A writer in decline

For more than twenty years that Robin Hobb exercises as a writer of Science Fiction. And it shows ... His lack of imagination is more striking.
Tirelessly explores the same themes without deigning to want to renew: Women, the various workings of power and feelings of a person rejected by others for their differences. Thus, the status of women has been greatly expanded with the Raiders of the Sea; the workings of power, whether political or simply in human relations, were discussed with great finesse in the series Assassin Royal. It had also developed a lot in this last series the issue of rejection and differences. I have quoted his best known works, we can nevertheless see that in his previous books, written under the name of Magda Lindholm, exploited themes are the same: the brother wolves and people reindeer, a mother flees with her child because the latter is a bit special ...
In his previous series, Robin Hobb has had time to explore his favorite themes. Therefore, we can consider that it has reached the end of its consideration of these matters. This was already visible when she started her new trilogy Soldier shaman. The themes were still the same, but as she had less time to develop, it remained very superficial, which gave a series well below previous.
Private shaman is especially in the production of the author, because she went out for the first time in several years the world of the Six Duchies and Bingtown. The result was rather disappointing. The universe she created certainly not lacked imagination and inventiveness (conquest of the East, obese shamans practicing their art through their extra calories, all sprinkled with a rear medieval layout), however it sorely lacked coherence and realism. Without stopping, she repeated the same rules as a dogma, without observing its weaknesses (including the rule of inheritance and destiny of a child against his parents, she weakly shade at the end). Moreover, its plot, interesting and extremely ambitious first sight, does not keep its promises. She drags on and characteristics of his hero does not facilitate his task ... Anyway, she was unable to rise to the same level as the Royal Assassin.
In Dragon Keeper, so it returns to familiar territory. However, his story drags needlessly around the different characters, then it would have been possible to shorten it and to establish a much faster pace. Similarly, as in the Soldier Shaman, she keeps coming back to the same obsessions but brings nothing more. Finally, boredom quickly won me.
In terms of imagination, as this world has already been described for many pages, the author did not have to demonstrate a lot of creativity in the foundation. Therefore, it could focus more on the new elements like psychology dragons. However, in this first volume, it seems to be confined to what she had already developed into the Royal Assassin, namely an arrogant attitude from the Dragons. If it brings some nuances in Dragon Keeper, his thinking seems insufficiently accomplished.
Anyway, this first volume is very disappointing. It is therefore hoped that the second book is better, from the point of view of the pace of the narrative as the interest of his remarks. In terms of imagination, it is also hoped that Robin Hobb still manages to surprise us, even if nothing is less certain.