The cocoons spun by the migrating sea serpents have burst open to reveal a new generation of dragons that will wreak havoc on the communities of Bingtown and Cassarick. Council members select humans born with strange physical mutations to help with the problem, as well as an unusual dragon "expert," the unfulfilled wife of a Bingtown Trader. Hobb's two-book miniseries, set in the same world as the "Liveship Traders" and the "Tawny Man" series, continues the tale of an exotic land and the people transformed by its inherent magic. VERDICT Human and dragon characters achieve a remarkable degree of believability in this inventive saga marked by its vivid detail and keen insight into human (and draconic) nature. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 10/15/09; the second book, Dragon Haven, pubs May 2010.—Ed.]

Here be dragons—but debilitated, deformed, damaged dragons, hatched too soon, sick and starving, into a world that has mostly forgotten them. The first of Hobb's Rain Wild Chronicles, an absorbing extension of her Liveship and Tawny Man trilogies, introduces 15 young dragons who struggle to survive with the grudging help of mutant Rain Wilders. Eventually driven out by the Traders Council, the hatchlings decide to seek Kelsingra, their ancient home. Caught up by the dragons' plight and longing to escape unhappy families and the stifling Rain Wild culture, self-taught dragon scholar Alise Kincannon and teenage tree-dwelling mutant Thymara volunteer to accompany them on the quest, with the help of magnetic liveship captain Leftrin and a host of colorful characters. Hobb's meticulously realized fantasy tale is a welcome addition to contemporary dragon lore. (Feb.)