he is a bit of a prick. A trait that will become more pronounced later on in the trilogy. Where most teenagers would at some point rebel against the strict upbringing Nevare is receiving, he is completely convinced he is on the right path. He wants from life what the scriptures say he should want from life. To be a soldier, send his notebooks home to this father's (and later on brother's) estate, and to retire gracefully to the family holdings at the end of a military career. Even when he has doubts about his fitness for a career as a Cavala officer, he clings to these beliefs.

Hobb challenges him of course. Mostly in the form of his eccentric cousin Epiny. She is the daughter of his father's brother, the first son and heir, and that makes her old nobility. Unlike Nevare, she rebels. She refuses to become an ornament in a rich man's house. Nevare is genuinely shocked by her behaviour. He feels women should be docile and domestic creatures, wanting nothing more than to raise children and please their husbands. Her independent attitude, unladylike actions and belief in the supernatural clash with Nevare's conservatism and he actively resents her for infecting him with these unorthodox ideas. It is here, I think, that we come to the flaw in this novel. Nevare and Epiny are such extreme opposites that even with the large number of pages we spend in Nevare's head, they become black and white.

For the entire duration of the novel, Nevare clings to a military career that was doomed before it started and at the end of it, he has yet to face up to that fact. Where Fitz is stubborn, flawed, passionate and at times incredibly dense, Nevare is just conservative. He does what he feels is his duty and nothing else. The world around him is changing, the era of heroic deeds (if one can call the destruction of a way of life and a culture that) has come to an end and society is slipping towards a meritocracy instead or one where nobility and the order of birth determine one's options in life. It all passes Nevare by. In fact, he doesn't even recognize these developments. Hobb created a wonderfully complex world in this novel, and then puts a character in it who is pretty much static, a boy who is constantly being led by others rather than forging his own way. His father is right, he would have made a lousy officer. But that is not his destiny, as we'll see in the second book.

Hobb's books have always attracted me because of the characterisation, but in this book it fails her to an extent. I did enjoy the novel a lot. I even think it is a little underappreciated. The themes Hobb addresses and her uses of a very non standard fantasy setting make it a noteworthy book. But almost six hundred pages of first person narrative with a main character who keeps thinking in circles, keeps denying change and keeps rationalising his society's sexism, prejudices and arrogance is a bit too much of a good thing. I liked the book well enough but I do see why it will never be a fan favourite.

Book Details
Title: Shaman's Crossing
Author: Robin Hobb
Publisher: Eos
Pages: 577
Year: 2005
Language: English
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 0-06-075762-0
First published: 2005

Fool's Assassin - Robin Hobb

This book is surely one of the biggest releases of 2014. After the publication of Fool's Fate in 2003 Hobb stated that she was probably done with Fitz but eleven years later, a new novel starring Hobb's most famous character appears. Fool's Assassin is the first book in a new trilogy on Fitz and the Fool. I must admit I was a bit hesitant to pick it up. Hobb's Soldier Son trilogy had not been received as she might have wished and the way the splitting of the four books in the Rain Wilds Chronicles series was handled, didn't sit well with a lot of readers. What better way to give her career a boost than to return to a fan favourite? The story of Fitz and the Fool ended in their customary dramatic fashion and it seemed like a fitting close for these two characters. Was there really more to tell about them? Well, rest assured there is. Fool's Assassin is quite simply the best book Hobb has produced since Royal Assassin (1996). It is simply stunning.

It's been more than a decade since Fitz last saw the Fool. He's spent most of his time on the Withywoods estate with his wife Molly. He does advise the Farseer King from time to time but mostly he stays out of the affairs of the kingdom. They've raised Molly's children and most of them have now found their own way in the world. The years have not been kind to Molly and while Fitz keeps the appearance of a man in his thirties under the influence of the Skill, she is aging at a more normal rate. What Fitz wants, is to spend as much time with her as he can manage but his past will not leave him be. Fitz may not recognize it straight away but the Fool is trying to reach out to him and that can only mean more trouble.

Fool's Assassin is actually the first book starring Fitz I've read in English. I started reading Hobb when she started to appear in Dutch translation in the second half of the 1990s, I eventually switched to English for the Liveship Trader books but Fitz I've read only in Dutch translation. Reading one in English made me realize how good the initial translations by Erica Feberwee and Peter Cuijpers were. A lot of translations of Fantasy novels into Dutch are, to put it mildly, not very good. Hobb has hit the jackpot with her translators. They've managed to capture the spirit of the novel very well and apply the kind of creative translating that is necessary for a Fantasy novel. That being said, I would like to read the rest in the original language too one day.

In a way, this book feels like coming home. Hobb manages to slip right back into the character of Fitz. He is not the young man he was in the Farseer trilogy of course. Where he was young, rash and prone to decisions that were in equal parts dramatic and stupid, Fitz has matured a bit in the years that followed. His life would seem much more settled but the early stages of the book are filled with quiet drama. Molly aging much faster than Fitz himself is one example. Their wish to have another child together now that they are both around to raise it is another. Fitz and Molly are still very much in love and still quite capable of hurting each other.

The setting and characters may be familiar, but Hobb does do something different in this book. She introduces a second point of view. Like Fitz', it is written in the first person and no, it is not the Fool. I've always felt it was one of the weaknesses of the Farseer trilogy that we were limited to Fitz' point of view and so never got to see much of the events that took place beyond his line of sight. With a sprawling military conflict at the heart of the story, that was a bit of a problem. Interestingly enough, this second point of view character pretty much spends the entire book in the same location as Fitz. That will change in the second book in the series though.

It should not come as a surprise to readers of Robin Hobb but Fool's Assassin is not a book with a very high pace. Hobb takes her time to set the story in motion and examines her characters' actions and motivations in detail. For me that is part of the appeal of Hobb's writing. In a genre where speed and action often seems to be preferred over characterization, Hobb is a writer who tells the story at her own pace. It helps to create the rounded characters in the novel and explore the setting in depth. After six books I had not really expected Hobb to stray from this approach and she doesn't. It's a novel that pays a lot of attention to details and the emotional state of the characters. So if you think Fitz was whiny in the previous novels and Hobb needs to get on with it, you will probably want to skip it. If, like me, you are in awe of what Hobb has already done with Fitz and the Six Duchies, this is one book you do not want to miss.

I would have liked to get into the plot in a bit more detail but that would have been giving too much away about a book that has just been published. What I can say is that Fool's Assassin captivated me and that I managed to read it in a single weekend. If I had had a bit more reading time I might have finished it in a day. It is a wonderful read, Hobb has hit the bullseye with this volume. The only thing I think some fans of her works may dislike is the fact that it ends on something of a cliffhanger. Even if it hadn't, it would still have left me with the feeling that it is an awfully long wait until the second volume comes out. On the bright side, I have a feeling that that one is going to be worth the wait.

Book Details
Title: Fool's Assassin
Author: Robin Hobb
Publisher: Harper Voyager
Pages: 630
Year: 2014
Language: English
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 978-0-00-744417-5
First published: 2014

Blood of Dragons - Robin Hobb

I guess this week is Robin Hobb week on Random Comments. After reading Hobb's novella The Willful Princess and the Piebald Prince, I'm having a go at Hobb's latest novel Blood of Dragons now.  I tend to avoid reading works by the same author back to back but just this once I did anyway. Blood of Dragons is the fourth and concluding  installment of The Rainwild Chronicles, a series that started out as a standalone and, as Hobb puts it herself, grew in the telling. The fact that story grew so much is reflected in the structure of the novels and usually not to their advantage. That being said, I have enjoyed a return to the Rainwilds in the previous three novels so I was quite eager to start reading the final volume. The Dutch version has been available since September2012, I've been sorely tempted to pick it up. If I'd had more time to read this winter I might have.

Blood of Dragons picks up the story shortly after the end of City of Dragons. The dragon keepers have settled near the famed city of Kelsingra with a fast flowing river between them and the comforts of the ancient city. One by one, the dragons make the plunge and start using their wings, allowing the keepers to move into the city start exploring Kelsingra. In the mean time the Tarman is on its way back from the Rainwilds cities with a cargo of much needed supplies. It is being followed by ships of Chalcedean traders and mercenaries and a mixture of Jamalian and Bingtown captives. They are looking for dragons to kill and take back to their ailing Duke. Only the magic of dragons can save him from death and he is determined to hang on to life by any means. As the outside world encroaches on Kensingra is becomes clear an new understanding between the city of dragons and the human nations around it will have to be found.

For some reason I always have issues with the final book in a trilogy or series by Robin Hobb and this book is no exception. It continues the story of the set of characters we've been with for three books already and many of their trials and problems are familiar with the reader by now. Although characterization has always been Hobb's forte, I think many readers are not eager to go over the details of the main characters' challenges again in this novel. At 535 pages it is a quite substantial book and much of it is given over to the personal struggles of the characters. It makes Blood of Dragons a fairly slow moving and at some points (the love triangle between Thymarra, Tats and Rapskal) repetitive novel. It is a book that requires more than a bit of patience of the reader.

One might argue that Hobb's style has never favoured a fast moving plot but in this case I feel the author has let the characters overshadow the larger bigger story that she has been trying to tell. A war and a heads on collision with the Trader Council, both of which had been brewing for quite a while, are dealt with in the final fifty pages of the book, with quite a lot of the action taking place off screen. It makes the end feel rushed and downplays the importance of some events. After all that careful worldbuilding it is a shame not to employ it to full effect. The role of Chalced in particular is underexposed. Hobb tries to drag the nation out of the role of the perpetual bad guy in the Realm of the Elderlings but in the end there is only one Chalcedean character we can feel any sympathy for.

Another resolution that felt rushed is the final confrontation between Sedric, Alise and Hest. Without spoiling the story here, the resolution is both abrupt and unsatisfying. Frankly, I feel Hobb took the easy way out here, although I must admit Hest's behaviour stays consistent until the very end. Still, for a story line that has been going on since the very beginning of the Rain Wilds Chronicles I thought it was too neat a solution for the threat Hest poses to Sedric and Alise. The fall out of their actions among the Trader communities in the Rain Wilds and Bingtown is also mostly glossed over. By the end of the novel, it feels like the Traders are still mostly in denial, pretending it is business as usual. With such, to their conservative society, shocking affairs taking place that doesn't seem like a very likely outcome to me. It is almost like Hobb is playing this part of the story down to prevent adding even more pages to the story.

One aspect of the novel were Hobb does keep things moving is the dragon's development. From the stunted little creatures they were in Dragon Keeper they transform to the confident yet immature dragons we get to see in this novel. Although the effects from their less than optimal youth are still being felt, they reach the point where dragons once again become a force to be reckoned with in the world. The keepers, highly influenced by dragons' glamour as they are, feel this is the setting right of an ancient wrong. Of those keeping a little more distance from the dragons, many will regret the day that Tintaglia crawled out of her cocoon on the banks of the Rain Wilds River. As always, Hobb's characters are many shades of grey, the dragons included.

In the end I thought Blood of Dragons was a decent novel but not an exceptional one. It suffered from the set up of the series as a whole and . Hobb feels the story grew in the telling. That might be true but I think that with a bit more rigorous editing many of the annoyances in this series could have been avoided. The abrupt cut that was necessary to split Dragon Keeper and Dragon Haven into two books for instance. Or the somewhat dragging middle section of this book. The split between City of Dragons and Blood of Dragons is handled a lot better than with the previous two books but the novels feel too long anyway. City of Dragons turns out to be the strongest novel in the series. I feel it is a shame that the conclusion has so many problems. This series deserved a stronger ending.

Book Details
Title: City of Dragons
Author: Robin Hobb
Publisher: Voyager
Pages: 535
Year: 2013
Language: English
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 978-0-00-744413-7
First published: 2013

The Willful Princess and the Piebald Prince - Robin Hobb

It's a good year for Robin Hobb fans. This month Blood of Dragons. the final installment in her current series the Rainwild Chronicles, appeared and on top of that The Willful Princess and the Piebald Prince,  a new novella also set in the Realm of the Elderlings, was released by Subterranean Press. I'm currently reading Blood of Dragons but when This beautiful little book arrived I couldn't help myself an read that one first. As usual the people at Subterranean did an great job of making the book look pretty. It's a nice little hardcover with with a cover and two full colour interior illustrations by Jon Foster. This book is almost worth the price just for the looks.

Robin Hobb is mostly comfortably writing the long form. Her novels tend to be very big books. In her debut under this pseudonym in 1995, only six pieces of shorter fiction have appeared. Five of them are tied to the Realm of the Elderlings in which most of her novels are set. I've read three of these pieces, collected in the Robin Hobb/Megan Lindholm collection The Inheritance (2011). Of those I thought only Homecoming, a story that serves as a prequel to the Liveship Traders trilogy, can live up to the standard Hobb sets in her novels. She just seems to be more comfortable with novel length works.

The Willful Princess and the Piebald Prince is a 38,000 word novella, even Hobb's short fiction is long. The story that reaches back to the Farseer trilogy. The legend of the Piebald Prince surfaces several times in those books as an illustration of the prejudice and outright hate people with eh Wit encounter in the Six Duchies. The details of the story are scarce though, and most of it is portrayed as legend rather than history. In this novella, we get an eyewitness account. It is told in the first person and Felicity, the woman who recounts the events, does make it clear that it deviates from official history in a few crucial details. The truth of the matter is for the reader to decide I guess.

Felicity is a servant and wet-nurse in service of the Farseers. She is the playmate of the 'willful' princess Caution and her son the Piebald Prince. The story is told in two parts. She first recounts the story of the princess Caution and her own youth by her side and how the young princess met a certain Chalcedean stable hand possessing the Wit. In the second half of the tale she moves on the Caution's son and the heir to the throne of the Six Duchies. Their lives will bring the Six Duchies to the brink of civil war and change the line of the Farseers forever.

Some reviewers feel this novella is a good entry point into the wider Realm of the Elderlings. I disagree with that. Hobb only touches lightly upon the Wit and the Skill and the significance both kinds of magic have for the Six Duchies. The real significance of what is going on will likely be lost on readers who haven't at least read the Farseer trilogy. The context of that story enriches the novella to the point that is becomes more than a well-written fairytale. Personally I think I would have found it only mildly interesting without having read the rest of the series.

The first person point of view Hobb chooses fits that of the rest of the Farseer books. I thought that was a nice detail. The way the story is split in two halves doesn't work nearly as well though. Essentially it is a tragic repetition. Both the Willful Princess and the Piebald Prince manage to wreck their lives under the influence of the Wit and in both cases it is like watching a train wreck. Hobb's novels are often tragedies and her characters are generally no strangers to self destructive behavior. To fit two of them in less than 200 pages is a bit too much in my opinion.

That being said, it is written with skill. I rarely come across an author who masters the first person point of view like Hobb does. Throughout the tale you feel Felicity's fear of being released from service and having to return to her live of poverty that her mother worked so hard to escape. It's the personal challenges amid events of nationwide significance that make the story come to life. It's the reason why I lived the Farseer trilogy so much and why I have devoured every book Hobb has published since. The novella is perhaps a bit too short for this technique to achieve its full effect but in a way Felicity is a more interesting character than either the Princess or her son.

So is The Willful Princess and the Piebald Prince worth the price Subterranean is asking? For a fan of Hobb's work I'd say yes. It is a well crafted tale about a key point in Six Duchies history. It enriches the series as a whole and will keep the experienced Hobb reader turning pages. For a fist time reader I think I'd be better just to pick up a copy of Assassin's Apprentice and start at the beginning. A full novel will be a more rewarding read. That is, if you can find a copy of this book at all. As I understand it Subterranean is almost though the second print of this novella already. Who says this type of work won't sell? I'm glad I got my copy on time, time to head back to the Rainwilds and finish Blood of Dragons now.

Book Details
Title: The Willful Princess and the Piebald Prince
Author: Robin Hobb
Publisher: Subterranean Press
Pages: 184
Year: 2013
Language: English
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 978-1-59606-544-4
First published: 2013

City of Dragons - Robin Hobb

Robin Hobb is one of those Fantasy authors I started reading when I had just started to explore the genre. The Farseer trilogy had just been translated in Dutch back then and Hobb was (and sill is) quite popular over here. I have read everything she has published in the mean time and dug up most of her novels written under the name Megan Lindholm as well. The Realm of the Elderlings remains her best know creation though, and Hobb is returning to it with the second set of two books in the Rain Wild Chronicles. It has happened a number of times that Hobb's work has appeared in Dutch translation before it came out in English. City of Dragons was published in September 2011 and Blood of Dragons, which will not appear in English until early 2013, followed in December. I understand that there are minor textual differences between the English and the Dutch edition because of later changes to the English manuscript. It still makes you wonder why on earth the US and UK publishers are sitting on those books for that long. Despite being sorely tempted to just get the translation, I waited for the English hardcover. I guess we'll have to see if I can hold out another nine months for Blood of Dragons.

City of Dragons picks up our desperate group of dragon keepers a few months after the end of Dragon Haven. They have found their promised land, the Elderling city of Kelsingra, but are cut off from it by the Rain Wilds river, swollen with the winter rains. Poorly equipped and barely able to feed the dragons, their only real chance of survival is for their ship the Tarman to return to Carrick and claim their reward. In the Rain Wild cities and Bingtown in the mean time, things remain unsettled. The aging and heirless Duke of Chalced is still determined to find the dragon parts he thinks he needs to prolong his life. Blackmail, torture, deceit and murder are acceptable means in his opinion. When rumors of the discovery of an unexplored Elderling city reach the civilized world, greed enters into the mix as well. The dragons and their keepers are going to change the world forever.

The previous two books in this (sub) series, Dragon Keeper and Dragon Haven, where originally one long novel that got so big the publisher decided to split the novel in two. Back then I felt the way they went about that didn't really do those books any favours. The rewriting made it even longer, probably more so than the story justified. With City of Dragons and Blood of Dragons a similar decision has been made. I get the feeling the decision to split the novel in two was made a bit earlier on though. The finale of this first book feels a bit less forced, as if Hobb knew early on what she was writing towards in terms of the overarching conflict the book covers, rather than looking for a good place to split the novel. That being said, the ending does involve a number of cliffhangers and some of the characters that are the focus of much of the book seem to be much less present later on in the novel. With a more than eight months still to go before the second part is available, the more impatient reader may want to put this book away for a bit.

Hobb mostly works with the cast she established in the first two volumes of the Rain Wild Chronicles. She uses multiple points of view to describe scenes in Bingtown, the Rain Wilds, Kelsingra and Chalced. I still marginally favour the first person point of view Hobb used in the Farseer and Tawny Man trilogies but I guess that is a matter of taste. For the story Hobb is trying to tell, multiple points of view are certainly necessary. It is becoming as politically complex as the Liveship Traders trilogy. The return of the dragons have destabilized the communities of the Rain Wilds and Bingtown. It is a development that has a human component as well of course. After gaining independence from Jamalia, Bingtown will now have to establish itself as a nation. It is a time of opportunity, a development that brings in lots of new people who do not share the history of hard work and countess setbacks on the Cursed Shore. There are social tensions everywhere in this book. Slavery, sexism and discrimination are major themes in the novel which makes it a fascinating read.

As usual, Hobb pays a lot of attention to her characters. They are detailed, three dimensional, each with a clear motivation, their own hopes, fears and challenges. Not all of them are equally likable of course and I felt that especially in the less sympathetic characters, Hobb tended to overemphasize their negative traits a bit. Hest in particular is set up to be the bad guy, with elaborate plans that will make life difficult for his wife Alise and his former lover Sedric that are very unlikely to go anywhere. I absolutely loved Malta's determination in this novel though, and Leftrin's efforts to keep from being overwhelmed by all the responsibility he feels towards his crew, the expedition, Alise and his ship. Leftrin is almost the embodiment of everything that is going on in the society he is part of. Old customs and certainties being eroded by the force of all these new developments.

The dragons themselves receive their share of attention too of course. They are still a bunch of arrogant creatures. Hobb does well making them at them interesting characters and completely inhuman at the same time. The conflict between their ancestral memories of what they should be and how they once were treated and the bleak reality of their situation. Stunted in their growth by the poor conditions in which they hatched and the minimal care they have received since, life is a struggle for them and it rankles. Sintara in particular feels she ought to be a queen of the sky as well as the muddy land around the river and it makes her decidedly unpleasant. Especially since her keeper Thymara is much more occupied with her own personal problems. The dynamic between these two is another strong feat of characterization in the novel. The way their relationship will develop is something for the next book I suppose. Both the absence of Tintaglia and Thymara's distractions pose challenges to their relationship. Neither seems to fully realize how much they need each other yet. A definite note of tragedy in the novel. But then, Hobb has always been a writer who lets her characters suffer.

As you may have gathered, I enjoyed reading this novel a lot. Despite the fact that it is not a complete story, City of Dragons worked very well for me on several levels. It is Hobb like the fans will probably like to see her. It is not surprising in terms of settings of themes but very well told, with Hobb's characteristic attention to detail and character. Some readers will think Hobb is taking her time putting the pieces in place for the finale of the series. For me, that was one of the aspects I enjoyed most. Hobb explores the tensions in society in detail without compromising on the development of her characters and that is something not all fantasy manages as effortlessly as this novel does.  I think I will ignore the Dutch translation and wait for the English edition of Blood of Dragons but Hobb certainly hasn't made it easy for me.

Book Details
Title: City of Dragons
Author: Robin Hobb
Publisher: Voyager
Pages: 425
Year: 2012
Language: English
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 978-0-00-727380-5
First published: 2012

The Inheritance - Robin Hobb and Megan Lindholm

One of my earlier endeavours in Fantasy was reading Robin Hobb's Farseer trilogy back when they were first translated into Dutch in the late 1990s. My feeling on some of the authors I read back then, Raymond E. Feist, Robert Jordan, Terry Goodkind, have changed considerably but Robin Hobb has remained one of my all time favourites. So much so that I am contemplating replacing some my Dutch language copies with English ones in the not too distant future. I now own six Hobb books in Dutch translation only. The rest is in English. Before starting her writings in the Realms of the Elderings, Hobb published 10 novels under the name Megan Lindholm. Currently, I have read eight of them. The tend to be more varied in choice of setting and themes, resulting in some very interesting novels, but not the popularity of her other pseudonym. The Inheritance is a collection of shorter pieces that combines the authors two voices. It contains seven pieces published under Megan Lindholm and three as Robing Hobb.

To highlight the difference between these two pseudonyms Voyager has made an edition with two covers, more of less in the style of the old Ace Doubles. The back cover is printed upside down but you can start reading at the back, the text assumes the Robin Hobb side of the book is the front. I've seen a lot of criticism directed at the Voyager covers for the Robin Hobb books. Personally I kinda like this one. Maybe because I am a cat person. The author provides brief introductions to each of the stories, usually with a bit of information about how the story came to be. I very much enjoyed reading those. One thing I think is missing from this edition is a publishing history of the stories it contains. I am pretty sure there is at least one, possibly two original stories in the collection but I have no idea when some of the others were first published. Bit of an oversight if you ask me.

While the front of the book features the name of Robin Hobb, the collection starts with the Megan Lindholm pieces. It opens with A Touch of Lavender, the longest Lindholm piece in the collection and one most clearly recognizable as science fiction. It is set in a world were an alien race referred to as Skoags have landed on Earth. In a effort to pry their secrets of interstellar space travel from them, the US government is taking care of them best they can. Much to disgust of some of the people living on welfare. The aliens are paid from their budget. We see the story through the eyes of a young boy from a broken family. He lives with his mother in a crappy apartment in poverty and soon ends up in a circle of hope, disappointment, neglect and substance abuse. If there is one thing that Hobb and Lindholm share it is their tendency to make their characters suffer. This story works very well for me on two levels. There is of course the question what these aliens are doing on Earth, something that will intrigue the science fiction reader. On the other hand there is also the drama of a dysfunctional family, something Lindholm highlights when one of the aliens steps into the role of father figure. It's an interesting mix and a strong opening of the collection.

Silver Lady and the Fortyish Man is the second story in the collection. It is written from the point of view of a 35 year old woman. She's an aspiring author and works not quite enough hours at Sears to make ends meet. She's also lonely, unhappy with her job and stuck in her writing career. Then she meets the Fortyish Man, who, with a dash of the supernatural, brings back joy in her life. Hobb has put events from her own life in pretty much all her fiction but this one is probably closest to autobiographical we get in this collection. She wrote it for her husband on the occasion of his fortieth birthday. It's very personal. I strongly suspect those two are the only two people on the planet who can really really see it for what it is.

There are a couple of Lindholm stories in this collection that are written to make the reader very uncomfortable. Cut is one of them. It deals with the question of how far someone can go, or should be allowed to go, in changing their bodies. Should a person be allowed full control over such matters are tattoos, piercings, burns or cosmetic surgery? Where do you draw the line between necessary and cosmetic? What if someone wants to voluntarily undergo a (female) circumcision? And how far would you go to stop someone from making the mistake of a lifetime? It's unsettling, though-provoking and brilliant. If you only ever read one story by Lindholm, make it this one.

Cats are quite common in both the Lindholm and Hobb stories. The Fifth Squashed Cat is one of three with a reference to the creatures in the title. It's a rather unusual Fantasy. We get to see the story through the eyes of the person who does not believe in magic. How many stories have you read where the protagonist is forced to admit there is magic in the world and continues to develop their talents in that area? What if you make another choice? This story features both the sensible choice and a taste of missed opportunity. And for a change it is the cats that get abused.

In Strays we get to see cats in quite a different form. Like the opening story of this collection it features a child growing up in an environment of abuse, neglect and drug use. This time we see the story through the eyes of someone from a more privileged, but still single parent, family. It's a nice Urban Fantasy but not my favourite of the collection. It's pretty clear in which the direction of the story is heading early on. I must admit Lindholm managed to write an interesting and incredibly strong character in the neglected girl Lonnie though.

Finis is the only story in the collection I didn't like. It's a vampire tale with a twist I suppose. The fact that a story has a vampire in it was never a recommendation in my mind, even before the onslaught of sparkly vampires I didn't really like these kind of stories. To make matters worse I saw the shape of the story on the third of twelve pages, after which it failed to hold my attention. It may work better for other readers though.

The final Lindholm story in the collection is The Drum Machine. It's one of the stories that is written to make the reader uncomfortable again. I guess you could call it a dystopia. It is set in a future where having children as perfect as possible is the norm. Random combinations of genes and the risk of hereditary disease is seen as an unwanted burden on the tax payers who eventually have to cover the cost of these less productive members of society. Lindholm draws a parallel between music and making babies that is quite interesting. Allowing randomness and experimentation is a risk. One that might make the composition, or the baby, better. Or worse. The society Lindholm describes doesn't take risks, something the main character approves of, both in music and procreation. The result is disturbingly mediocre. Great story, I think it his one of the originals, might make a good one for awards season next year.

The last three stories were written under the Robin Hobb pseudonym and all three are set in the Realm of the Elderlings. They take up slightly more than half the pages in this collection and this is one of the main differences between Hobb and Lindholm. Hobb writes epic fantasy, Lindholm writes more to the point. The first Hobb piece in the collection is the only one I have read before. Homecoming was published in Dutch as a novella in 2005. I enjoyed reading it back then and my opinion of it hasn't changed.

Homecoming is written as a diary and set well before any of the novels in this setting. It set well before any of the novels and deals with an exiled Jamalian noble couple, who's only chance to regain their rulers favour is in a successful colonization of the aptly named Cursed Shore. Her husband, who is of the opinion that women should be occupied with the arts and other less worldly pursuits and leave politics and economy to the men, hasn't seen it fit to tell her of their desperate situation. As the voyage progresses, the reality of it sinks in.

There's a great rift in this story between people who keep themselves going by fooling themselves into thinking they will one day return to Jamalia rich, and those who see that survival should be their first priority and that the chances of ever returning are minimal. Hobb shows the breakdown of old social structures very well. The author of diary is convinced of her status in the first stage of their journey but forced to let go later on. Something other members of the party have more trouble with. The lack of planning ahead, fulfilling immediate desires and chasing impossible dreams take disturbing proportions in the tale. It's a very nice look at the origins of the Rain Wilds settlements. Also note the subtle shift in language. The first entries are written by a well educated lady, a bit verbose, quite formal. In later entries the language becomes more direct.

The second Hobb story is the one that gives the collection it's title. The Inheritance is set in Bingtown for the most part. It deals with Cerise, a young woman who is turned out of her house after her grandmother, whom she's been taking care of, dies. Her inheritance consists of a few pieces of jewellery, among than an pendant made of Wizard Wood. It tells her the life story of her grandmother and how she lost her fortune. The pendant can help her get her inheritance back or so it tells her. Like other art made from Wizard Wood the pendant struck me a quite manipulative. On the one hand you feel sorry for Cerise, on the other hand, it smells of ordinary revenge.

Cat's Meat is the final story in the collection and I think this may be another original. It takes us to the Six Duchies where Rosemary is trying to make ends meet after her dashing lover left her for an other woman, leaving her to take care of their young son. After several years of absence, he returns, telling her he has come home. Rosemary can't just turn him out, the cottage she lives in is the legal property of their son, not hers. She is not happy to see him again though, with good reason as it turns out.

As with the previous two Hobb stories, it features a strong female character and an irresponsible, selfish male. The story also shows us a bit of the Wit, one of the two forms of magic found in the Six Duchies. All cats have it, something most cat owners would agree with. Rosemary's tomcat is quite surprised that she allows this rival into their house. The cat's point of view in this story is quite interesting. Again, the story leaves the reader with a sense that justice has not quite been served here. Cat's Meat is a thrilling tale, I read it in one go and I think most readers would have trouble putting it down. I think I like Homecoming better but there is not much between these very different novellas.

This collection is not a complete overview of the short fiction Lindholm and Hobb have produced but it clearly showcases that variety of works the author is capable of. Overall I thought The Inheritance is a strong collection. There's only one piece I consider weak, which is about as good as most collections get. It's also a good introduction to the Megan Lindholm side of the author's writing. Although I love the Hobb stories, I think this pseudonym does limit her to the more traditional epic fantasy. Lindholm's work shows she is capable of much more. Sometimes it is a gamble, not all of it is great, but some of her best work has been released under the Lindholm pseudonym. Which makes me wonder if The Drum Machine is not trying to tell us something about writing as well.

Book Details
Title: The Inheritance
Author: Robin Hobb and Megan Lindholm
Publisher: Voyager
Pages: 400
Year: 2011
Language: English
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 978-0-00-727377-5
First published: 2011

Dragon Haven - Robin Hobb

And finally the second part of Hobb's Rain Wilds Chronicles is here. In the US the two parts of what is really one long novel are published with only a few months in between. I was impatient and got the UK version of the first book Dragon Keeper July. I guess that is what you get for not being able to wait. I'm going to have to be content with getting the better UK cover art in return. Although Hobb tried to find a natural break in the story to split the book, I felt Dragon Keeper ended quite abruptly. It left me wanting to read on. My feelings about Dragon Haven are not that different, it's a satisfying read but I do get the feeling Hobb is not quite finished with this setting.

The dragons and their keepers, accompanied by the liveship river barge Tarman, are slowly making their way up the Rain Wilds river in search of the legendary city of Kelsingra. Far away from civilized society the keepers and their company have only themselves to rely on. After a life in the margins of the major Rain Wilds settlement of Trehaug many are ready to go out and create their own rules. Restrictions imposed on them in the Rain Wilds are not that easy to shake however. The keepers also have to try and care for and bond their dragons as best they can and it is becoming increasingly clear that neither the dragons nor the keepers are quite up to the task.

More unrest is caused by the ever present temptation to harvest dragon parts and return to the civilized world to sell them at an enormous profit. To make matters even more complicated the already dangerous Rain Wilds environment shows them the risks of this ill-prepared expedition into uncharted territory. After one of the frequent quakes a wave of highly acidic water literally washes over the expedition scattering them and their provisions. When the water calms the survivors are left to gather what little remains to them and press on. Turning back is not an option for any of the members.

Dragon Keeper clearly showed us the restrictions Bingtown and Rain Wilds society imposed on the various members of the expedition and how each of them is struggling under the burden.The further they get away from any kind of authority, the greater the temptation becomes to leave their past behind. This process of slowly realizing nobody is going to tell you what to do any more is very well done in the book. The generally young keepers push beyond the boundaries of what used to be acceptable and then find out that some rules do actually make sense.

On board the Liveship that accompanies the expedition conditions are perhaps even more complicated. The more adult crowd on board harbours a good many secrets and slowly but surely they are all coming to light. It's quite a feat that Hobb manages to keep track of who is keeping what hidden form who and what the others have heard or guessed about the situation. With all these characters mostly confined to each other's company the relationships between them form a complex tangle of love, anger, betrayal, distrust and forgiveness. The emphasis is on Alise, Sedric and Leftrin. At times I felt Sedric's reaction to the realization he's been sent away by his lover and Alise's husband Hest a bit too much. We get to see Hest as a very cruel and dominant person from both Alise's and Sedric's point of view. The first book, in which he actually appears, did nothing to convince us this image isn't deserved but without any insight in what is going on in his mind it is one way traffic. Both of them make decisions regarding their relationship to him but neither actually has to face him which made it feel like plain running away to me, no matter how noble the cause they've attached themselves to.

In one review I read of Dragon Keeper, the reviewer considered it only readable for the part of the population endowed with ovaries (or something to that effect). A comment that aimed at the lack of battles and other action scenes. If you consider this a problem then Dragon Haven is not going to be an improvement. Hobb's books are generally very much character driven and this one is no exception. The characters have quite a few issues among them and Hobb spends quite a bit of the book working through those. Personally I enjoyed the way we get to see the various characters change and how it affects the other members of the expedition. This is clearly not something on which everybody is going to agree with me.

Originally these two volumes were intended to be one large novel. After reading both parts I think I would have preferred that option. I enjoyed both books a lot but I can't entirely shake the impression that it didn't take eleven hundred pages to tell this story. They say that if an author wants to write a bigger book a good way to do it is add a character. Did Hobb start out with a point of view too many? These books as well the Liveship Traders trilogy, all books with multiple points of view, have the feeling of a story that was not meant to be quite so large. Maybe Hobb is better at keeping the story focused when writing a first person point of view.

An other factor that contributed to this feeling that perhaps these books are a bit longer than they need be, is the ending of the story. Without giving the end away, story lines are wrapped up, conclusions reached, it does end at a natural point to end the book but it definitely leaves possibilities for sequels. In a way it is giving the reader the feeling the journey has only just begun. I have no idea what Hobb will be working on once the work on the announced Hobb/Lindholm short fiction collection is done but I get the distinct feeling Hobb isn't done with the Realm of the Elderlings yet.

I seem to marginally prefer the Robin Hobb books in which she employs the first person perspective. I've seen some pretty negative reviews of her Soldier Son trilogy. I thought this switch to another main character and another world was refreshing. I must admit her subsequent return to the Realm of the Elderlings makes for some quality reading though. Dragon Haven is an engrossing story, both from the perspective of the dragons and their influence (a recurring theme in all the Eldering books) on the world as well as on the level of the human characters and their personal journeys. It's an absolute must read for Hobb fans.

Book Details
Title: Dragon Haven
Author: Robin Hobb
Publisher: Voyager
Pages: 570
Year: 2010
Language: English
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 978-0-00-733581-7
First published: 2010

Dragon Keeper - Robin Hobb

After writing thee books in a different setting Hobb returns to the Realm of the Elderings in Dragon Keeper, book one of the Rain Wilds Chronicles. The book connects to the Liveship Traders trilogy mostly but events in the other two trilogies set in this world play a part in the story as well. She intended this book to be a single volume but the first draft was considered too lengthy so the decision was made to spit the book. Reviewing this book is not going to be easy. We only get half the story, Hobb leaves us with something of a cliffhanger. This book weighs in at 553 pages, I guess it would have been enormous if they had published the whole story at once (even if we take the rewriting to make it two books into account) but I for one wouldn't have minded reading on after this first serving.

The book opens some time after the ending of Ship of Destiny. The sea serpents have reached their cocooning grounds in the Rain Wilds and are ready to begin the transformation to dragons. They are in poor condition though, malnourished and too old to survive the process. They have also arrived to late in the season to be ready to emerge the next spring. The dragon Tintaglia is worried and her fears turn out to be justified when the next summer the young Dragons emerge. They are small, unhealthy and not fully formed. Many die quickly. In true dragon spirit Tintaglia abandons the creatures who are in her opinion not fit to live.

Tintaglia leaves the Trades with the problem on deciding what to do next. They made a bargain with Tintaglia, one that forces them to take care of the creature. Several years later less than twenty of the creatures remain. They have become restless and a heavy burden on the Rain Wild community. Hidden agenda's and manipulation abound as a relocation is proposed. An expedition mounted to find a lost city in the Rain Wilds, one that the dragons remember vaguely in their ancestral memories. An unlikely collection of people gathers to take part in this ill advised expedition and guide the dragons to their destination.

Like the Liveship Traders books Hobb uses a multiple point of view, third person narrative for this story. That may well be the reason that the book turned out as long as it did, there are quite a few point of views in this book. There's river barge captain Leftrin, the dragon Sintara, the heavily Rain Wilds marked Thymara, the Trader's daughter and dragon scholar Alise and her chaperone Sedric. All with their own secrets and desires. Set in the conservative and in some ways repressive Trader milieu, Hobb managed to create a cast with enough potential for drama to fill a Jane Austin novel. Pride and Prejudice with Dragons. She may be on to something here.

Much of the novel deals with the restrictions in society imposes on their relationship. Themes such as marriage of convenience, suppressed homosexuality and taboos regarding the physical disfigurements causes by the Rain Wilds environment are strong themes in the books. Like in the Liveship Traders books it looks like the dragons are a catalyst for social change rather than the focus of the book. I always liked the way Hobb handles the fantastic elements in her books. Carefully dosed they never overshadow the character development in the books. Her well drawn characters are the strength of Hobb's writing. Dragons are a fantasy cliché, a popular theme that needs to be handled carefully the novel stand out. They are much more present in this book than the the Liveship Traders trilogy but not so much so that the book turns into a Pern novel (can't help it, I don't like those).

There is an awful lot of back story for this book. I suppose you'd understand the story well enough without having read the previous volumes but you'd miss a lot of references to events in earlier books. I wouldn't recommend readers for starting here, the actions of the dragon Tintaglia wouldn't make much sense if you did, just to name one example. Hobb's Elderling books are best read in order of publication. For established Hobb readers this is a book that will most certainly create a hunger for more however. In Dragon Keeper Hobb begins to answer one of the major questions the reader is left with after Ship of Destiny and she does so in style. Yes, it is half a story and there will be quite a wait for the next part. I understand Voyager has Dragon Haven scheduled for a spring 2010 release. If you can stand the wait for the conclusion however, Dragon Keeper is a great read. I don't think they handled the splitting of the books in two parts very gracefully, it felt rather abrupt, but based on the story presented in Dragon Keeper things certainly look promising for Dragon Haven.

Book Details
Title: Dragon Keeper
Author: Robin Hobb
Publisher: Voyager
Pages: 553
Year: 2009
Language: English
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 978-0-00-727374-4
First published: 2009