A review by jenndaniells
The Dragon Keeper by Robin Hobb
4.0
I relished this book. This book has the right amount of dragons, misfits, romance, character development, lore, and action. I freaking looooooooved this novel. I knew I would finish the book by the end of the night, so I promptly took a visit to the nearest bookstore to grab the next two novels (the fourth will come by mail). I liked her Farseer series, but I found the main character to be quite annoying - and I also found it to be a little awful by the second book. I was skeptical about this novel after I had these feelings, but it proved worthy of my reading only a few pages in. I think it's because I really wanted to read about dragons / lore, and this book gave me it.
I loved the characters. She did a great job at villains, and the character development was phenomenal. I think that I prefer her writing when she has a plethora of different views to work with. It enhances/ enriches the plot. The plot was amazing! No spoilers - but I did not see some of it coming! I was so awestruck by certain things (she's great at subtle hints - too good? Hm...), and for me to be shocked - lets just say it takes a lot. I was quite impressed. Reading reviews, I'm kinda shocked as to why this is deemed the "lesser" of the other novels. I think it is one of her stronger novels, but I do not have too much to go by. The comedy was also something that I enjoyed as well. It's just so perfect. She is such an amazing writer.
I gave this book 5 stars, and I would recommend it to any avid fantasy reader :) especially to those people who are looking for a good, solid dragon read (and by solid, I mean fantastic).
*Edit (2021) - after reading it again, I found it good - just not as good as my original review. I found the dialogue to be too long, and she repeats a lot of things throughout the novel which can get tiresome. I love the dragons, love the characters, but I feel like I didn’t like the writing as much this time around.
I loved the characters. She did a great job at villains, and the character development was phenomenal. I think that I prefer her writing when she has a plethora of different views to work with. It enhances/ enriches the plot. The plot was amazing! No spoilers - but I did not see some of it coming! I was so awestruck by certain things (she's great at subtle hints - too good? Hm...), and for me to be shocked - lets just say it takes a lot. I was quite impressed. Reading reviews, I'm kinda shocked as to why this is deemed the "lesser" of the other novels. I think it is one of her stronger novels, but I do not have too much to go by. The comedy was also something that I enjoyed as well. It's just so perfect. She is such an amazing writer.
I gave this book 5 stars, and I would recommend it to any avid fantasy reader :) especially to those people who are looking for a good, solid dragon read (and by solid, I mean fantastic).
*Edit (2021) - after reading it again, I found it good - just not as good as my original review. I found the dialogue to be too long, and she repeats a lot of things throughout the novel which can get tiresome. I love the dragons, love the characters, but I feel like I didn’t like the writing as much this time around.