city of dragons character help

[reecem27]

I've read all RH's books except the Liveship Traders trilogy and am currently reading City of Dragons.

I just started a chapter about Malta who, apart from a very brief appearance in one of the Tawny Man books, I've never read anything about.
What is her story?
Is her story integral to this new book?
If so, why is it that RH has only just introduced her to this trilogy and assumed that we know all about her.

I'm a little lost...

[joost]

I've read all RH's books except the Liveship Traders trilogy and am currently reading City of Dragons.

I just started a chapter about Malta who, apart from a very brief appearance in one of the Tawny Man books, I've never read anything about.
What is her story?
Is her story integral to this new book?
If so, why is it that RH has only just introduced her to this trilogy and assumed that we know all about her.

I'm a little lost...

Without Liveship traders, you miss the entire background story of Rain Wild Chronicles. Imagine reading Tawny man without the Farseer trilogy?

['thul]

Malta is one of the core characters of the liveship traders. Her story does have a good bit of importance to City of Dragons, so lacking that background material will confuse you later on in the book.

Did you also jump over Dragon keeper / Dragon Haven?

[Farseer]

Welcome to thePlenty, reecem27!

I'm just chiming in to agree with what's already been said. It would be best if you stop now and go back and read The Liveship Traders trilogy first and then Dragon Keeper and Dragon Haven. If City of Dragons is the first time you've come across Malta (outside Tawny Man), this tells me that you haven't read Dragon Keeper or Dragon Haven either. She, and some of the main points of her story, is spoken of quite specifically in Dragon Keeper.

@joost: I had to grin, thinking of your poor mother being subjected to reading RWC cold turkey, without "the entire background story"!

[fool-ish]

Hello reeceem27 You just must read LST to 'get' Malta.

@ Farseer. My daughter was perusing my bookcase at the weekend, and while I've been trying my hardest to get her to read Robin's books for ages now, she won't. So, as I considered DH/DK to be an easier read than the previous books, I told her to read them first and see how she liked them. It wasn't until later I thought about what I'd said...what on earth was I thinking of? If you're gonna read them, start at the beginning!

[reecem27]

Ohhh... I have read Dragon Keeper and Dragon haven, so I must've read about Malta then (apart from Tawny Man), but to be honest, I've read SO many books after Dragon Haven while waiting for CoD (including all of A Song of Ice and Fire and Raymond E Feist's Riftware Saga) that I seem to have forgotten her story.

From what I read last night (her first chapter in CoD) I gleaned that she is pregnant to Reyn (who I also can't remember) and is starting a trek up the RW river to Cassarick to oversee some disputes over excavation and treatment of the tattooed people? Her and Reyn seem to have been raised to 'Elderling' status by Tingtalia and I'm assuming, were once reverred in the Pirate Isles, but their 'changing' to become more aesthetically pleasing is a source of envy and discord amongst other Rain Wilders that have changed without the guidance of a dragon.
She has a brother, Selden (who again, I can't remember much of), that is held captive and being traded to the Duke of Chalced for some reason that is not yet clear.

I'm a massive fan of RH's novels and don't want to stop reading CoD just to learn Malta's story in depth so can anyone do a quick summary of Malta's, Reyn's and Selden's relevance to the Liveship traders? (Not concerned about spoilers... it's all about the journey).

Thanks for the warm welcome by the way.

[Farseer]

Oh reecem27, I would love to provide you with what you need but time is so, so tight...all I can do is direct you to the wiki. There you will be able to read about Malta, Selden and Reyn , but BEWARE, there are HUGE spoilers therein for the Liveship Traders trilogy. Up to you to choose though. Anything further you need to know, you may find it elsewhere in the wiki. There is much to add to the wiki though, especially for the RWC series, so there will be gaps or limited info.

As for DK, Malta was present in the room with Alise and Leftrin when Alise pointed out Kelsingra on the tapestry.

EDIT: If you really want Liveship Traders spoilers (!), and need more info than you can get from thePlenty wiki, you can always look through a LST overview from over at wikipedia.

@ fool-ish: Yes...one must always start at the start, if able! If I were you, no matter how old she is, grab some snacks and go and jump into bed together for a cosy stint of reading...you can read with her aloud until she gets hooked and just HAS to keep readin by herself. If she doesn't agree, beg her to try at least the first three chapters and, if that doesn't happen, threaten to never talk to her again!

[Narya]

Took me about a year to get my kid to read RH. Now he's hooked.

['thul]

Its not all that easy to give a summary that explains the background sufficiently, as Malta's story is to a large degree the main thread of the entire Liveship Traders Trilogy. As a character, she develops very much during those three books, so to understand her, one really needs to start at her beginning.

[fool-ish]

Oh reecem27, I would love to provide you with what you need but time is so, so tight...all I can do is direct you to the wiki. There you will be able to read about Malta, Selden and Reyn , but BEWARE, there are HUGE spoilers therein for the Liveship Traders trilogy. Up to you to choose though. Anything further you need to know, you may find it elsewhere in the wiki. There is much to add to the wiki though, especially for the RWC series, so there will be gaps or limited info.

As for DK, Malta was present in the room with Alise and Leftrin when Alise pointed out Kelsingra on the tapestry.

EDIT: If you really want Liveship Traders spoilers (!), and need more info than you can get from thePlenty wiki, you can always look through a LST overview from over at wikipedia.

@ fool-ish: Yes...one must always start at the start, if able! If I were you, no matter how old she is, grab some snacks and go and jump into bed together for a cosy stint of reading...you can read with her aloud until she gets hooked and just HAS to keep readin by herself. If she doesn't agree, beg her to try at least the first three chapters and, if that doesn't happen, threaten to never talk to her again!

She's nearly 18 and so I'm really quite powerless as to what she will/won't read. She has stated in the past that she's not keen on the old swords and castles and men in tights genre, though I can't think of a time when she's even tried to read anything from that genre, so that's a non-argument if you ask me. Like me, she can become quite obsessed (one only has to see her bedroom, dedicated to Harry Potter) and to that end, I told her how she would learn to adore Fitz and fool etc. just as I did. Stubborn child, she is, but I hold on to the hope that she'll be so desperate for something to read, she'll give in and go for it and then regret that she didn't listen to her mother earlier!