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Dragon Haven (Rain Wild Chronicles #2)

by Robin Hobb (Goodreads Author)

3.99 of 5 stars 3.99 · rating details · 5,814 ratings · 355 reviews

The acclaimed New York Times bestselling author of Dragon Keeper returns with a second enthralling tale of dragons and humans, adventure and discovery, love and freedom

Centuries had passed since dragons last roamed the war-torn world of the Rain Wild River. But as peace once again settled upon the land, a lost generation of sea serpents--ancient, half-starved, and weary--r...more The acclaimed New York Times bestselling author of Dragon Keeper returns with a second enthralling tale of dragons and humans, adventure and discovery, love and freedom

Centuries had passed since dragons last roamed the war-torn world of the Rain Wild River. But as peace once again settled upon the land, a lost generation of sea serpents--ancient, half-starved, and weary--returned to cocoon, certain that they would be reborn as the beautiful and powerful dragons of legend. But their arduous journey exacted a heavy toll, and the proud serpents emerged as sickly, half-formed beasts, unable to fly or hunt . . . or thrive. For years now they have been trapped on a swampy riverbank between forest and river, hungry and barely alive, reliant on humans to provide for them.

With their survival at stake, fifteen dragons--among them the wise golden Mercor, the haughty and dazzling silver-blue queen Sintara, and the delicate copper beauty Relpda--have set off on a dangerous trek into the unknown, up the Rain Wild River, in hopes of rediscovering the ancient Elderling city of Kelsingra, the lost haven for dragons and Elderlings alike. The dragons are accompanied by a disparate group of human keepers, rejects from Rain Wild society. They, too, yearn to find Kelsingra and create a home of their own, one in which they may make their own rules and decide their own fate. But is Kelsingra real or merely a fragment of a glorified past buried deep in the dragons' shared memories? No map exists to guide them, and the noble creatures find their ancient recollections of little use in a land changed by generations of flooding and seismic chaos.

As the dragons, the humans--including the strong and defiant Rain Wild girl Thymara; the wealthy dragon scholar and Trader's wife, Alise; and her companion, the urbane Sedric--and their magical supply barge, captained by the gruff Leftrin, forge their way ever deeper into uncharted wilderness, human and beast alike discover they are changing in mysterious and dangerous ways. While the bonds between them solidify, starvation, flashfloods, and predators will imperil them all. But dragons and humans soon learn that the most savage threats come from within their own company . . . and not all of them may survive.

Returning to the territory of her beloved Liveship Traders and Tawny Man trilogies, New York Times bestselling author Robin Hobb creates a lush and ultimately triumphant tale set in an imaginative world of magic and wonder as compelling and emotionally resonant as our own.(less)

Hardcover, 508 pages

Published May 11th 2010 by Eos (first published January 1st 2010)

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Mar 15, 2010 Gelis rated it 3 of 5 stars

Another good one from Robin Hobb, who does a decent job in presenting a new perspective on her Rainwild / farseer world. It is very interesting to take a walk with these stunted dragons along a poisonous river and see them grow inside and outside just like their "keepers". The dragons, esp. Sintara are egocentric and strange -with the exception of wise Mercor and maybe Kalo they are adolescents. To see Sedric reformed- was not surprising after the Malta incident- hated her at the start and she g...more

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Dec 26, 2011 Duffy Pratt rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy

It's rare that I care much about how a book ends. This book set up its situations well. I liked the characters and thought them interesting. Hobb had set the stage for some good dramatic conflict. And then, one by one, the conflicts fizzled. The worst, in my opinion, was nothing more than a sort of deus ex machina. This one left the conflict in place, without any sort of resolution at all.

Despite the end, I did enjoy the ride for the course of these two books. And if she decides to return to th...more

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Feb 25, 2012 Loederkoningin rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: all-nighters, high-fantasy

Guess who’s back?

Hobb is back! Well, at least so it may appear to those who – like me - just couldn’t plow their way through her Soldier’s Son trilogy. Although the Rain Wilds Chronicles started out a little slow and unremarkable, I was confident that Hobb would not disappoint in the books to come. She is, after all, one of those authors who just like to take their time, sweet time in order to fabricate a compelling world and story. And I like that! It makes the reading experience so much richer...more

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Jun 23, 2010 Robert Beveridge rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: amazon-vine, finished, owned-and-still-own

Robin Hobb, Dragon Haven (Eos, 2010)

Every time I read a Robin Hobb trilogy, it happens. Somewhere along the way, I get sucked into it, and I wind up forgoing such niceties as food and sleep in order to finish whatever book of hers I happen to be in the middle of. It took a little longer than usual with the Rain Wilds Chronicles, but about seventy-five pages into Dragon Haven, it clicked. I finished the rest of the book in a couple of marathon sessions and am now pacing my cage while I wait for t...more Robin Hobb, Dragon Haven (Eos, 2010)

Every time I read a Robin Hobb trilogy, it happens. Somewhere along the way, I get sucked into it, and I wind up forgoing such niceties as food and sleep in order to finish whatever book of hers I happen to be in the middle of. It took a little longer than usual with the Rain Wilds Chronicles, but about seventy-five pages into Dragon Haven, it clicked. I finished the rest of the book in a couple of marathon sessions and am now pacing my cage while I wait for the next volume to come out. (Because yes, I do think, despite promotional materials, there will be a third book here.)

When we last left our tangle of malformed dragons, outcast keepers, and taggers-along from Bingtown, they were out of Cassarick, but other than that, little had changed. Alise Finbok was still moping around after the captain and feeling there wasn't anything she could do about it, while the captain was busy worrying about who the mole in his crew was. Some of the dragons were getting along with their keepers, while others barely tolerated one another. And the keepers were little different amongst themselves. The hunters kept away from everyone else. And the keepers of the birds passed their notes in the chapter beginnings with no one the wiser. Well, all that changes. Most of it, anyway (the bird keepers keep passing notes). As the dragons get closer to Kelsingra, the humans continue to wonder whether the lost city even exists. But all that becomes secondary to survival when a flash flood tears through the party, scattering dragons, keepers, hunters, and ship's crew alike. The bulk of the latter half of the book involves everyone searching for everyone else, in fact, and it's this sort of chaos where Hobb truly excels.

It's tough to know what rating to give this book until we know for certain whether there will be a book three in this series. As a stand-alone, it's about as phenomenal as anything else Robin Hobb has written, and if you like her work, you'll like this one well enough; engaging characters, strong plot, great pacing (once she gets warmed up, which always seems to take a while). But if that's really the ending of this particular story arc, I'll end up coming back and docking the book half a star, maybe even a full star. It's a weak ending, and it doesn't really beg a sequel (in the sense that the story could reasonably end here); if the story ends up just petering out where it is rather than giving us more, then the ending drags the whole thing down. I can't believe that's the case, though; Hobb has a history of incredible series endings. I'm reserving judgment and keeping faith until we know for sure. ****
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Jun 27, 2010 Ole Imsen rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: epic-fantasy, fantasy

Unsurprisingly this book follows directly on from the events of "The Dragon Keeper". It does start off with a info-dump prologue that at first glance looks like a unnecessary read if you come directly from the previous book. But the prologue not only recaps the events of book one, Hobb has hidden some interesting new info in it, so it is an essential read.

This book takes place wholly away from the civilization of the Rain Wilds, and follows the journey of the dragons and their keepers further...more Unsurprisingly this book follows directly on from the events of "The Dragon Keeper". It does start off with a info-dump prologue that at first glance looks like a unnecessary read if you come directly from the previous book. But the prologue not only recaps the events of book one, Hobb has hidden some interesting new info in it, so it is an essential read.

This book takes place wholly away from the civilization of the Rain Wilds, and follows the journey of the dragons and their keepers further into the wilds. Not only the physical wilds of the Rain Wild River, but also the wild landscape of the human psyche.
Parts of the book looks at the dynamics of a group of individuals who are cut off from civilization. Some of what happens reminded me of "Lord of the Flies", and i would not be surprised if Hobb has drawn some of her inspiration from William Golding's novel.

There is a bit more action here than in "The Dragon Keeper", and the overall pace of events is stepped up a bit. There are still passages that are largely devoted to character building, and that is certainly still a large part of the story, but there is quite a few events happening in the physical world too.
It quickly becomes clear that there actually was a bit more happening in book one than was told to the reader. This was mostly very natural, as it was hidden from the point of view characters at the time. One development did make me feel a bit cheated as I felt the character should have noticed earlier, or at the very least had a feeling of something going on.

One thing that there is certainly more of here than in book one is romance. Not that it is in any way turned into a "Romantic Fantasy", but there is a bit of "action" in the book. This comes naturally with the story, and at least one of the developing relationships has been telegraphed since early in the previous book.
Robin Hobb also manages to sneak in some surprises on the romance front, and one of them comes as such a surprise that I doubt anyone will catch on before the reveal.

What was the most interesting part of the book for me was finding out about the relationship between humans, dragons and elderlings. This is revealed in more detail here than in any of Hobbs previous works. This relationship between three races is something that has been part of Robin Hobb's fantasy world since "The Farseer Trilogy" and to see what looks like most of the mysteries revealed is very satisfying.

Having mentioned earlier in this review that there is more action here than in "The Dragon Keeper", I feel the need to say that it is by no means an action oriented adventure. But as with the previous volume in "The Rain Wild Chronicles" I felt that the slow pace fitted the story.
I've read several reports that these two books were first intended as one, and I have no trouble believing that. It might be possible to read this book as a standalone, but I would definitely recommend you read these to books as a split volume and begin with the first one.

The ending of this book, and as far as I know "The Rain Wild Chronicles", was a bit of a letdown. Not because it was a badly written ending, or that it didn't finish the story. It did however leave me with a lack of closure that almost screams for a follow up. I hope it comes in the form of another trilogy from Robin Hobb, and that she's working on it now, because I want to read it as soon as possible.

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Mar 18, 2010 Chris Schaeffer rated it 5 of 5 stars

Ten months ago I finished reading The Dragon Keeper by Robin Hobb and I was not pleased with the novel. I now know that the reason Dragon Keeper was not as enjoyable as I had expected was because it was not even close to a full story, nor was it ever meant to be one. Dragon Haven is the amazing finish to The Rain Wild Chronicles. The Rain Wild Chronicles is the combined story of both The Dragon Keeper and Dragon Haven. Each book is volume one and volume two.

In Dragon Haven, the characters were w...more

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Feb 07, 2012 Erin rated it 2 of 5 stars

Nothing whatsoever happens in the first book. Then in this one, I wait for ages and ages for the good stuff to happen (them finding the city), which only happens right at the end and we don't even get to know what happens to them after that. There are really only one or two exciting things that happen in both books.

I would be way happier if she reduce both books to one book with a total of 400 pages max, then actually write about the interesting stuff which she never got to at all.

I started read...more

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Feb 27, 2013 Freya rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: dragons, fantasy, own

A brief review I think, seeing as I am now 'mid-series'. This is the second out of four books that make up the Rain Wild Chronicles. The dragons and their keepers continue their journey to try and find Kelsingra.

I like a book that is happy... although that tends to result in a dull book. Hobb sticks a number of people (and dragons) in a relatively small space, with different agendas and views and makes them have to try and survive together. It was interesting reading about the relationships and...more

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Apr 10, 2012 Julie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book for me was the epitome of why I DONT LIKE to read series.
In my opinion a book in a series should be a self contained story. Book one and Book two of the Rain Wilds Chronicles seemed more like parts of a single story than stand alone books.
I liked the characters. I liked the writing style and I enjoyed the book, but the end of the book left a bad taste in my mouth. The story is unfinished and I have to wait until 2013 to find out what happens.
I would recommend anyone who may be intere...more

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Apr 04, 2012 Diane Severson rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, fiction

It took a million years to finish this book, not because it wasn't good, or compelling, because it is! But because I read this book in its entirety out loud to my husband. Typically, he falls asleep after a few pages and I'm ready to too.

Dragon Haven is an excellent book, even though there is not much of a plot to speak of. The Dragons, their "keepers" and the LiveShip Tarman and his crew and a couple of Bingtown Traders are on their way up the Rain Wilds River in search of the Elderling and Dra...more

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Mar 06, 2011 Heidi rated it 4 of 5 stars

The sequel to Dragon Keeper, Dragon Haven begins and ends the journey through the Rain Wilds to the dragon's idyllic city of Kelsingra. Although there are adventures and deviations, the characters' stories all end much more neatly and sweetly than Robin Hobb's stories usually do. I've noticed many Goodreads readers have complained about the lack of action in this series, but I think that's just Robin Hobb in general; her focus is more on character development, and she does it very well. There is...more

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Jul 03, 2010 Colleen rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: dragons, elemental-magic, fantasy, psychic-powers

Dragon Haven begins right where Dragon Keeper left off (which was in the midst of some action, and for this reason, I don't recommend reading this series out of order). Having temporarily stopped their trek up the Rain Wilds River to find the ancient Elderling city of Kelsingra, the dragon keepers, dragon scholar Alise, and Captain Leftrin are trying to help the sickly copper dragon recover before moving onward. But secrets amongst the keepers, the hunters, and the crew of the Liveship Tarman ar...more

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Apr 16, 2010 Saya rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2010

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Apr 09, 2010 Tessa rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I haven't enjoyed a book by Robin Hobb this much since The Tawny Man Trilogy. When I started in The Dragon Keeper, part one of the chronicles, I was slightly apprehensive because I had never really gotten into her liveship trader trilogy, due to the amount of different characters and the third person perspective (both of which this book has). Nevertheless, I finished the first book, which I definitely enjoyed but wasn't really thrilled about. Certain characters annoyed me a bit and I felt the la...more

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Mar 17, 2010 Claire rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is the sequel to "Dragon Keeper". These are the first Robin Hobb books I've read.

I really liked the characters in this story, and the way that they progress and change throughout the story. But that's all it was, for the most part - not a lot happens, plot-wise. It is quite slow going. And I do feel that this and "Dragon Keeper" should have been one long book (perhaps with some editing!) rather than two separate ones, because not much at all happens in book 1 (it takes about halfway for the...more

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Sep 20, 2010 Suna rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, dragon-fiction

I've only just found out this is possibly the last installment of the Rain Wild Chronicles, which instantly made me give it one star less than I intended.

Initially, I was going to say that, for a middle book in a trilogy, a hell of a lot happens. Given that middle books are usually filler and a crescendo towards a big finale, I was appreciating all the rapid plot developments immensely, looking forward to the third book to wrap everything up.
But if that's all she wrote, it's a big disappointment...more

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May 30, 2010 Nikki rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: dragons, fantasy, lgbt

I was pleasantly surprised with how quickly I've read this duology. I stalled for a long time with Liveships and with the Soldier Son trilogy: this was much closer to what I hoped for. It isn't perfect, but I definitely enjoyed it. It's been a while since I read so much of a single book/series so quickly, and it was wonderful to immerse myself so thoroughly in Robin Hobb's world again.

A lot of the flaws from my review of The Dragon Keeper remain. On the whole, I thought it was better in this boo...more I was pleasantly surprised with how quickly I've read this duology. I stalled for a long time with Liveships and with the Soldier Son trilogy: this was much closer to what I hoped for. It isn't perfect, but I definitely enjoyed it. It's been a while since I read so much of a single book/series so quickly, and it was wonderful to immerse myself so thoroughly in Robin Hobb's world again.

A lot of the flaws from my review of The Dragon Keeper remain. On the whole, I thought it was better in this book, whether because I already had ties to the characters or not, I don't know. It's still relatively slow in pace, when I think about the sheer amount that happens in the earlier books from this world compared to this: all that happens is that a bunch of dragons and some misfit humans travel upriver to find an ancient Elderling city. Of course, there's personal developments, but the main jist of the plot is that.

I found the characters less frustrating than in some of Robin Hobb's other books because they communicate with each other. Not so much Thymara, perhaps, but Alise and Leftrin, for example, and Serdic grows up and begins to do so. I loved the relationship between Carson and Serdic: it seemed like it could be such a good thing for both of them, a healthy thing, something that helps Serdic grow as a person. I wish there'd been more of it, because it's glorious to see a male/male romance grow throughout a mainstream fantasy book. That's why I 'shelved' this book as LGBT -- I could read it, and while it wasn't a perfect fluffy relationship, I could relate to it and enjoy it and look forward to it, and I smiled at the end. It felt natural.

I'm sure there are people who've been offended by it, and who felt it was shoving homosexuality in their face, and I had been worried by the portrayal of Hest and Serdic's relationship, initially. It was unhealthy and horrible and I didn't want to feel that Robin Hobb felt that was the way all gay relationships would be. But clearly she doesn't: Carson and Serdic are not perfect, but they feel more real than I'd hoped for. I actually wish we'd had more of Carson in the book, rather than seeing him through other characters' eyes. He was refreshingly straightforward, unconflicted, unashamed.

I enjoyed Alise and Leftrin's relationship, too. I love the way it gave depth to Leftrin's character: I'd been willing to dismiss him as a slightly rascally captain, when he first appeared. I think Alise's changes happened perhaps a bit too swiftly in the beginning, but I was happy when they got together. Another relationship handled relatively well.

Thymara's story was the most unsatisfying for me. I wanted to like her -- a strong, capable female character, who could make her own decisions! But the way the men bickered over her, reduced her to an object... it gave all the characters their worst sides. And it never felt resolved.

The dragons are... Well, in the same way that the humans find them something of a disappointment, I think, so do I. You want creatures like them to be noble and beautiful and intelligent and compassionate, and yet these are selfish and belligerent, unconcerned with humanity. I like it for how different it is, though.

Overall, the duology just feels like the beginning of something. Whether it's a story we'll be told by Hobb, I don't know, but there's a bit of disappointment at the end because it doesn't seem like much has really been achieved. Of course, the dragons grow and mature and begin to become real dragons, but... And the relationships all work out, but... And they reach Kelsingra, but... I don't know exactly what I want, but I want more! I wanted to see the beginnings of a new city in Kelsingra, I think.(less)

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Mar 05, 2010 Jan rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Like the River, the Plot is Going Nowhere Fast
Set in the same world as the Farseer and Liveship trilogies, Dragon Haven and the preceding Dragon Keeper, broadened Hobb's already rich universe. I do love returning to old, familiar worlds: there's something special about seeing places, people, and situations from different perspectives! Alas, though I happily devoured both "Rain Wilds Chronicles" books, I did not adore them.

Picking up directly where book one left off, Dragon Haven continues the st...more Like the River, the Plot is Going Nowhere Fast
Set in the same world as the Farseer and Liveship trilogies, Dragon Haven and the preceding Dragon Keeper, broadened Hobb's already rich universe. I do love returning to old, familiar worlds: there's something special about seeing places, people, and situations from different perspectives! Alas, though I happily devoured both "Rain Wilds Chronicles" books, I did not adore them.

Picking up directly where book one left off, Dragon Haven continues the story of the former serpents/bad-tempered dragons and their misfit keepers as they battle up the strange and dangerous Rain Wild River in search of the lost city of Kelsingra. Following along, the unhappily-married scholar Alise and the liveship/barge captain Leftrin struggle with their personal temptations and honour, while the manipulative Sedric has to face the ramifications of his past poor judgement.

Unfortunately, like the Rain Wilds River, the plot meanders slowly and muddily along: getting stuck, occasionally having sudden flash floods of inspiration/awesomeness, but ultimately not going anywhere much. It is a tale of personal growth and choices -- but both the growth and choice comes to late to engage me. Choices Have Consequences (a fact particularly stressed in one very dark scene), but in the end, we don't see more than a hint of what the final consequences might be.

Which is a disappointment, especially as the (mostly unsympathetic) characters have angsted over their decisions for a 1000+ pages. I find myself wondering: is this is really supposed to be the concluding volume of a duology? (At present, no third book has been announced. Congratulations, characters, your literal/figurative journey is over! The End.)

Overall this is not Hobb's best work. That said, her world remains vivid, detailed & entertaining. The characters -- if not always very likeable -- are at least real and complex people. Also, the pigeon keeper interludes are a delight.

In my own way, I liked this book. I even enjoyed it. But oh! beating a few characters with a Clue Stick in volume one would have sped things up considerably. (less)

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Oct 27, 2010 Carolyn rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, my-wishlist, 5-star-books, strong-female-lead-character

I really enjoyed both Dragon Haven and The Dragon Keeper.

There are adventure/quest books that are all about the quest, and then there are the ones that are all about the people. I'm happy that this series is about the latter - both the humans and the dragons. There's an immense amount of character growth throughout these two books and it was wonderful to immerse myself in it.

I thought the handling of the different relationships of the characters - of friends and lovers, healthy and abusive, kee...more I really enjoyed both Dragon Haven and The Dragon Keeper.

There are adventure/quest books that are all about the quest, and then there are the ones that are all about the people. I'm happy that this series is about the latter - both the humans and the dragons. There's an immense amount of character growth throughout these two books and it was wonderful to immerse myself in it.

I thought the handling of the different relationships of the characters - of friends and lovers, healthy and abusive, keeper and dragon, promiscuous and chaste, servant and master, - even the pigeon correspondence of the two keepers, was wonderful. I appreciated that the author didn't have a judgemental tone - she let each character discover right and wrong on their own without pontification - lots of 'show' in this book, rather than 'tell'. I liked that there were some harsh realities discussed in this book, that are applicable to our reality as well. I would love an older teen to read this book for those doses of reality beyond the 'romantic moment' - applicable to both sexes, regardless of orientation.

I enjoyed the POV shifting from one character to another and thought that it was most skillfully done when mid-scene. There was never any question as to whose 'voice' it was.

My only quibble is that I'd love a quick guide to the calendar to be printed in an appendix or somewhere in the book ( One of the books I've recently read had this and it was great to have.) Every chapter begins with a pigeon message, with the date, but it's hard to tell just how long the journey has been taking, because although we know that actual physical growth is happening for the keepers and dragons, it's all in "Year 6" - but how that relates to time as we know it passing is hard to tell. Have they been traveling for 2 months? 6 months? 14 months? A very minor quibble, but one that nagged me throughout the books.

Very much looking forward to the next book in the Chronicles! The author's website says she's working on it now. (less)

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Jun 08, 2010 Caroline rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, read-in-2010, nook, nook-own

While the adventure of this second half of the journey that began in Dragon Haven itself was compelling, what really drove the story for me was the fantastic characters and how their journey was effecting them. Really, I think it's best to go into this series expecting a lot more action on the mental and dialogue front, as sometimes the physical action itself is not necessarily the most exciting (they are, after all, plodding up a river for the bulk of this). The plot is very character-driven, a...more

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Jun 01, 2010 AtlantaTwin rated it 4 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Feb 01, 2013 Mark rated it 5 of 5 stars

Dragon Haven is the second book in Robin Hobb's epic Rain Wild Chronicles; the latest series to compliment her stories set in the lands of The Six Duchies and beyond and intrinsically linked to events depicted in The Liveships Trilogy. This follow-up novel to Dragon Keeper builds on the premise explored in the first book and takes us further up the Rain Wilds as a group of young Rain Wilders attempt to escort their would-be dragons to a legendary lost Elderling city that may no longer even exist...more Dragon Haven is the second book in Robin Hobb's epic Rain Wild Chronicles; the latest series to compliment her stories set in the lands of The Six Duchies and beyond and intrinsically linked to events depicted in The Liveships Trilogy. This follow-up novel to Dragon Keeper builds on the premise explored in the first book and takes us further up the Rain Wilds as a group of young Rain Wilders attempt to escort their would-be dragons to a legendary lost Elderling city that may no longer even exist.

The supposedly last fully-fledged dragon, Tintaglia, is nowhere to be seen ~ having long abandoned her less glamorous cousins in search of a worthy mate, trapped in the ice of a distant island as seen in The Golden Fool trilogy. The only hope for the next generation of dragons is to find Kelsingra and hope it is all they have dreamed about.

But the route there is treacherous and it is not just poisonous, deadly rapids that the group and their keepers have to worry about! The Duke Of Chalced, long dying, has issued a command that one of his citizens must obtain dragon flesh or suffer the consequences ~ believing, as he does, that this is all that can save him. And on the expedition, lead by Captain Leftrin and his barge, Tarman, not everybody can be trusted.....

This is a great novel that truly works to compliment all the other books in this universe that Hobb has written previously. It is less action-filled and more character driven than her earlier novels in the series but no less enchanting because of that!

I really loved this and can't wait for what comes next! Reading this as a big fan, you can almost feel all the individual characters springing to life and returning to the Rain Wilds feels a lot like coming home! For someone who has read this author's work since the beginning and the early days of Assassin's Apprentice, I can really see her novels growing and maturing to the point where now, they have started to get even darker than before if that is at all possible. For what happens here, in these books, will affect the Rain Wilds and Robin Hobb's enchanting universe forever!

You don't have to have read the other books but it will give you an advantage over new readers of this series. Reference is occasionally made to earlier events but not enough to spoil your enjoyment. That said, if you are a fan of High Fantasy and have not picked up any of her novels before, then what in Sa's name are you waiting for? (less)

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Oct 07, 2012 Jaya rated it 2 of 5 stars

Hobb has done it again.....bored! The first books are always really great and interesting, and then we go nowhere really slowly. Everything gets resolved, but I honestly could have skipped three quarters of this book and arrived at the same place, knowing and feeling the same things.

And all for what....it's almost a shaggy dog...er...dragon story. I had such high hopes, because what I really liked about the liveship series was the serpents and dragons. Every single thing I've read by Hobb has ha...more

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Sep 24, 2012 Jennifer Mackintosh rated it 4 of 5 stars

I think Robin Hobb is really growing as a writer. She's handling her character's situations with more sensitivity. I was hesitant to pick up this continuation of her Rain Wild/Six Duchies series even though I read the other nine books because I sometimes found her plots unnecessarily harsh on her characters. However, I think she's overcome that tendency and I liked the first two in this new trilogy and am looking foward to the third.

The story continues the tale of several characters as they help...more

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Mar 26, 2013 Stéphanie Noverraz rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. This is the second and last book in the Rain Wild Chronicles duology (after The Dragon Keeper).

In this volume we follow the Tarman crew, the dragons and their keepers deeper into the Rain Wilds as they continue their doomed expedition in search of the fabled Elderlings city of Kelsingra. We witness the dragons' physical and mental development, and the various changes the keepers go through, tending to the wondrous creatures. Friendships hatch, secrets surface, resentment builds, remorse haunts,...more

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Mar 18, 2013 Crystal rated it 5 of 5 stars

The second in the Rain Wild Chronicles is all-over classic Hobb and highly recommended. I'm very glad I essentially held off judgment on this newer series until I'd finished Book 2, because everything just got better. The best things about Dragon Haven in relationship to the other series Hobb has written and fantasy in general are:

1. There is some angst, but it does not feel like the soul-crushing life-destroying angst in previous novels (I'm looking at you, Soldier Son)
2. There are many realist...more The second in the Rain Wild Chronicles is all-over classic Hobb and highly recommended. I'm very glad I essentially held off judgment on this newer series until I'd finished Book 2, because everything just got better. The best things about Dragon Haven in relationship to the other series Hobb has written and fantasy in general are:

1. There is some angst, but it does not feel like the soul-crushing life-destroying angst in previous novels (I'm looking at you, Soldier Son)
2. There are many realistic empowered women of all sorts, none of whom are buxom warrior women, and I found their stories added a lot to the depth of the novel
3. The ending ties up almost any thread you might imagine while still allowing room for growth, and it's uplifting

(view spoiler)

Here are things that might annoy people that did not bother me one bit:

1. The story is long, and I'm thinking of Book 1 and Book 2 together as one story really, but it's true even if you just think of Book 2 alone. There's a long quest, and a lot of boring survival things that go along with that. I liked the amount of detail, but it could be slow to some people.

2. A lot of the major character conflicts involve some romance. A lot of that is because you've got a bunch of teenagers on a journey who suddenly decide that whole rule about not having sex doesn't really apply to them, but then it turns out just about every character has a romantic interest, which is possibly unlikely. I still thought it was fun, something to spend time thinking about while people are going on spear fishing and surviving and whatnot. The upside of this is a lot of really interesting analysis on sexual permissiveness and finally some reasoning for why women might prefer to be less than eager to jump into the sack with anyone who asks. In the case of the Rain Wilds, there is a reason, instead of just the usual lazy fantasy author who decided to copy Western norms, and it's because in the Rain Wilds, women risk a lot by becoming pregnant, including frequent miscarriages and high infant mortality. I found the discussion on this fascinating and well done.

3. The dragons are irritating. I mentioned it in the review for Book 1, but these are not noble and interesting creatures. They're whiny and spiteful and who in the hell would want to spend much time with them, anyway. I got to see it as an interesting world building exercise, particularly as time went on and the dragons became more fully-formed dragons and less ill-formed weaklings. Dragons are their own things, not cats with wings (although Toothless is cute), and that's appropriate, I suppose.

Of all of these things, the characterization is probably the strongest. I look forward to reading more, but if you were one of those sorts who don't like reading long fantasy books, taking a break here makes sense.(less)

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Apr 05, 2013 MMOGC rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: audiobook, action-adventure, dragons, fantasy

Also posted at The BiblioSanctum.

The story of The Rain Wild Chronicles continues with this sequel to Dragon Keeper. Maybe the plot's simply picking up, or perhaps it has to do with the characters finally starting to grow on me, but somewhere between the pages of this book, I realized I've actually become quite smitten with this series.

As I recall, the end of the first book came rather abruptly, so it's not a surprise that this one picked right up from where it left off. The dragons and their gr...more Also posted at The BiblioSanctum.

The story of The Rain Wild Chronicles continues with this sequel to Dragon Keeper. Maybe the plot's simply picking up, or perhaps it has to do with the characters finally starting to grow on me, but somewhere between the pages of this book, I realized I've actually become quite smitten with this series.

As I recall, the end of the first book came rather abruptly, so it's not a surprise that this one picked right up from where it left off. The dragons and their group of keepers and supporters continue to travel along the river in the hopes of finding the legendary Elderling city of Kelsingra, and we return to familiar characters such as Thymara, Alise, Sedric, Leftrin and the blue dragon Sintara. The book follows the narrative of these characters, chronicling their incredible journey of adventure and peril -- complete with the inevitable pitfalls, unexpected romances and bitter betrayals.

Since the background and all the introductions were covered in the first book, I feel like we're finally able to get into the meatier parts of the story. I also mentioned before that I wasn't too impressed with any of the characters when I first started this series, but while most of them were kind bland on their own, the dynamics are getting more interesting now that they're all starting to interact with each other.

The dragon keepers, mostly made up of heavily marked Rain Wilders who were born disfigured with features like scales and claws, were considered outcasts back where they came from. A few of them have their own ideas of whether or not the status quo should change or remain the same once they reach Kelsingra and establish their own society, which not surprisingly leads to a fair bit of conflict. Also, separate a group of people from civilization and force them to eat, sleep, hunt and survive together for months at a time, and sooner or later you get the kind of relationship drama worthy of prime time reality TV.

I still have issues with some of the pacing, though. For the most part, I love Robin Hobbs' writing, but once in the while, I notice she'll have the tendency to fill the pages with swaths of lengthy exposition, going over events and plot developments that the reader is already fully aware of. This is occasionally the case with character speech and internal dialogue too. There was one particularly harrowing scene involving Sedric, Jess, a copper dragon and a killer flood where I had to wonder how anyone could waste so much time just standing around monologuing.

I also noticed the way a situation would be deliberately dragged out, by making certain characters like Alise and Sedric uncharacteristically clueless and obtuse. It was established in Dragon Keeper that Alise's husband, Hest, is actually secretly Sedric's lover. By the end of that book, it seemed like everyone has figured it out except for Alise, who would normally be such an astute, observant woman. Likewise, Sedric seems oblivious to the fact that his sexual orientation is known to one of the hunters in the crew, is also oblivious to the fact that the hunter prefers men and is attracted to him as well. It's the sort of plot device I would expect from a cornball romance novel, but I do have to give my kudos to Hobbs for her meaningful way of handling the topic of hidden homosexuality.

Definitely looking forward to the next book, as this series is turning out to be a rather exciting tale of adventure-fantasy. (less)

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Feb 15, 2013 Brigid Keely rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2013, fantasy, feminism, yay-girls

"Dragon Haven," by Robin Hobb, is the 2nd book in the Rain Wilds trilogy.

It was a relief to read.

I had The Fear that the second book in this trilogy, like the second book in the Soldier Son trilogy, would be a bloated bridge-book, a slender smudge of story spread novel-length in an attempt to expand two books worth of story into three books.

Whew, no.

"Dragon Haven" is fast paced and a lot happens in it. There's loss, adventure, wads of character development. The POV characters are predominantly w...more

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Jan 07, 2013 Kate rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: books-i-own, fantasy-adult, top-authors

There's a reason I adore Robin Hobb's writing over all others, and this book reminded me of that love. Hobb somehow finds a way to create characters and gives them the power to reach out and grip your heart. The characters grew in their relationships with each other and as individuals and I shared in their triumphs and their failures as if they were my own. I found myself covered in goosebumps multiple times and tears prickling behind my eyes as I read, becoming more and more emotionally investe...more

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Feb 20, 2012 Fox rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy

Anxiously awaiting the next installation! This is a great series. I think Hobb does a fabulous job bringing it all to life. There are a few iffy areas that I have some questions on, but overall it has great versimilitude. I honestly expected to get further along in the storyline, but I am not disappointed with the end. :)

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About Robin Hobb

** I am shocked to find that some people think a 2 star 'I liked it' rating is a bad rating. What? I liked it. I LIKED it! That means I read the whole thing, to the last page, in spite of my life raining comets on me. It's a good book that survives the reading process with me. If a book is so-so, it ends up under the bed somewhere, or maybe under a stinky judo bag in the back of the van. So a 2 st...more

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Dragon Haven (Rain Wild Chronicles #2)

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