It is her fourth series set in that world, following after the Farseer, Liveship Traders and Tawny Man trilogies, and features an entirely new cast of characters.

Reviewers welcomed Hobb's return to the setting of the Liveship Traders, and writer Lisa Goldstein called the Rain Wilds a "strange and fascinating place".

[2] Scholar Lenise Prater noted the series' depiction of gay relationships and wrote that Hobb promoted queer themes, but felt that her writing was conservative due to its negative portrayal of promiscuity.

Sadly, the poisoned environment now afflicts many of the Rain Wilders with dragon-like disfigurement, including scales and claws, and very short lifespans.

[1] Nisi Shawl agreed, writing that Hobb's world was "delightfully complex", and commented that readers would be drawn in by its "marvelous interplay of power, magic and beauty".

[12] Goldstein took a more mixed view, writing that while Hobb's human protagonists were interesting, they repeatedly emulated "the Cinderella story" in being unhappy outcasts.

[14] According to fantasy scholar Lenise Prater, while the Rain Wild quartet "promotes acceptance of queer relationships", it is limited by "conservative impulses".

Yet she concludes that the series is conservative, because all its relationships – whether gay or straight – are "monogamous and based on romantic love"; characters who stray from this notion, such as the promiscuous Jerd, are portrayed negatively.

[14] The Monroe News-Star commented that Hobb's dragons were different from the ones typically seen in fantasy, as they blended dragon-like "mystical grandeur" with human flaws arising from their stunted nature, which made them unable to fly.

[19] The reviewer found their growth in the second book interesting, writing that they had progressed closer to the beings of myth but retained flaws which he compared to "the chink in Smaug's armor".

[2] Goldstein agreed that the pacing had improved and labelled the second book "exciting, full of adventure", but found the ending predictable and concluded that it left her with "a vague taste of disappointment".

[25] The first book's prose was critiqued by Bear, who said that Hobb was typically a "fine stylist", but felt that her writing in Dragon Keeper suffered from too much exposition.