On a structural level, the Chalced plot and its resolution, which comes at the very end also felt definitely out, indeed I was rather feeling the book should have ended before t hen and things were becoming a little static. What is doubly surprising is that this is a confrontation we've been anticipating right from the first book of the quadrilogy, and yet it absolutely doesn't disappoint at all. The climax of the novel felt particularly rushed and I was disappointed that things wrapped up quite quickly. It carries on the plot of Kelsingra, gives us more knowledge of the Elderlings than ever before, (though still leaving mysteries), and also resolves many plots in deeply satisfying ways. The world building aspects of this series have been the most entertaining thing, as the characters explore themselves and the new world that they find themselves in.

That makes it a completely solid, readable and enjoyable fantasy series, which is still head-and-shoulders above many other novels in the genre; but it doesn’t have the magnetic blend of grit, power and raw characterisation that has made Hobb’s other books such enduring favourites. The dragon keepers immerse themselves in the dangerously addictive memory-stone records of the city in the hope of recovering the lost Elderling magic that once allowed humans and dragons to co-exist.

The writing is cunning because it's totally character driven, all actions arising out of what the characters do rather than the needs of the plot, and although it doesn't move along at the fastest pace things are always clearly going somewhere.

Perhaps because this plot is compressed, I'll also say that Chasim is one instance where Hobb's usually careful dialogue and character understanding seems to fail, as the last thing any person who has been violently raped would do literally the moment after is sit down with a fellow prisoner and have a discussion about their feelings.

I don't think I can think of any other author whose plotting, style and ability manages to sustain such consistently outstanding quality for quite as many books set in the same world, I don't even believe Hobb's barrel has a bottom, let alone one she will ever need to scrape.

Robin is damn good at drawing characters and her characters are what stay with us after we have put down her books. Having said all this, I do believe that it is essential to read this if you’re planning to continue on with the new trilogy. There’s plenty of action in this instalment and, as the characters grow towards their full potential, I felt they became correspondingly more engaging. Blood of Dragons continues the story from the previous book, City of Dragons, with our band of young keepers and their dragons beginning to make their way into the deserted Elderling city of Kelsingra.In her Farseer series she took Fitz from an overlooked child to a grand mover of events, while Liveship saw her turning a family feud and the ambitions of pirates into a devastating war and the rediscovery of dragons. I’m never going to go the length of investing (in time, emotion and money) in all the volumes, but I think I may well finish the first set with Fitz and perhaps go on to the Fool series. Even if however I am incorrect on her motivations, that doesn't stop the fact that I did feel if Chasim was to serve more purpose in the plot we needed to see more of her, and especially more of her that did not involve such brutality, since I never really got a sense of who she was. The problem however is that even after this aspect of rediscovery is resolved, there is still one matter left to deal with which felt to me slightly off, and that is the business of Selden and the duke of Chalced.

It just about manages this, with the fate of one character being very satisfying, and a game changing set piece also.The world is certainly no longer the place it used to be, and I am pretty certain that the new books will be affected to some degree by the changes at Kelsingra. This is the fourth and final book in Robin Hobb’s Rain Wild Chronicles quartet and I can honestly say I don’t think I’ve ever been so pleased to come to the end of a series! Abandoned by the Elderlings in the aftermath of an earthquake many generations earlier, Kelsingra has been left in ruins but still holds magic within its stones. For Althia, Malta and indeed Alise this hasn't been an issue, indeed the romance between Alise and Leftrin was more a matter of liberation than passivity, however in the case of Thymara, since her other plots such as her potential conflict with her dragon rather petered out, I did feel it left her feeling slightly under used, simply prevaricating between her two admirers (an unkind person might almost say teasing), rather than engaging in a more active, equal relationship or trying to sort matters out for herself. Although I love the book I feel as if it is too short and some parts of e story could have been given in more detail.