Read the previous entry in the series here.
Read the next entry in the series here.

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Following an announcement from the Bird Keepers’ Guild that Kim has been stripped of authority and dismissed, with others possibly to follow, “Dragon Decisions” opens with Thymara considering the work and accoutrements necessary to handle Silver. Progress on Kelsingra in the absence of the dragons is related, and she, accompanied, makes trial of the Silver, and rediscoveries of lost techniques begin, but only barely begin.

Later, Malta muses on the departed dragons and keepers, considering Phron as she tends idle gardens. She and a keeper, Alum, confer, their talk turning to Trader life and the possibility of the creation of other Elderlings. Some of the events of the Liveship Traders novels are glossed, and Malta thinks wistfully on her family. She offers such counsel as she can to the younger keeper, and, gifted with seeds, makes a new start to the gardens.

Thymara repairs to the map room, considering it and the work that has been done on it. Tats joins her there, and the two confer, largely about Rapskal and their own relationship. They walk through Kelsingra, considering it further, and Thymara leads them to the quarters her memory-self, Amarinda, had had. There, she puts the memories to rest.

Approaching Cassarick, Alise and Leftrin confer, their progress downriver noted. Tillamon joins them and notes her plans. An upset among the Chalcedean captives is also related, and the Tarman ties up and begins to disgorge cargo and passengers. The Chalcedeans opt to choose their own deaths in the caustic water of the Rain Wild rather than face what will come, and the attack by dragons on Chalced is reported.

The end of the book is approaching, and along with it, the end of the Rain Wilds Chronicles. It makes sense, then, that Hobb would work in the present chapter to address a number of plot threads and work to bring them towards conclusion. The resolution of the trouble among the Bird Keepers noted in the opening missive is one such thing; the various reflections on relationships among the Kelsingrans and Traders offer other examples. Not all of the plot threads are addressed, of course, but there are yet pages in the text to treat, and it isn’t the case in any event that all plot threads have to be tied off. Indeed, a more verisimilitudinous novel will deliberately leave matters unfinished, as it is rare in real life that matters are completed, let alone completed neatly–and even a less “realistic” one may well leave space from which sequels can emerge, especially when it is itself such a sequel.

I do appreciate the motion in the earlier sections of the chapter towards the idea of work to be done. It is often the case in fantasy fiction, not least in cases where old realms are restored, that the work of that restoration is glossed over, if it is mentioned at all. Consider Lord of the Rings, where the work of rebuilding the Shire is passed over in fits and starts (and the hobbits from whose work the book is “translated” would, as they are described in prefatory materials, likely be at least as concerned with the rebuilding as they would have been with the quest that preceded it), and the restoration of Gondor is relegated to appendices whose composer lamented them. Hobb admittedly has the leisure of more time in the Realm of the Elderlings than many authors; there are years between series that take place in the same areas of the milieu, but it is also clear that things are not hand-waved as restored to their full former status even in those years. In the present chapter, the slow work of manipulating Silver and the bare beginnings of gardens under Malta’s care both point to the efforts to be expended, and not all in one burst.

I have to note, too, the resignation of the Chalcedean prisoners at the end of the chapter. The parallels to historical events should be clear. The reminder that there is pain and misery at the foundation of things is one that needs making; there are certainly enough people who try to forget it again and again…

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