Dragon Keeper discussion (WARNING: CONTAINS UNMARKED SPOILERS)

[Farseer]

I tend to think of both books as just 'The Rain Wild Chronicles' and NOT individually as DK and DH. To me, DK and DH are more like the part headings you find in books from time-to-time, not singular book titles (just as if I put them on top of each other and then stapled the back cover of DK to the front cover of DH!). Still, I can see where other people could have become confused, particularly if they’d been new to Robin's work.

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.

Yes, I agree, and feel now that the RWC books (and, as a flow-on effect, therefore Robin and her other works) have received a lot of negative feedback that could have been avoided if the format had been made clearer to other readers preceding their release. Disappointment seems to be a consistent element in all of the RWC feedback (at least, that I have read) and that seems directly related to the prior expectation that it would mirror the previous three trilogies...in my opinion, you could never fairly compare one book (even if it IS broken up into two parts for publishing reasons) with a trilogy, let alone three, and so, if you were expecting the two books to form a part of a trilogy, well, you were always going to be disappointed, I suppose!

This is such a shame as I felt they were a terrific continuing of the tale, but then I was never confused or ever had a problem with the 'book-in-two-parts' thing as, as I've maintained in other posts, I never expected that they would be too much more than what they were (particularly after reading 'Homecoming' and ‘Words Like Coins’). It was only ever going to be another thread in the overall tapestry...

I know Robin said she was thinking of the new, upcoming installment as 'Dragon Traders' (though this was not what she plans to actually call it). Whatever it ends up being, I would also hope, Mervi, that the tag of Rain Wild Chronicle is left alone now...better to keep it as ‘Dragon Traders’ than to add to the confusion.

All in all though, I'd be quite satisfied if even a one-chapter publication was released every month or so...am more than happy to accept whatever crumbs fall from 'Tangle leader's' table...!