My corner of the internet for sailing the high seas of fantasy fiction. Currently chronicling my journey through Robin Hobb’s Realm of the Elderlings, with all the awe, anguish, and occasional unhinged delight that entails. Grab your emotional life jacket and come aboard!
📍 Currently reading: Dragon Keeper (The Rain Wild Chronicles #1)
✔️ Just finished: Fool’s Fate (Tawny Man #3)
🧭 Start from the beginning: wizardwordship’s Maiden Voyage
***Spoilers for The Rain Wild Chronicles through chapter 17 of Dragon Keeper. Mentions of the events of The Farseer Trilogy, The Liveship Traders Trilogy, and The Tawny Man Trilogy are fair game, too.***
Like the dragons, I just keep marching my way through the Realm! Another book down and another step closer to completing my RotE journey. With the tenth book complete, there are just five left to go- say it ain’t so!
I quite enjoyed Dragon Keeper. It’s something of a new beginning, which means we don’t hit the ground running with the same emotional investment we’ve developed with Fitz and our prior Cursed Shores main characters. Still, I liked getting to know our new cast, the complicated dynamics that unfolded, the setting, and the story developing thus far.
It also isn’t the most complete of stories, as we leave off fairly abruptly. I haven’t heard much about the Rain Wild Chronicles, but I have heard the rumor(?) that Dragon Keeper and Dragon Haven were initially intended as one book. That would make sense to me- Hobb setting out to write trilogies. Regardless, it doesn’t have a huge impact on me, 2025-26 reader, just tapping my way through on my Kindle.
Okay, enough preamble. Let’s just get into it. And predictably, today’s headline focus goes to my favorite dynamic duo: Sedric and Alise.
I have to start with Sedric. As someone who initially seemed like a background character, he steps into the spotlight and doesn’t give it up. Sidepiece no more!
He is the embodiment of a great Hobb character to me: complicated, sympathetic, beaten down- selfish at times and strong and protective at others. We’ve heard a bit of Sedric’s backstory with his father and familial expectations (giving real Hermey the Elf of Bingtown Traders vibes).
But here, we get the origin of Sedric and Hest’s relationship. It’s hard to encompass the complexity of it. It’s certainly devastating as we witness Hest take advantage of a young, vulnerable Sedric, grooming him into what he wants him to be. Sedric escapes being trapped by his father’s expectations only to be molded into Hest’s instead.
As a young Sedric attends the wedding of his tutor and unrequited crush, he’s confronted with all that’s being denied to him: a happy marriage, open love, a life of his choosing. Being a good emo-Hobb boy, he takes his emotions out into the middle of a snowstorm, into a copse of pines. Older, more experienced Hest follows his prey and takes advantage of Sedric’s tumultuous state.
I won’t feign knowing what it’s like for a young man to come to grips with his sexuality in a closed-off society, but this scene gripped me.
“Sedric had shut his eyes tight then, and again as he recalled it. Every moment of that wild night under the cold and stormy sky was clear in his memory. It was etched into him, defining him. Hest had been right. It had been easier when he’d admitted what he wanted.
Hest had been merciless. He’d teased him, and hurt him, then soothed and smoothed him. He’d been rough and then gentle, harshly demanding and then sweetly urging. The storm swept around them, making the trees bow and dance, but the cold couldn’t reach them.”
We know what’s happening isn’t right, but we are in Sedric’s POV – and in a snowy, secluded setting – so it’s also intense and, in a way, romantic. Sedric is coming directly off a heartbreak he can hardly articulate to himself, let alone acknowledge, and is suddenly being given a taste of affection and acceptance he didn’t even think was accessible to him.
So here we are with him: a man who has never made his own way. Molded by the expectations of one man and then another. He thinks it’s Alise’s first time out experiencing the world on her own, but it’s just as much that for himself. He wants to seize the opportunity to make something of himself on his own. It’s just that his current plan – stashing away highly valuable (and highly illicit) dragon parts to be sold for a fortune – is deeply misguided. And it culminates with a possible dragon murder at his hands, followed by panic as he feels the walls beginning to close in around him.
He seizes on the increasing (and inappropriate) closeness between Alise and Leftrin to insist they cut this “vacation” short and head back to Bingtown ASAP. But I don’t think the mysterious forces of the Rain Wild River are done with Sedric yet.
Well, I suppose we can’t talk about one side of the coin without the other. The juxtaposition of their stories is absolutely brilliant.
I may have briefly cooled on her romance with Captain Leftrin last post, but we are so back, baby!
Through recollections the next day across various characters, we learn about a pretty romantic evening interlude for these two on the deck of the Tarman. I previously worried that Leftrin was more into Alise than she was into him, but with lines like-
“She longed to kiss that mouth, and to feel those calloused hands clasp her close. She missed sleeping in his bunk, missed the smell of him in the room and on the bedding. She wanted him as she’d never wanted anything or anyone before.”
-I think we can put that concern to bed.
It’s going to take some time for Alise to get comfortable with the idea of shedding her former life and breaking her word/contract, but seeing things clearly is a good first step. She has no more illusions about what her marriage can be or who Hest truly is. And I loved her spelling out for Sedric the abuse she’s endured at Hest’s hands, pushing forward his disillusionment as well.
Robin Hobb really connects all the dots here with this aching reflection from Alise:
“…she closed her eyes and thought of Althea, wife to the captain of the Paragon. She’d seen that woman dashing about the deck barefoot, wearing loose trousers like a man. … She and the captain had moved without even looking at each other, like a needle drawn to a magnet, their arms lifting as if they were the halves of the god Sa becoming whole again. She’d thought her heart would break with envy.”
Warning: Earnest Observation Alert. At the end of Liveship Traders, I wrote about Althea’s desire to live authentically, and the toll to be constantly told you’re wrong to do so. That throughline lives strongly here in RWC with both Sedric’s and Alise’s storylines. It’s a subtle, beautiful reminder that living authentically can embolden others to do the same, even without your awareness. Althea may never know the impact she’s had on Alise (or maybe she will!), but either way, she influences others simply by being true to herself.
Hear, hear!
I’ve certainly enjoyed ragging on Tintaglia’s bitchiness throughout the series. But with our introduction to new dragon personalities, it’s clear that this isn’t a singular trait so much as a common dragon… cuntiness. And I like that, while the dragons are certainly personified, they still feel distinct from humans. It’s subtle, but it’s there.
Likewise, as the humans keep commenting on Tintaglia abandoning the dragons and her contract with the traders, I keep recalling how differently time passes for dragons than for humans due to their elongated lifespans. Tintaglia dipping out for a few years feels immense to our puny human friends, but it’s nothing for her. Let a gal enjoy her honeymoon – sheesh!
The tensions are ramping up. After Thymara takes down a elk with her bow (slay queen, literally), Greft happens upon her and offers his assistance transporting the meat back to camp, hoping to share in her spoils. After telling him, essentially, “yeah, no thanks- I can handle this myself and will get my real friends to help,” she returns with Tats and the other young keeper girl (truly sorry, but I’m not committing to remembering all the keeper names at this point), only to encounter Greft and his goons heading back with meat from her kill.
She is enraged and ready to burn this whole operation to the ground over the perceived slight. What I loved is Tats, socialist king, playing devil’s advocate and suggesting that pooling resources and sharing with the group might actually be the better approach. And if he is semi-siding with Greft, you know there’s probably some merit to his argument.
I like that, although we’re clearly positioned to be anti-Greft (don’t worry, still am), our leads aren’t infallible. Thymara makes some interesting choices here. With evening approaching, the smartest move probably would have been to let Greft to bring some meat back with her, rather than wasting time going solo to fetch help. But I understand Thymara, too. She hasn’t been treated generously by the world, so it’s no surprise her instinct is to protect her bounty and keep it for herself and her friends.
I’m not going to spin off on a tangent on the economics of dragon keeping and uncharted river journeys (surely enough has been written on that topic, right?), but I enjoyed how the script flipped in this confrontation, and how the pot continues to simmer within the group.
As we wrap up Dragon Keeper, this feels like an excellent spot for some terrible predictions of what’s to come.
There’s going to be some big, awful event on this journey. We end with one dragon on death’s doorstep, but I don’t think the misfortune stops there. I suspect we could have a few more dragons – and travel party members – to lose before we reach the promised land.
Could this turn into a murder mystery, à la Murder on the Nile? I think I’d dig that vibe.
With three entire books still ahead of us in RWC, I found myself wondering who we might encounter from the broader RotE world when – bam! – it hit me: we already have a series-leaping character in the Fool/Amber.
If (and that’s a big if) my understanding of the timeline is correct, the events here are happening somewhat concurrently with, or just after, Tawny Man. In that case, we know the Fool peaces out post-Icefyre freeing. Don’t think you’re sneaking into another series unnoticed by me, Fool. I’m watching.
Along similar lines, as I examined what broader world elements could make their way into this story, I immediately thought of the Skill pillars. I have no clue exactly how they might come into play here, but they were teed up pretty heavily at the end of Fool’s Fate, and we know they offer a path to Kelsingra.
I see Rapskal riding Heeby and accidentally falling through one into the Skill abyss.
You know I will always make space for it when a piece of Hobb prose stops me in my tracks. The blue ribbon in Dragon Keeper goes to this line:
“The sounds of the forest changed too, as the rushing of the river was hushed by the intervening of the layers of foliage.”
It wouldn’t be a wizardwordship post if I weren’t placing a disproportionate amount of focus on romantic narratives that may or may not exist. Let’s examine our top contenders:
Obviously, count me in for all of it. Or give us nothing, and I’ll continue to fabricate narratives on my own as we go. (Also, that will be the last time I put “freaky” into the GIF search bar).
I might slow down a bit over the next few weeks with a family vacation on deck (literally not a soul is waiting on my posts – fake it ’til you make it 😆), but then I hope to pick up the pace again, because momma wants to know where all of this is heading.
Catch you soon!
***Spoilers for The Rain Wild Chronicles through chapter 13 of Dragon Keeper. Mentions of the events of The Farseer Trilogy, The Liveship Traders Trilogy, and The Tawny Man Trilogy are fair game, too.***
It might just be that I am writing this on December 26th, but the Island of Misfit Toys vibes have never been stronger.
There are two elements really jumping out to me so far:
Let’s start with my emotional whiplash.
In my last post, I had a lot of pep in my typing fingers. After Dragon Keeper’s bleak opening, the story started gaining momentum. Then I dove directly back into a Sintara POV and realized it was the lack of dragon experience that lightened things up. I mean, with lines like:
“And now they were masters of nothing, doomed to mud and carrion and, Sintara did not doubt, a slow death by slog up the river.”
… it’s hard to be buoyed by optimism.
As counterbalance to the dreary dragons, we have Captain Leftrin floating in the clouds with his crush on Alise. Sir- you are a grizzled, murdering (only once, but that counts), ruthless river man. Get ahold of yourself! As hard as I rode for their meet-cute, I have to admit I developed a smidge of an ick this time around. Leftrin is fucking gone for our girl, and Alise is relishing the attention, but it doesn’t feel like they’re on equal footing. Alise seems more lost on the sauce of someone being into her (rightfully!) than genuinely attracted to Leftrin, so surprisingly, I’m finding myself a bit worried for the captain’s heart.
It’s not just them- my feelings across the board have been shifting as rapidly as the Rain Wild River itself. Part of Liveship Traders’ brilliance is how Robin Hobb not only develops characters, but actively reshapes our perceptions over time. Most notably, of course, with Malta- going from the absolute worst to the Elderling queen we worship. In Malta’s case, it’s a long arc, but here in Dragon Keeper, I’m finding my opinions shift chapter to chapter.
Take Sedric. Sympathetic one moment, near-villainous the next. We learn he doesn’t care for animals (red flag), so Alise’s hackles are raised at his interest in assisting the dragons. She doesn’t know his actual motivations like we do, but she’s right to sense something is off:
“Oh, he shared some of her scholastic interest in dragons, but she had never seen him pet a dog or talk to his horse. And now he was going to assist this girl in doctoring a dragon? There was something here, and she felt she stood at the edge of a strange and perhaps dark current. Could he possibly be interested in the girl? She was so young and so peculiar looking. It would be very inappropriate.”
Alise’s ability to read a situation, as ever, remains unmatched.
One of the clearest structural throughlines in Dragon Keeper is mirroring. In the overt sense, we have the dragons and their keepers; Alise and Sedric; Tats and Thymara. But there are lots of smaller examples too. My favorite odd pairing is Sedric and Thymara.
These are two characters who, outside the premise of this story, would never cross paths. Yet thanks to Sedric’s underhanded goal of bringing home dragon specimens (the little shit), he buddies up to Thymara with his sudden interest in veterinary medicine, offering to help tend one of the unpaired dragons. But the real gem of this combo comes when they are walking together and Thymara vents to him about the keeper dynamics:
“‘He behaves as if he can’t stand for me to have a friend, like it makes him less important. It’s almost as if he tries to drive a wedge between Tats and me. Why are some people like that?’
She hadn’t expected him to have an answer, but he looked startled, as if she had asked him something of great significance. When he answered, his words came slowly. ‘Maybe because we let them be that way.’”
Which triggers:
“It had snapped a stinging realization into his mind. Hest didn’t like him being friends with Alise. Hest didn’t want him to have conversations with her or have opinions about her…
He didn’t like thinking of all the implications of that. He pushed aside the thought of other friendships he’d neglected for Hest’s, even how he’d alienated his father by taking the position with Hest…”
It’s a tidy little lightning bolt of self-awareness. I maintain that Sedric has a lot of growth ahead, and I’m excited to watch it unspool.
Our main characters have congregated in Cassarick. I’m enjoying how Dragon Keeper blends elements of Liveship Traders and our Fitz-centered series. We have a Liveship-like ensemble, but instead of scattering them across the map, Hobb drops them all into Cassarick to join a central mission. (The sort of shit quest we’re usually watching Fitz get sent on.) That doesn’t mean, however, our group is unified. Let’s examine:
There’s a lot of meat on the bone (not literally for the dragons, of course) when it comes to the dynamics of the keepers and their dragons.
Last post, my commentary on Thymara’s experience of becoming part of the keeper cohort got left on the cutting room floor. Her joy at feeling part of a community was so endearing. I mean:
“She looked from face to face and named them to herself, counting them off as if they were jewels in a treasure box. Her friends.”
Don’t get excited- the kumbaya camp vibes didn’t even make it to the next page. Fractures almost instantly materialize, and rivalries and power struggles continue to widen the gaps as we prepare to set off upriver.
But it’s not just the keepers facing division. There are a lot of fascinating social dynamics at play.
They don’t trust each other, but these two have more in common than they realize beyond just caring for Alise in their own ways. Both are harboring secrets: Leftrin with his blackmail resurfacing via a mysterious note, and Sedric with his quiet mission to collect dragon specimens. Oh! And of course they hate each other.
Alise strolls in armed with Selden-level dragon flattery and immediately forms a bond with Sintara, stoking Thymara’s jealousy. Add Sedric slinking around, and there’s a lot simmering here. At first, I imagined a big sister/little sister dynamic developing between Alise and Thymara, but I think we’ve got some ground to cover before we get there. I’m hopeful that these castoff women (Sintara included) have a lot to teach each other about their worth.
Our clearest emerging conflict. Greft is wanting to assert leadership over the group, and while some are happy to fall in line, Tats (with Thyamara) is not especially keen to accept his authority.
Add in the fighting over Thymara, and these two are a real tinderbox. I haven’t even mentioned the other keeper chickadee simpering over Tats and fueling Thymara’s jealousy. Ahhh, the social politics of youth. Let’s make things as complicated as possible and then send everyone on a brutal river journey with ill-tempered dragons. What could go wrong!
Of course, we’re firmly Team Tats as a good-guys-versus-bad-guys dynamic seems to be taking shape. And I would like to go on the record that I am getting extremely bad vibes from Greft. Major concerns for what he’s capable of as the story progresses.
Alise is the epitome of book-smart, not street-smart.
She interprets Sedric’s protectiveness around Leftrin as possible jealousy. She reminisces on her youthful crush on Sedric and muses:
“Was it possible that he had once cared for her? Was it remotely possible that in some corner of his heart, he still did?
Oh, it was a silly fancy, as silly as her timid flirtation with the captain. Silly and absolutely delicious.”
Oh, girl.
Her rise is going to be satisfying, but I fear she has a rough road to walk before we get there. Or Sintara is just going to bluntly spill the beans: he’s just not into you.
But for now, a girl can daydream (and hope she’s transformed into an Elderling with the power of gaydar).
For those who rode with me on my Liveship journey, you’ll know how important this line was to me:
“But the deal had been struck. Kalo had pressed his muddy, inky foot to a piece of parchment…”
I’m here for the talking ships. I’m here for the animal bonds. I’m here for carving giant stone dragons with one’s fingernails. I’m here for prophets, catalysts, forging, unforging- I’m here for it all.
But dragons signing contracts with muddy dragon footprints is pure absurdity.
I loved our time with Malta. She enters chewing the scenery in all her bitchy, Elderling glory. And if, during her arguments about why the dragons need someone advocating for their interests, you found yourself wondering why she isn’t down in the swamp tending them herself, we learn that after struggling to conceive and carry a pregnancy to term, she’s once again pregnant. 🤞
Last post I asked, where’s Wintrow? But the better question is: where the fuck is Reyn? Why is my gal spending hours advocating for the dragons alone? There may have been a passing line about what business he’s attending to, but it clearly wasn’t a good excuse because it didn’t stick with me.
Reyn- I want you present and doting, stat!
They didn’t seem quite significant enough to mention in our list of most interesting dynamics, but I love these irritating little sweeties. Yes, Rapskal is endlessly annoying, but also deeply endearing.
(Greft is going to murder Rapskal, isn’t he? FUCK.)
Hard to believe, but we are approaching the end of Dragon Keeper. I’m sure all the issues will be ironed out and we will set off on our journey upriver smooth sailing.
‘Til then!
***Spoilers for The Rain Wild Chronicles through chapter 9 of Dragon Keeper. Mentions of the events of The Farseer Trilogy, The Liveship Traders Trilogy, and The Tawny Man Trilogy are fair game, too.***
After starting off with a good amount of stage-setting and introductions, our story is picking up quickly! Each time I start a new RotE series, I’m never quite sure what to expect, and the transitions from one storyline to another can be a bit jarring. Let’s examine:
I suppose with each change, I worry about leaving the magic of the previous series behind. But with every new installment, it never takes long before I find myself swept away by the incredible characters and plots- whoever and wherever they may be.
The moral of this rambling prologue: never doubt our supreme leader, Robin Hobb.
So what exactly is hooking me so far in RWC? Thank you for asking.
I’m enthralled by this new slice of life we are getting in Dragon Keeper. We’ve spent most of our time in the realm among the upper echelons of society. Sure, our characters may be down on their luck and facing hardship, but by and large, our main POVs have come from the privileged class.
So spending time in the slums of Trehaug with Thymara was a real breath of fresh air (kind of literally, since the poor live in the treetops). I’ve been fascinated by the social strata of the Rain Wilds, especially how Thymara’s family is forced to move higher and higher into the trees as their status sinks lower and lower.
Trehaug itself is such a unique setting. It’s hard to grasp the sheer immensity of this treehouse town, but Hobb does a fantastic job unfolding it for us. We got a small peek into life in the trees during Liveship Traders, but having so much additional color and detail filled in now is incredible. No offense to that smelly, sewage-filled pirate town – or even my beloved Buckkeep – but this may be my favorite setting in all the realm.
One of my favorite details is the naming of the various housing regions. Thymara’s family currently lives high up in the Cricket Cages, having been pushed there after being forced out of the art district, the Bird Nests, due to rising costs from gentrification. The only place higher to move from here is the Tops.
These details add so much whimsy and texture that it’s impossible not to feel enveloped in the Rain Wilds’ rich ambiance.
If we ever get my Dragon Court procedural (and if you weren’t with me on my Liveship journey, don’t worry about it), Alise is going to be a force to be reckoned with.
We pick up with her exactly where we left off: miserable in her marriage to Hest. She insists that Hest honor the part of their contract allowing her a trip to the Rain Wilds to observe the dragons (sis needs a vacation). He’s not pleased- and, determined to maintain his position as “Top Dick,” also picks a fight with his lover, Sedric, when Sedric encourages him to be minimally decent and grant Alise’s request.
Hest, exasperated by both legal wife and functional “wife,” throws up his hands in a real these hoes be wildin’ moment and decrees Sedric will escort Alise on her dragon-seeking adventure.
What a fun pairing this should be!
Sedric then turns POV character, and we get a mopey boy to fill the Fitz-sized hole in our hearts. My favorite petulant Sedric moment:
“Trehaug was the prime city in all the Cursed Shores for a Trader to find Elderling goods at a reasonable price, and he’d had to race past it without even a glance because Alise feared she wouldn’t get to see her smelly, deformed dragons.”
Honestly? I can relate. At this point, Sedric is like a luxury vacationer dragged along on a roughing-it camping trip. But he feels primed for real growth- and I suspect those smelly, deformed dragons may just capture his heart.
In fact, I can see both Alise and Sedric breaking out from under Hest’s shadow and finding their own place in the world. I’ll get back to Alise shortly (don’t you worry), but I couldn’t help wondering: who in this region might catch Sedric’s eye?
And who crossed my mind (not just because they practically share a name)? Selden. Years have passed, so he should be of age for some romance. And while not every arc needs to be romantic in nature (though it would be nice), I like the idea of these two opposite sides of Hest’s shitty partnership coin finding both themselves and the love they deserve.
Welcome to the POV squad, Sedric!
Imagine my delight when Sedric and Alise reveal they haven’t booked passage on just any old ship. Nope, it’s our old friend ShipFitz Paragon, complete with Captain Trell, Althea, their young son, and Clef.
We’re so intimately familiar with Paragon and crew that it’s slightly jarring seeing them through a relative stranger’s eyes. And frankly, I did not appreciate how often Sedric dismissed Paragon as insane. (He may be a bit nuts, but he’s our nutso, so stfu.)
They primarily serve to shepherd our new friends, both physically and through knowledge, toward their dragon-seeking adventure. Regardless of their role, it was just wonderful to be back in their midst.
Warming up to new characters usually takes time, but whether it’s the familair setting or Robin being the GOAT, I am getting down with these characters at record speed.
Enter: Tats.
We meet him climbing onto Thymara’s branch during her post-fight-with-evil-mom reflection hour. (Ok, evil might be a tad strong, but Thymara’s mom is a rough hang. At best: vapid.)
I (obviously) instantly loved their teen-angst dynamic. Thymara doesn’t just feel unworthy of love, she’s been explicitly told that it’s forbidden to her. And Tats, a marked-slave orphan from another world, is clearly enamored.
He signs up for the dragon keeper job alongside her, and we’re also introduced to a dickhead rival for her affection (a sort of a bizarro Grag situation). I’m sat. My popcorn is buttered. I’m rooting for these two!
We’ve checked in with Althea and Brashen, heard mentions of Malta and Reyn, plus Selden- so where is my most favorite would-be-priest-turned-reluctant-bad-boy pirate king usurper?
We know Hest is heading to pirate town. Is this the duo we’re destined to see?
Careful, Hest. He took down the king of all assholes, Kyle. You should be child’s play.
(My deepest apologies to Ronica and Keffria for not giving a flying fuck what they’re up to.)
Speaking of these hoes be wildin’, Leftrin didn’t make a huge impression on me in the opening chapters- but boy does he come roaring back into the story.
This is where I really started to feel giddy.
Paragon delivers Alise and Sedric to Trehaug, but from there they need a second ship capable of navigating the shallow waters to Cassarick, where the “dragons” reside.
Lucky for them – and for us – our favorite flat-bottomed barge, the Tarman, happens to be setting off in that very direction. As Alise and Sedric rush to board, we get the most Jack seeing Rose for the first time moment between Captain Leftrin and Alise.
Think I’m exaggerating? Exhibit A:
“She had large gray eyes set wide apart in a heart-shaped face. She had bundled her hair out of the way, but what he could see of it was dark red and curling. Freckles sprinkled her nose and cheeks generously. Another man might have seen her mouth as too generous for her face, but not Leftrin. The single darting glance she gave him seemed to look not into his eyes but into his heart.”
Easy, loverboy!
Safe to say our rough-around-the-edges river rat is immediately smitten with proper Bingtown lady Alise- and I couldn’t love this more. Yes, he’s a bit shady. Yes, I’m ignoring red flags like I always do for sailors on the Cursed Shores. 🤷♀️ YOLO.
After Alise’s self-perception as plain and the emotional deep-freeze of her marriage, seeing someone outright bewitched by her? Love this for her!
The way I want this man to ravage her and remind her she’s desirable.
And listen, if Lana Del Rey can marry a swamp tour guide, Alise can ditch her douchebag husband for a barge captain. This is how I will be picturing them moving forward:
Alise drops this line that felt aimed directly at me:
“The Rain Wilders who found the dormant dragons in their cases, sometimes incorrectly called cocoons, had no idea what they were.”
Yes. I have repeatedly called them cocoons. Oops!
Hest patronizes Alise with:
“You’d come of age in a harsh time in Bingtown. You needed to escape reality, and what could be a better fantasy than tales of Elderlings and dragons?”
You know what? It is a harsh time. And I will never apologize for getting wrapped up in tales of Elderlings and dragons.
(Side note: Am I Alise?)
I’m very excited to learn more about what’s going on with the Tarman. We’ve gotten several intriguing clues:
“The barge moved up the river steadily, avoiding shoals and snags as if bewitched.”
Are we going to be introduced to a figurehead that lurks below the surface?
Lots of “point-at-the-page” moments in these chapters. My favorites:
“She stroked an insignia on the side of the kettle, an image that looked rather like a chicken with a crown.”
“All had believed that Tintaglia was the last true dragon in the world. To discover it was not so was shocking, and the tale of the black dragon who had risen from the ice was almost too far-fetched to believe.
Some prince of the far Six Duchies had unearthed the dragon…”
“She recalled that his original boyish face had been damaged, chopped to pieces; some said by pirates, while others believed his own crew had done it. But someone had recarved the splintered wood into the visage of a handsome if scarred young man.”
Onward to Cassarick!
***Spoilers for The Rain Wild Chronicles through chapter 5 of Dragon Keeper. Mentions of the events of The Farseer Trilogy, The Liveship Traders Trilogy, and The Tawny Man Trilogy are fair game, too.***
Well, well, well. Here we are. It took me a month to recover from my life-altering Tawny Man journey, but I am finally ready to return to the realm. And where does Robin send me? Right back onto the motherfucking serpent struggle bus. And guess what? If you thought the suffering in Liveship Traders was bad, it’s even worse now! Sa almighty.
Hearing secondhand in Fool’s Errand that the dragon hatching didn’t go well wasn’t enough. We jump straight into the prologue with a new serpent POV of the harrowing trip up the Rain Wild River and the cocooning process. And let me tell you: shit. is. bleak. Dragging their exposed, chapped bodies through shallow water. Eating their fallen brethren along the way. Finally arriving at nesting grounds with neither the reserves nor the support needed to craft proper cocoons.
As the story gets underway, we witness an incredibly depressing hatching day where deformed dragons emerge unfit for survival. It’s hard to even crack jokes (though I’ll try, because I’m a pro) – it’s really just that sad. I actually struggled to keep reading at points because the scene is so relentlessly dreary. It’s like we’re being punished for the hopeful note Robin left us on at the end of Ship of Destiny. The pain man is here to collect!
After the excruciating hatching sequence, we jump a few years forward to check in on our cocooning serpent from the prologue, who now goes by her dragon name, Sintara. Hold on to your hats, folks- things haven’t improved.
***Spoilers for The Willful Princess and the Piebald Prince***
Everyone, buckle up… I’m going to say something shocking: Robin Hobb has once again impressed me. Ok, yes- me praising Robin is as guaranteed as the sun rising in the east. But with each expansion of the Realm, she continues to deliver awe.
And The Willful Princess and the Piebald Prince is no different. With this installment, it’s not the story or characters themselves that particularly dazzled me – though they’re compelling on their own – but the immense color and context this tale adds to the world and the arc unfolding in Fitz’s story.
At the end of Fool’s Fate, I noted that I was getting answers to questions I didn’t know I had. Likewise, TWPATPP provides the deep clarity on the climate surrounding the Wit in the Farseer and Tawny Man storylines. It leads me to suspect there are no plot holes in RotE, only gaps in my own Realm-specific knowledge.
We’re given this story in two parts, related by Felicity, a Buckkeep servant with unusually close proximity to our titular royals. Let’s dig in…
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Ahoy, mateys!
It is I, wizardwordship, checking in after a slightly extended post-Tawny Man trilogy break. While I’ve been enjoying some time focusing on life responsibilities without the gnawing desire to get back to reading and reacting my way through the Realm of the Elderlings, it hasn’t been a full abandonment: I’ve popped in for small maintenance tasks- cleaning up some early posts, tidying the archive, etc. But overall, it has felt a bit like sending my blog to overnight camp: I’m touching base from time to time, but taking a break from the heavy lifting of day-to-day care.
The recharge is working, though, and lately the call to return to my keyboard has been intensifying. I also completed a few reading side quests (more below) during my time away, but now I’ve found myself with nothing queued up, and the Rain Wild Chronicles are beckoning.
Yesterday, I noticed that my last Tawny Man post was published on October 29- almost exactly one month ago. I didn’t set out with a specific hiatus length in mind, trusting my body would tell me when it was time to pick the quest back up. And apparently, one month was the time I needed. So here I am – November 29 – back at my laptop and ready to quip, cry, and break down dragon mating rituals.
No Blog November is no more!
***Spoilers for The Tawny Man Trilogy through the end of Fool’s Fate.***
Well, friends – I have concluded my read-through of the Tawny Man trilogy. What a beautiful culmination to an incredible series. I was struck by how complete this story felt when combined with the Farseer Trilogy. They may stand as separate series, but they truly feel like necessary companions. While both are remarkable on their own, it’s the arc of all six books that I find almost unbelievably stunning. This ending leaves me with a strong sense of closure, and a deep curiosity about how the Fitz and the Fool trilogy will complement, expand upon, and ultimately conclude Fitz’s story.
Before diving into the emotional conclusion of our tale, I have to address my personal state as I write this post. I debated whether to include this, but what’s the point of blogging if not to show up authentically and share a piece of oneself? This endeavor has always been about connecting across the human experience, and what I’m going through now is something almost everyone can relate to. It also ties closely to the themes of the text, so I’d feel remiss not to include it.
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***Spoilers for the Tawny Man Trilogy through chapter 33 of Fool’s Fate.***
If the revelation of how Fitz was previously able to return to his deceased body thrilled me last post, then that was just the appetizer for this section’s full buffet of answers. There’s a lot to cover, so allow me to get right to the goods.
Fitz and the Fool are lingering in their market-square campsite, recovering and wrestling with where things go from here. Once again, we get that wonderful parallel between the Fool’s sense of lostness and desire to retreat from life, and Fitz’s past experience:
“…you cannot hide forever from your life and friends. Eventually, you must face it again.”
He almost smiled. “This, from the man who spent over a decade being dead.
They almost feel outside of time in this suspended healing sojourn, but eventually the Fool declares himself recovered enough, and it’s time to rejoin the story. Not before a detour to the stone dragon garden for a visit to Girl-on-a Dragon.
Turns out the Fool has promised the rooster crown to the sort-of-lead minstrel of Girl-on-a-Dragon’s entombed coterie, Realder- a former wearer of the crown. (The crown/Skill-dragon/coterie lore goes pretty dense here, so let’s just stick with that and keep it moving).
Continue reading***Spoilers for the Tawny Man Trilogy through chapter 29 of Fool’s Fate.***
I fear it’s not the most compelling analysis for me to come to the keyboard each week just to say that was the most incredible thing I’ve ever read. But what the fuck else am I supposed to say? The way this story continues to weave and build is truly unreal.
These chapters had me… affected. In every way possible. From an emotional parting and death that somehow gets relegated to a footnote, because everything else that happens overshadows it, to what I would argue is the most erotic scene I have ever read.
It feels like we’ve reached the crescendo of Fool’s Fate, so I’m curious what’s left for us in the remaining eight chapters or so. The way this volume culminates so many storylines begun all the way back in Farseer also makes me wonder what’s in store for the Fitz and the Fool trilogy. I know we still have some story left to tell, so I’ll save my reflection for the end. But are we going to get Molly before we close out Tawny Man? Or is Robin going to dangle her on the other side of an entire quartet? (I’m assuming Rain Wild Chronicles, like Liveship Traders, will be a separate storyline from the Fitz trilogies, with a little world-building overlap.)
Ok, enough filibustering. I need to get into what actually happened so I can get back to reading posthaste! It’s going to be hard for me to not just copy in 50% of Robin’s words, insert bow-down GIFs, and hit publish. The writing is that incredible. But I shall do my best to share actual thoughts.
Good news: The Pale Woman did not cut off the Fool’s head.
Bad news: She did mercilessly torture him and deliver him to an undignified death.
Great news: Fitz, with the wisdom of Yoda, realizes that death is life, and, possessing the magic of life, he can work with this.
***Spoilers for the Tawny Man Trilogy through chapter 26 of Fool’s Fate.***
So let me get this straight: I am supposed to just go about my regular life – work my full-time job (sadly, blogging for an audience of none doesn’t pay the bills), make dinners, drive my kids places, etc. – while Burrich is reuniting with Fitz on Aslevjal?
Oh, Robin, you sneaky little Hobb, you. When I saw the chapter title “Reunion,” I assumed it would be Fitz reuniting with Dutiful, Chade, and the rest of the dragon expedition gang. Never in a million years did I expect him to hobble back into camp and straight into Burrich’s strong embrace.
Did I have some questions about how Burrich – mostly blind and crippled – managed to make the harrowing journey across sea and glacier on his own? I did. But Burrich is the embodiment of “where there’s a will, there’s a way,” so I’m willing to go along with the “yada yada, he bumped into Longwick and made it to base camp” explanation and keep it moving. (I did at least appreciate Fitz questioning this seemingly impossible feat as well).
Their reunion is incredible, but there’s not much time to sit down and catch up, because, partially thanks to Web using his bird to tattle the slaying plans to Tintaglia, the situation with Icefyre has turned into a full-on pressure cooker. And when that cooker’s lid blasts off (barely a metaphor), it is on.
After attempting a controlled demolition of the ice encasing Icefyre, Fitz’s forgotten cask of explosive powder goes off unexpectedly, getting the job done (and taking out a few of those extraneous characters I’ve previously mentioned- RIP Eagle). Suddenly, we go from zero dragons to three in a matter of moments. First, Icefyre emerges in rough shape. Second, Tintaglia, punctual queen, arrives on the scene to collect her man. And third, because things can never go smoothly, the Pale Woman’s animated stone dragon, embodying the unhinged soul of Kebal Rawbread, awakens and clunkily hauls itself from the excavation pit.
Dragon Rawbread is given a clear missive from the Pale Woman: defeat at least one of the “real” dragons to prevent their procreation. (Gotta say, it’s handy having Fitz tuned into all the Skilling and dragon communicating throughout the battle. He’s basically our personal CB radio, picking up all the signals and keeping us in the know.) And so, a dragon battle ensues.
It was impossible not to think of Drogon and Rhaegar vs. the Night King’s undead Viserion during the Battle of Winterfell while reading this scene. (A rare Game of Thrones Season 8 bright spot. Well… not literally bright, but you know what I mean. I digress.) Icefyre is depleted but enormous; Tintaglia is comparatively tiny but fierce; and Dragon Rawbread is malformed but vicious. It’s quite the battle.
wizardwordship 