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.
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