The book takes place in the Rain Wilds, the exotic area located upstream of Bingtown, the city where much of the action in The Liveship Traders is set, at a time shortly after the concluding events at the end of The Tawny Man trilogy. Instead, it can perhaps best be seen more as a sequel to The Liveship Traders trilogy: the middle, and I feel the best, trilogy in the nine book Realm of the Elderlings saga. The sense of deep mystery and Hobb’s glorious ability to gradually reveal the true workings of her complex world are somewhat lacking in her latest effort.ĭragon Keeper is not a direct continuation of the story of perhaps Hobb’s most iconic character, FitzChivalry Farseer, and his companion The Fool. The experienced reader will be easily able to predict the plot and much of the character development ahead of time, due to the abundant clues Hobb leaves littered throughout her text. However, the book is ultimately a disappointment due to its lack of challenging ideas. If you haven’t read Hobb’s previous works in this series, you should not be reading Dragon Keeper or this review. Spoiler warning: This review contains some important background on Robin Hobb’s Realm of the Elderling series, although it does not contain spoilers for Dragon Keeper.
Review Dragon Keeper, the long-awaited continuation of the events set in Robin Hobb’s Realm of the Elderlings series, represents a solid accomplishment that that the revered author’s steadfast fans will enjoy as much as a hearty meal.