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City of Dragons: Volume Three of the Rain Wilds Chronicles – A Thrilling Epic Fantasy of Lost Power and Last Hope for Survival
The gripping third volume in Robin Hobb’s New York Times bestselling Rain Wilds series—reissued with beautiful cover art by renowned illustrator Jackie Morris.
Once dragons ruled the Rain Wilds, tended by privileged human servants known as Elderlings. But now the magnificent creatures have been driven nearly to extinction—and the last of their kind, born weak and deformed, have one last hope of to return to their ancient city of Kelsingra.
After a long and harsh journey, Kelsingra is finally near, on the far side of the toxic Rain Wild River. But the greatest trial still lies ahead for the dragons and their human keepers. Rapidly approaching enemies driven by wickedness, greed, and dark desires covet the treasures that await within the magical city’s walls. And to reach their ancestral sanctuary, the dragons must reawaken a power lost to them generations earlier. The dragons must learn to fly.
Once dragons ruled the Rain Wilds, tended by privileged human servants known as Elderlings. But now the magnificent creatures have been driven nearly to extinction—and the last of their kind, born weak and deformed, have one last hope of to return to their ancient city of Kelsingra.
After a long and harsh journey, Kelsingra is finally near, on the far side of the toxic Rain Wild River. But the greatest trial still lies ahead for the dragons and their human keepers. Rapidly approaching enemies driven by wickedness, greed, and dark desires covet the treasures that await within the magical city’s walls. And to reach their ancestral sanctuary, the dragons must reawaken a power lost to them generations earlier. The dragons must learn to fly.
352 pages, Paperback
Published February 3, 2026
About the author
Robin Hobb
378 books120k followers** 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 star from me means,yes, I liked the book, and I'd loan it to a friend and it went everywhere in my jacket pocket or purse until I finished it. A 3 star means that I've ignored friends to finish it and my sink is full of dirty dishes. A 4 star means I'm probably in trouble with my editor for missing a deadline because I was reading this book. But I want you to know . . . I don't finish books I don't like. There's too many good ones out there waiting to be found.
Robin Hobb is the author of three well-received fantasy trilogies: The Farseer Trilogy (Assassin’s Apprentice, Royal Assassin, and Assassin’s Quest), The Liveship Traders Trilogy (Ship of Magic, Mad Ship and Ship of Destiny) and the Tawny Man Trilogy (Fool’s Errand, Golden Fool, and Fool’s Fate) Her current work in progress is entitled Shaman’s Crossing. Robin Hobb lives and works in Tacoma, Washington, and has been a professional writer for over 30 years.
In addition to writing, her interests include gardening, mushrooming, and beachcombing. She and her husband Fred have three grown children and one teenager, and three grand-children.
She also writes as Megan Lindholm, and works under that name have been finalists for the Hugo award, the Nebula Award, and the Endeavor award. She has twice won an Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Readers’ Award.
Robin Hobb is the author of three well-received fantasy trilogies: The Farseer Trilogy (Assassin’s Apprentice, Royal Assassin, and Assassin’s Quest), The Liveship Traders Trilogy (Ship of Magic, Mad Ship and Ship of Destiny) and the Tawny Man Trilogy (Fool’s Errand, Golden Fool, and Fool’s Fate) Her current work in progress is entitled Shaman’s Crossing. Robin Hobb lives and works in Tacoma, Washington, and has been a professional writer for over 30 years.
In addition to writing, her interests include gardening, mushrooming, and beachcombing. She and her husband Fred have three grown children and one teenager, and three grand-children.
She also writes as Megan Lindholm, and works under that name have been finalists for the Hugo award, the Nebula Award, and the Endeavor award. She has twice won an Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Readers’ Award.
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Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review
May 14, 2026
The Rain Wild Chronicles has been such a painfully disappointing series thus far and, once again, the plot almost doesn’t move at all in City of Dragons. The characters are by far the weakest characters Hobb ever wrote. They’re uninteresting, unlikable, and I just don’t care about their fates.
To be honest, the only improvement from the previous book in the series was that it’s 180 pages shorter, bigger isn’t better. Unfortunately, the character POVs contained the same repetitive & painfully unintersting relationship drama that we had already read for 500 pages from the previous book.
I don’t understand the thinking behind needing to milk 4 weak books out of this series when probably 1 novella would have been sufficient. I still plan on reading the next book in this series, Blood of Dragons, but thats only because I want to read the Fitz and the Fool series. But, I would NOT recommend reading the Rain Wild Chronicles and I have no expectation my opinion will change after reading the next and last book in this series.
To be honest, the only improvement from the previous book in the series was that it’s 180 pages shorter, bigger isn’t better. Unfortunately, the character POVs contained the same repetitive & painfully unintersting relationship drama that we had already read for 500 pages from the previous book.
I don’t understand the thinking behind needing to milk 4 weak books out of this series when probably 1 novella would have been sufficient. I still plan on reading the next book in this series, Blood of Dragons, but thats only because I want to read the Fitz and the Fool series. But, I would NOT recommend reading the Rain Wild Chronicles and I have no expectation my opinion will change after reading the next and last book in this series.
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review