Robin Hobb's Rain Wilds Chronicles follows a small group of sentient but crippled dragons and their human keepers as they drag the species hand-over-hand back from the brink of extinction, despite disease, adversity, natural disaster, poachers and government conspiracy. The fourth and final installment of the series, Blood of Dragons, can be (perhaps even should be) read as a standalone.
In the first three books, Hobb took her time developing the main characters and building suspense, even crafting a clever subplot told entirely through messages sent by carrier pigeon. Thousands of pages of slow pacing, though, may offer more frustration for many readers than the payoff is worth. Blood of Dragons is brisk in comparison, and newcomers will find it relatively easy to pick up the necessary background.
Despite the epic high fantasy premise, Hobb deliberately focuses on the day-to-day heroism and ignominy of her characters rather than grand acts of derring-do. She is a master of the intimate moment, packing more emotional significance into a fight over tanning techniques than many writers can manage in a death scene. Her characters are fantastic but not escapist, and reflect a varied background of ethnicities and sexualities, which Hobb depicts with sensitivity.
Best of all, Blood of Dragons offers a satisfying conclusion. Unlike many doorstop fantasy series, Rain Wilds ties up all its loose ends, provides a sense of closure for all the major characters and leaves the reader smiling. --Katie Montgomery, book nerd