SciFi and Fantasy eBook Club discussion

I'm 33% into the book and I thought it was time to start chatting with spoilers. :)


I find the dragons coming out of their cocoons with such severe disabilities to be pretty disturbing. That actually disturbs me more than the dragons eating each other after they die. I feel pretty confident that there's a great reason for it, but at the moment its just unsettling.

As a secondary comment, I've just met Thymara and I'm really fascinated by the Wild Rain People. The tree cities are very well described but I'm curious about the scales and talons .... are they part lizard or just non-humans?

Just got through the chapter where Alise agrees to marry Hest, and find myself with a bit of trepidation as to whether there will be a trend of misandry by the author. So far (only about 15% in) it seems female characters are coming off as better than the men. Lot's to go: maybe Alise will find the inner goodness in Hest and bring it out, or maybe he'll be just another despicable man who only wants to party and have lots of women and be one of the main villains?

I thought from the beginning that Hest and Sedric were lovers. But, I initially thought I was reading into things - you know, the stereotype that gay people think everyone is gay .... Later, when Alise accused Hest of having an affair and they were both so precise to swear he has never touched another woman - I was certain but still thinking I'm a stereotype. Later, when Sedric shows that he still wants to run away with Hest so they can openly be together, I was surprised but it made sense.

In this case, I think it's very relevant to the storyline and I'm curious how that sub-plot is going to develop beyond where it has with the motivations for Sedric's stealing the pieces of dragon skin as well as Alise's motivation for having her own life ....

Charles, regarding misandry, I think Tats and Leftrin are written as fairly positive male characters. I think all her characters have some pretty strong character flaws - dragons, keepers, Traders - but none of the major and supporting characters feel two dimensional. But, there is a general feeling of women dealing with male oppressors. I haven't decided if I thinking its turning into a Lifetime movie of the week or if its just a portrayal of something that's there in the society they live.... I may have to read the next couple books to find out.

The entire scene where the dragons are hatching disturbs me a lot. It seems necessary (I've not gotten further than Alise and Hest's wedding), but that scene just bothered me and made me keep reading before going to bed for the night.

The other thing that is really strong is that I've not been sure what species the various characters are. It has been very confusing to not be able to figure out what everyone is.

I have been really enjoying this book despite the disturbing parts mentioned. I also wondered if Hest who at the moment I really think is a creep and Sedric were a couple haven't gone far enough to see if they are or not. On about page 129 or 419. Just getting to were they dragons are thinking about standing up for themselves.

I just finished this book. The ending is very disappointing to me - the story is just not completed. I understand that this is the first in a series but it leaves too much out in open. It does successfully want me to read the next book, but it feels like it was just cut off, not something that was tied up with other parts of the story to connect it to a second book. Highly disappointing, especially as I cannot justify the $15 to get a kindle copy of the next book.

The point when I realized that Hest and Sedric were lovers was when she accused Hest of infidelity. The statements were so precise that there had to be something more there.

I have found with all of Robin Hobbs' books that I have read, the earlier books in a series have no real sense of resolution to them. I am not reading this one, because I have decided not to start a series until I have all of it. The hanging feeling is just too annoying.

I agree with Tuttle. I finished the book last night.

The ending made me think of that old show, Soap, and how it ended..
What is happening to Sedric? Will Alise leave Hest? Will the birdkeepers be turned in for their "illegal" messages? Come back next week to find out!

Speaking of the birdkeepers, what was that all about?

Geoffrey wrote: "Speaking of the birdkeepers, what was that all about?"

Heh...I put the book aside and went onto something more interesting soon after the chapter interlude where there were something like 4 consecutive "bird" messages. I found them only slightly irritating when you got one per chapter, but then that sequence really started to annoy me.

But by that point nothing in the book was grabbing me: none of the characters seemed especially interesting, at least not the ones we were spending the most time with up to that point, and by that point I was 25% into the book and still didn't feel as if any interesting part of the story had gotten really started yet. Maybe if I were into soap operas I would be interested in the whole Alise/Hest/Sedric thing, but that's not what I read fantasy for. (That's not meant to be a put-down to anyone who does enjoy that sort of story emphasis, it just doesn't float my personal boat.)

Charles wrote: "by that point I was 25% into the book and still didn't feel as if any interesting part of the story had gotten really started yet. Maybe if I were into soap operas I would be interested in the whole Alise/Hest/Sedric thing, but that's not what I read fantasy for..."

This is pretty much the way Hobb writes. She diverges off onto tangents that interest her and sometimes she comes back to pick up dropped threads, sometimes she leaves them. I can't read her anymore. I find all her characters unappealing in some way and her books are always full of futility. She wears me out. After struggling with Soldier Son I wasn't going to read this one until I'd seen what people here had to say and now I think I'll can it altogether.

Liz wrote: "I agree with Tuttle. I finished the book last night.

The ending made me think of that old show, Soap, and how it ended..
What is happening to Sedric? Will Alise leave Hest? Will the birdkeeper..."

the birdkeepers were used to show you the passage of time. Five years past and she apparently thought this was the best way to show it.

Geoffrey, if you're interested in the Rain Wild peoples, then try reading Hobb's short story "Homecoming" (The Realm of the Elderlings) in Legends II, edited by Robert Silverberg.

hmmm finally finished. was suddenly surprised to find my self at the end. I do plan to read the next one- what I want to know is- Will the dragons do something to Sedric, I'm starting to not like that guy- nice on the outside and selfish on the inside. I didn't mind the birdkeepers, either.