City of Dragons (Rain Wilds Chronicles 3) - Robin Hobb

⭐ 8/10

I love this world, but this series has been consistently good, not great.  This book felt like all setup for the finale, but it took some time to remind us of other characters across the world which I appreciate.  There were some dramatic moments in the book, and things were changing despite our main cast staying mostly in the same spot the whole time.

I am 12 books deep into this world so I can't really talk about the plot without spoiler what has come before, but the changes the characters go through is pretty amazing to see, something you can only imagine in the first trilogy. This is a book about discovery, and preserving history while the world changes around you.  Ownership and greed is a huge theme in this series, whether its for land or animals or people, and this entry ratchets up the tension around this. I am so curious how the next book will wrap up this series, feels like anything could happen.  I love the pace of these books, which is pretty slow, and I think all the tension will burst in the finale of the series.

I've compared different series in this world to different books, but Hobb's world does feel wholly unique. Lore and history is baked in, but it never really uses exposition to dump it on you.  The different characters all have interesting perspectives, and like ASOIAF its always a treat to start a chapter and catch up with someone you have missed. This is the 4th series in this world (out of 5), with 2 based in one side of the world and 2 on the other, and when they intersect it is always exciting.  It's kind of hard to explain what I love about these books, other than to say that it takes aspects of other books I like and puts them all together.

While this series has probably been the low point in the universe the bar is high and I always look forward to the next entry.