Dragon Haven (Rain Wilds Chronicles, Vol. 2): Volume Two of the Rain Wilds Chronicles Kindle Edition

My mother made sure we always had some kind of dessert or sweets to snack on. At the same time, with two teenage boys in the house, she got a little upset if an afternoon of baking disappeared in under an hour.I finished  Dragon Keeper  yesterday morning. While it wasn't as good as Hobb's best, I liked it. And when I found two sequels on sale for a few dollars apiece, I picked them up immediately. Now, less than 24 hours later, I've finished Dragon Haven. My mother would be appalled, but it tells you something about the book. I did some other reading yesterday (as well as actually rising from the sofa for a good part of the day), but it's fair to say that reading this book was a major focus. The story is not perfect, but it's very readable.Unlike most of Hobb's trilogies, not a lot has actually happened in the two books. Mostly, it's dragons and their keepers sloshing up the Rain Wilds rivers. The story is about the personal interactions, and the development of both the humans and the dragons. It may that latter that makes this second book read a bit like a young adult novel - most of the characters are relatively immature, and the emotional turbulence they face is largely of the coming of age sort. With dragons.It may also be the reason that Dragon Haven succeeds better than Dragon Keeper. My complaint there was that it was disheartening to see struggles about sexuality that we've resolved (to some extent, in some place) in real life. The struggles in this book are also not new, but some are things that will never go away so long as young people keep growing into older people. There are others as well (efforts at male dominance over females) that are disappointing to the idealist in me, but that didn't trouble me as much narratively, perhaps because the story is also about an isolated group establishing new rules. Mostly, the story is an engaging adventure story with lots of personal interaction to absorb, and quite a few moral dilemmas to consider.The weakest part of the story is the dragons themselves, in some ways. I give Hobb credit for making the individuals, and not always very pleasant ones. But she comes very close at times to the stereotype of 'dragons as wise, ancient creatures who know all'. Or rather, since the dragons clearly aren't to humans treating them as if they were - living only to serve these beautiful creatures. It's not quite that clear-cut, and some humans do stand up to the dragons, but not as much as I want them to. It's an ongoing frustration, and Hobb's explanations don't go far enough for my taste.This book also wraps a few things up a little too neatly. There's conflict and drama, but also a bit of ex machina that I think could have been handled better.At the same time, I did read the book in one day, and I'm going on to the next later today.All in all, a solid fantasy book with an intriguing, enjoyable story, and well worth reading.

This series is so wonderful and exotic. It has been a long time since I have found an author with such an imagination and I just can't stop reading everything she writes. I highly recommend this series to anyone who loves reading and at the same time being transported to another world of fantasy .

If you, as you probably are for considering this book, are overly familiar with this particular universe created by Lindholm/Hobb it should hold few suprises. Yet it is the comfortable and competent storytelling of this writer that keeps you coming back for more..The familiar style of Hobb along with the old appealing idea of encounters with fallen and forgotten civilazations accompanied by dragons is a nice and cozy mix. I miss a bit of further exploration into the world in itself, but that would have to come at the expense of the many dramatic encounters between the characters introduced in the first book, so I'll let that one slide.One positive aspect of this book is that it describes the love and romantics so familiar in the fantasy genere, but takes it in the suprisingly unexplored (unexplored in the world of fantasy) of homosexuality and gay love. the fact that parts of the plot rests heavily on the complications of the familiar stigma around open homosexuality makes the motivation behind certain characters actions far more belivable.It should be mentioned that one internet postingmade by Hobb some time ago described this two- volumed story as a single stand-alone. which would have made for a better read as you somewhat get the feeling that the two books is actually a single larger one who has had an unfortunate encounter with a meat-cleaver.I wouldn't recomend reading this book unless you are atleast familiar with the liveship trilogy as there are several names, locations and concepts that aren't as richly described as a new reader could wish for. Then again some might actually find great pleasure at the hints of the numerous other stories, but I guess that most readers won't. If you love Hobb and need a untroublesome re-fill this is what you should read. If you want yet another deeper look into this particular world and enjoy suprising twists to the plot, you'll need to wait for the possibility of future books.This review is quite uncompetently written. I partly blame the fact that it was written on my Kindle.

I've been a fan of science -fiction fantasy since I was 20 years old. That was 50 years ago when I first read The Hobbit and then The Lord of the Rings. I read them straight through, barely pausing to eat and sleep. Since then, I've had the pleasure of reading many of the best sci-fi authors including some of best. I won't bother the reader with a list of the authors I think are the best, but I would without hesitation, include Robin Hobb. Robin has an incredible gift for creating characters with amazing reality. Her sensitivity to those characters and the lives they lead makes them jump off the page. I feel touched by the way they deal with the issues they face and moved by their depth. Robin's ability to paint all kinds of people with very real issues allows them to jump off the page. Generating an entirely different yet just as plausible set of experiences and problems for dragons is a stunning accomplishment. The first two volumes of the Rain Wild Chronicles causes to wait impatiently for the next volume. Thank you for the incredibly entertaining experience Robin.

Normal service has resumed with another five star read. As expected as the characters have been established the story becomes more interesting and involving.We continue to follow the underdeveloped dragons and their Rain Wilds marked keepers upriver in search of the fabled Elderlings city of Kelsingra. This is very much a journey story as the keepers and the crew of the support barge face the physical and mental trials of an unmapped trek to an unknown destination. There are thrills, tragedy and conflict along the way and a real sense of uncertainty about whether they’ll make it and what it means if they do reach journey’s end.It’s probably the age of the keepers that makes the Rain Wild Chronicles feel more YA Fantasy than any others in the series. This is despite the fact that there’s more bed hopping and the teenage characters start out older than the protagonists we first meet as pre-teens in the Farseer and Tawny Man books. I suspect it’s because despite being excluded from mainstream Rain Wild society because of their markings the keepers all feel quite sheltered and naïve in a way that trainee assassin Fitz was never allowed to be. It’s also probably be a factor that Thymara, the keeper we mostly see from the perspective of, reminds me of The Hunger Games’s Katniss in her quiet refusal to respect the rules while also not wanting to rock the boat too much.I’m looking forward to seeing how this progresses.

I was sceptical about starting to read the first book in this series - Dragon Keeper - that my daughter had bought for me, after a previous fantasy novel by a different author had failed to capture my imagination and I'd abandoned it early-on. However, as I began to read it, I very quickly got drawn-in to the diverse, different characters, seemingly unconnected at first, yet wonderfully described and provided with their own histories and endearing characteristics.As that book had progressed, the different characters gradually became involved together and the story itself became one I found difficult to put down.By the end of that first book I was panting for this second volume, to see what would happen next, so I bought myself a Kindle, specifically for the purpose of following this quadrilogy in the most convenient way for me, and I'm already three-quarters of the way through "Dragon Haven" and I'm still enthralled by this amazing saga. Robin Hobb is one talented lady and I'd heartily recommend anyone who enjoys a good, well-written and well-thought-out fantasy tale to seek these books out and start reading - in the right order, of course!

The second book in the Rain Wilds Chronicles is more the second half of the first book than a separate novel. It follows the journey of the dragons, their keepers and the rest of the party as they travel up the Rain Wilds river to find the legendary city of Kelsingra.It's not really an exciting tale of adventure though, rather more looking at the characters and how they, and the relationships between them, develop over time. As such, while it's interesting to follow their lives, the narrative isn't really gripping and I didn't find I was as hooked as I have been with earlier Robin Hobb novels.The characters are good, varied, and perhaps deeper than ever before. Really I suppose this is a love story, a little reminiscent of the film Love Actually, as it follows the budding romances between pairs of characters, and the collapse of others. In this, it's really good, and there's one particular relationship that I found fascinating to follow.It's quite different to the author's usual tales, and I quite liked the variety, but didn't find it as engaging. It's a little slow and is very much the middle and end of the story started in The Dragon Keeper.

Well having read as much as robin hobb has written, this is another step towards completing the big picture of whats to come. I can't fault it really, what i really enjoy about her writing is despite being another brick to create the wall that encompasses fitz and the fool even though these four books do not mention them, a lot happens in each. When reading other book cycles i either sense that they've written it under deadline mania or are making polite conversation before the final book concludes all. It was only 3 books ago, the serpents were making there way up the rain wild river in the live ship traders. Jumping back to dragon haven - With Robin its just interesting and progressive, essentially I don't feel like i'm an observer, her writing style invites me to get involved every chapter. No other author gets me going like Robin, thank you robin

The first book was intreguing and had me looking forward to when I woke up the next day so I could read on about the dragons. I'm not enjoying this one as much and I've gotten bored; Perhaps the higher focus on [names redacted to avoid spoilers] relationship has me bored, and it is definitely not something that progresses the story - I think. I'll keep trying and ammend this review if reading on changes my mind. What I do know however, is that the dragon's inaptitude is getting really annoying and I'm a little sick of it. Again, I loved the first book.