Suffering Succotash
***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.
In fact, they’re grimmer than ever. We’re down to about fifteen malformed dragons. Tintaglia has seemingly abandoned the lot of them. (Even worse, we know she’s off enjoying a voyeuristic fuck-fest honeymoon.) Food is scarce, conditions are rough, and the vibe is ass. I’d like to think we’ve reached rock bottom with this cohort… but it’s probably naive to think that only five chapters into this quartet.
Ok, surely the other storylines will bring some levity, right?
WRONG.
We’re introduced to a handful of new POV characters (I miss my Malta), each one progressively more depressing than the last. Let’s touch down with each, moving from “least bleak” to “actual hell.”
Leftrin
If you’re thinking, wait… Leftrin is our most uplifting character? allow me to remind you: this book starts off dark. I am as surprised as you.
Leftrin captains the oldest liveship – a river barge made out of wizardwood. Cool! Our sheisty barge captain even gives the faintest whiffs of Kennit at first (though I would love to see that Chalcedean merchant try to push Kennit around on his ship).
We meet him as he stumbles across a dead dragon cocoon in the Rain Wild swamp. Wizardwood is illegal to trade but extremely valuable (morality aside, I get it), so he marks the spot to return later and break it down for transport.
We reconnect with him in the future, now running a skeleton crew of trusted men and having secured his wizardwood prize. He does his trader thing- making deals, coercing loyalty, keeping secrets close. But things get interesting when a seemingly routine deal with a Chalcedean merchant turns into blackmail, with the merchant insisting Leftrin take him upriver into the Rain Wilds.
Thymara
We spend only a brief moment with Thymara, a sort of lizard-girl hanging in the trees with her father during the hatching, but our encounter is pretty heartbreaking. We learn that babies born with her level of Rain Wild deformity are usually disposed of, but her soft-hearted father – with a penchant for underdogs (as demonstrated when he was nearly killed while recklessly trying to aid a hopeless dragon hatchling) – couldn’t give her up. She is at best ignored and as often scorned by her father’s associates, seen as a burden he was foolish to keep:
“He was her father’s friend, and he hated to see what her existence had done to her father’s life. She was a burden to him, a mouth to feed, with no hope that she would ever be an asset.”
We shall see about that!
Alise
And then there’s Alise. Robin’s talent for building up hope in a character only to ruthlessly strip it away within five chapters is honestly impressive.
Alise has resigned herself to a future as a dragon-obsessed spinster weirdo at the ripe old age of twenty-one. Enter Hest- a hottie from a wealthy Trader family who improbably courts her. Alise is rightfully suspicious of his intentions, but he breaks down her defenses with thoughtful gifts and what seems to be honest clarity: he wants a marriage of convenience beneficial to them both. He wants to appease his parents, secure his inheritance, and maintain his independent bachelor lifestyle. Alise, in turn, can be left (and funded) to pursue her dragon/Elderling studies.
I gotta say, it doesn’t sound like the worst deal. Rich, handsome husband who leaves me alone to blog about research Elderlings? Unfortunately, Alise can’t help getting swept up in romantic fantasies.
Not to pat myself on the back, but I clocked that Hest as gay immediately. So while transparent about wanting a convenience marriage, he wasn’t transparent enough. Alise thinks she’s ok with a loveless match, while harboring a secret desire it can grow to something more, but the realities of a sham marriage are not for her.
And watching those realities through her POV is gutting. By the wedding day she’s full of anticipation. So when he waits until practically dawn to show up to her chamber, coldly performs the bare minimum for consummation, and immediately leaves- she’s shattered.
The time-skip of a few years finds her bitter, neglected, and humiliated by her early attempts to seduce him or cultivate even a flicker of affection.
I sympathize with Hest’s inability to live openly in Bingtown society, but the issue isn’t his sexuality. The issue is that he’s a complete asshole. His cold treatment, zero communication, and condescension are unacceptable. And if there was any lingering doubt, the devastating marital rape scene erases it entirely.
Everyone else seems to understand the nature of the arrangement except Alise (hope is a powerful drug). But eventually, enough is enough, and she’s ready to void their contract, consequences be damned. When she confronts Hest with evidence of his infidelity, he gaslights her, assuring her unequivocally there never has been and never will be another woman. Unfortunately for Alise, this confrontation occurs in front of Sedric – Hest’s right-hand man and lover – who also happens to be a former friend of Alise and someone she trusts. So when Hest has Sedric vouch that there has been no “other woman” (classic lying loophole!), Alise is left feeling more confused and isolated than ever.
Time to flex that promised independence and go visit some dragons that are sure to make you feel better about your lot in life.
Where Are We Heading?
As a known terrible prognosticator, I can’t help speculating.
Our down-and-out dragons cling to the smallest seed of hope: the dream of Kelsingra, an ancient Elderling city still flickering in their memories. It’s their only path forward. They must convince humans to accompany them in the search for this… dragon haven?? 🤔
And who do I think is getting wrapped up in that quest?
It just has to be our very own band of misfits!
- We need a means of transport- enter Leftrin and his liveship river barge.
- Thymara and papa Thymara need an opportunity away from the judgey Rain Wilders and I know a group who isn’t going to judge physical differences!
- And Alise. Dear, dear Alise. She needs to get tf away from her abusive marriage and is desperate to advance her studies of dragons and Elderlings.
Sounds like a ragtag crew of dragon keepers to me!
Even with all this bleakness, ya know what? I’m fully in! Let’s suffer, baby!
Musings:
Two questions:
- How closely am I supposed to be following the Trehaug-Bingstown birdkeeper interstitial messages?
- How closely am I supposed to be tracking time passage in this story?
Because if those messages are intended as clear temporal or political signposts, you’re going to have to keep things a little simpler than: “Day the 2nd of the Growing Moon, Year the 7th of the Reign of the Most Noble and Magnificent Satrap Cosgo.”
I will never (never!) ask for less sex on the page. But could we work on the ratio of dragon scenes to human scenes? (To be clear, I want more humans having sex.) As it stands, after multiple Tintaglia-Icefyre mid-air coital moments closing out Tawny Man, we lose no time picking back up the dragon mating at the start of Dragon Keeper.
First Sintara relives a majestic past mating flight in a memory. Then, to contrast it, she recounts her current unwanted advance:
“So to be straddled and humped by a dim-witted and deformed creature was an insult beyond bearing.”
Have I mentioned things are rough for the dragons?
I spent a lot of time watching for Liveship Traders crossover. So far we just get a passing mention of Selden, chief human-dragon liaison, at the hatching. (Side note: Selden is kind of giving Bran Stark energy.)
Every time a Bingtown trader is mentioned, I kept wondering if we had encountered them before. But my biggest suspicion lies with the dragons. We know dragons choose new names when they hatch. Sintara’s is similar to her serpent moniker, Sisarqua. Could then perhaps the large, philosophic dragon Mercor be our very own Maulkin? I may be reading too much into things and need to let go of Liveship– but I’m not quite ready yet.
We get a lot of Chalced talk in these intro chapters, especially in Leftrin’s storyline, with the black-market demand for dragon parts to treat their ailing Duke. Are we possibly going to Chalced this series? We’ve hit every other corner of the world. It feels like time.
I will never stop appreciating Robin’s gorgeous writing. My favorite prose moment from these chapters:
“The dragons shifted and settled and shifted again, each looking, Sintara thought, for a comfortable spot that no longer existed. It was not just that the cold, damp earth was uncomfortable; it was that Mercor’s words had destroyed the small amount of acceptance that the dragons had built for their situation.”
Such an elegant encapsulation of their despair.
So, Kelsingra is the Elderling city that Fitz visits on his quest to find Verity, yes? Our brief descriptions include a mountainous backdrop and:
“A fine road of smooth black stone bordered one side of the river…”
Fun!
Deceased at how Tintaglia treats the serpents and hatchlings vs. how she speaks to humans:
“Are you in trouble, beautiful one? I feel your distress. Can I help you?”
And we’re off! Excited to see where this deadly acidic river takes us!
wizardwordship 