Reviewed by:
- Book written by Robin Hobb
- Published in 2013
- Part 3 of The Rain Wild Chronicles
In part four of The Rain Wild Chronicles, the gang’s back together in Kelsingra. Legendary dragon Tintaglia has finally reached the city, but she is wounded and close to death. Only the silver that used to flow through the wells of the city can save her. However, she is not the only one who needs the silver to survive. Every single dragon and keeper is dependent on the silver if they wish to live the long lives they are supposed to. Meanwhile, Selden is captured by the duke of Chalced, who drinks the dragon boy’s blood to regain his health. He finds an ally in the Duke’s rebellious daughter, who is tasked with keeping him alive.
I’m really conflicted on how to rate this series. This book wasn’t fantastic. It was fine. I wish the series would have ended in a way that made the journey a little more worthwhile. After almost 2000(?) pages of this story, I’m just glad to be done. And still I gave it 3.5 stars! Let me explain.
I really enjoy Hobb’s books and her world. Her worldbuilding is fantastic, and she writes really good characters. I truly see not only this book as part of a series, but the series itself as part of a larger whole. I would never recommend this series to someone who has never read a book by Robin Hobb. I, however, have read all the books preceding it, and I know that having read this series will enrich my experience of reading the next books in the series.
I do have to note that I listened to the audiobooks of this series, and every book had a different reader. On top of that, this means that the interpretation of certain characters was heavily influenced by whomever was reading it.
Now let’s talk about some things I didn’t love.
- Malta’s role in the story. Women don’t have to constantly be strong, but Malta had nothing going on in this series. She is my favourite of the Liveship Traders, but here she was a glorified extra.
- Everyone gets a love interest! Even the dragons!!
- The ending feels very underdeveloped compared to the endlesssss unnecessary romances. With a couple of hours left I wondered how Hobb could possibly nicely tie together the ends of the story. Well, she didn’t really. Most of the ending is told through an epilogue.
- I just feel like this could have been a trilogy