Dragon Keeper discussion (WARNING: CONTAINS UNMARKED SPOILERS)

[Mervi]

Re: Dragon Keeper feeling slow + being the first part of a series. I follow (or should I say "glance through") most of what people are blogging about Robin's books (via Google Alerts, just in case it finds something newsworthy) and A LOT, I think I could say a majority of people, have been confused about the publication of the RWC. People refer to is as a trilogy constantly, wondering when the last part will come out etc. Most do not seem to have a clue about the publication history (ie that it's one book split in two), even though that information comes up with a very basic google search. I think the problem is that the books themselves aren't too clear on this (at least in the UK editions there are no clear markings of it being a two-part story, or even DH being the concluding part) - and of course people *expect* Robin to write in trilogies. I wish the publishers would have taken a bit more time and thought before putting it out there. I understand that time is money, and the readers had already been left without a new Hobb book for a year but I'm sure we could have waited a bit longer so they could have done the marketing better. I mean, look at [[The Reindeer People]] and [[Wolf's Brother]] which too were originally written as one book and split by the publisher. Both were published the same year, and (at least my UK editions) were clearly marked "part one of a two-book sequence" (in the first pages) and "the two-part story of ... reaches its dramatic conclusion" (on the back).

I don't mean to sound complaining, but I can't tell you how many "actually, it's not a trilogy" and "the second part picks up speed because it's actually the latter half of the original book so do keep on reading" comments I've left around.


Also, I'm wondering if the next book (which Robin has said will be about the events after Tarman's expedition) will be labeled "Rain Wild Chronicles" as well. It that book is one part, people will probably start considering it the concluding part of the trilogy, unless the publishers change the strategy and start marking the parts more clearly. I guess some would say it's not a big deal, and I would have probably agreed before. After reading so many blogs and reviews about these book however, I've learned that what people assume they are reading (stand-alone, series, trilogy) DOES affect their experience a lot, and sometimes the situation isn't fair to the book in question.