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Blood of Dragons

Author: Visit Amazon's Robin Hobb Page | Language: English | ISBN: 0062116851 | Format: PDF

Blood of Dragons Description

From Booklist

In this, the fourth book of the Rain Wilds Chronicles, the excitement and intensity continue as Tintaglia, the legendary dragon, has returned, but wounded by the Chalcedeans. These people are still seeking dragon body parts, but especially dragon blood, in an effort to save their despotic duke. To heal the dragon, the new Elderlings must find the elusive silver wells. The younger dragons have matured further, and their dedicated keepers, the new Elderlings, are beginning to gain deeper understanding of their roles. For a reader who has followed the story from the beginning, this episode both fulfills and leaves the reader wanting more. The characters continue to evolve, drawing the reader ever more fully into the world they inhabit. For readers unfamiliar with the ongoing story, this book may be somewhat confusing, because the story and characters are built on the prior tales. However, for those who have read others of Hobb’s books set in the same world, dragons, magic, and intrigue combine to make this book a fascinating read. --Rebecca Gerber

Review

“A satisfying story” (The News-Star (Monroe, LA) on DRAGON HAVEN)

“A deservedly popular author, an accomplished storyteller with an engaging and readable style.” (London Times)

“A master fantasist.” (Kansas City Star)

“[A]n engaging tale with fully realized characters that already feel like friends.” (Las Vegas Review Journal on CITY OF DRAGONS)

“Real-life resonance gives the story extra depth…Bring on the next installment.” (Kirkus Reviews on CITY OF DRAGONS)

“Dragons, magic, and intrigue combine to make this book a fascinating read” (Booklist)

“Hobb excels at telling big stories and juggling multiple story arcs. Fans of the author and of this series who eagerly await this installment will not be disappointed” (Library Journal (starred review))

“Hobb excels at world building, wonderful prose, and the ability to endow her creatures with humanity...The novel has many threads skillfully interwoven, to create an exciting tale of growth, change, and stubborn survival.” (SFRevu on BLOOD OF DRAGONS)

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details
Table of Contents
Reviews

Series: Rain Wilds Chronicles (Book 4)
Hardcover: 448 pages
Publisher: Harper Voyager; First Edition, 1st Printing edition (April 9, 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 9780062116857
ISBN-13: 978-0062116857
ASIN: 0062116851
Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.4 x 1.6 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)

Way back in a review of the second book (Dragon Haven) in Robin Hobb's RAIN WILDS series, I wrote "I've begun to wonder over the course of Hobb's recent books if she is exploring just how much plot she needs in her novels to actually have a `story.' It's almost as if she's feeling her way to as quiet and minimalist a style (in terms of action, not language) as possible." Now, two books later, with Blood of Dragons, the tetralogy has come to a close and I'd say the question still pertains. While normally a fan of Hobb's character-driven and slower-paced style, I have to confess that this series was a little uneven for me, and its finale a bit too slow with characters who didn't quite hold my interest enough.

Blood of Dragons picks up where its predecessors ends, with the Elderlings and dragons just outside the rediscovered city of Kelsingera, where the two once lived ages ago amidst wonders of magic. We left this group (made up of Alise, Tats, Thymara, and others) when only a few dragons had learned to fly, and in Blood, the rest quickly pick up the knack and soon everyone has moved into the city, raising a host of issues: the humans must deal with the effects of "memory stone"--the way one can become one with the past lives of the city's inhabitants, the dragons and their keepers have to readjust to more self-sufficient dragons, the city must be made livable for the long-term, and a search must be made for "Silver," the mysterious substance that was the lifeblood (literally) of the city and its human/dragon inhabitants. Meanwhile, the city is quickly losing its isolation, as Alise's vindictive husband Hest, a Chalcedean assassin seeking dragons for his Duke to feed off on, and a gravely wounded Tintaglia, Queen of Dragons, all slowly approach.

I've been following the Rain Wilds Chronicles since the beginning. Well, actually I've been glued to the entire world that Robin Hobb created, which began in the Farseer Trilogy. Hobb is a superlative storyteller, with the ability to keep me turning pages well after my bedtime. As with the very best SF/F, the _world_ becomes a major player in the story, as we readers try to understand its physics (such as how magic works, or the life cycles of dragons). And, as with Pern and other such worlds-as-characters, in my heart of hearts I emotionally believe that Hobb's world really exists.

This is the fourth book in the fourth series set in this universe. You could conceivably start with the Liveship Traders series before embarking on the Rain Wilds Chronicles, though I love Assassin's Apprentice (from the original Farseer trilogy) so much that I think it would be a damned shame to miss out. In any case, you really DO have to start with Dragon Keeper here; there's no way to pick up this fourth book in the Rain Wilds series in this final volume. Don't even think of it. So I shall assume that you have read the earlier novels, or at least you have considered the first book in the series and (wisely) snuck ahead to see if Hobb can keep the energy going through all four books.

Don't worry. She can and does.

I know several reviewers who felt that this series got off to a slow start, and I can acknowledge the reasons they felt that way.

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