Customer Reviews

Dragon Harper (The Dragonriders of Pern)

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(14)
2 star:		(12)
1 star:		(13)

 

 

To be honest, I don't expect much when I pick up a Pern book anymore. These last few have ranged from middling at best (Dragonsblood) to nearly unreadable (Dragon's Fire). While the eternal optimist in me keeps me reading the series, the realist in me can't help but note just how long it's been since there's been a good book (I'm not asking for the glory of the great ones). Sadly, Dragon Harper doesn't break that streak. It's not as bad as Dragon's Fire, though that isn't saying much at all, and it's not quite as good as Dragonsblood, which also isn't saying much since that novel was mostly just adequate.
Time-wise, the book picks up just after the events of Dragon's Kin and Dragon's Fire. Harper apprentice Kindan is having a tough time at Harper Hall--he can't find something he's good at and he and his friends (Verilan and two girls--Nonala and Kelsa) are tormented by the requisite school bully Vaxoram. Kindan eventually challenges Vaxoram to a duel and Vaxoram becomes his servant and then friend. Soon after Kindan impresses a fire-lizard and at the hatching meets and falls in love with Koriana, daughter of Lord Holder Bemin of Fort Hold (who has Harper "issues" and is no way going to allow his daughter to hook up with one). Then we get the by-now-too familiar plague sweeping across Pern, killing nearly everyone. Kindan and his young friends frantically search the records to find a cure and then gradually take on even more duties as the adults begin to falter before the plague's onslaught.
Where does one start when detailing all the problems with the book? How about plot? The biggest problem has already been mentioned--we've seen it all before. The plague. The search through records. The sense of urgency. The exhausted survivors trying to save the others. The young apprentice constantly being bullied and having to stand up for himself. Dragons going between. Fire Lizards being impressed. If one can't have originality, then one can hope for the comfort of familiarity. But there's a fine line between familiar and stale and Harper crosses that line. Add in the sketchiness of much of the plotting (almost no sense of what is happening elsewhere, who else is combatting this plague and how) and some implausibility tossed in as well, and the book just can't rely on plot to save it.
The same sense of staleness resides in the characters who are at times overly familiar (Kindan has echoes of Piemur) but have none of the spirit or freshness of the characters they are pale shadows of. Some are mere caricatures--the bully and the redeemed bully. And, hearkening back to the major flaws of Dragon's Blood, too many lack a consistent core. A character gloats over another then less than a page or two later speaks with pride of the same person he was just gloating over. Characters switch moods on utter whims, with no sense of reason. Vaxoram's switch from bully to devoted servant is simply unbelievable, with not even a facade of complexity tossed in. Characters learn to fight with their complete opposite hand in under a week. Try dribbling a basketball with a week's practice in your off hand. Now imagine fencing with it. There's suspension of disbelief and then there's not even bothering to pretend it's believable. A character gets the smart idea of surgical masks to help contain the killer flu, but then simply waits around for full-fledged masks to be delivered rather than jury-rig something out of all the material at hand (such as the sheets flapping around outside since the laundress is dead). And the list goes on.
There are other issues as well--flat side-characters, clumsy introduction of feminist issues (it's not the raising of the issue, it's the painfully clunky way it is done), the reliance on "timing" once again to solve a problem (with all its attendant questions/paradoxes, an unnecessary prolog that plays at being coy but is self-evident to any Pern fan and that adds nothing to the plot,
Is there anything good? Actually, yes. While way too familiar, the plague plotline, once it starts going and focuses solely on Kindan's role as healer, is by far the strongest part of the book. The action is tight, focused, well-paced. Characters start to flesh out a bit and one starts to actually care about some of them. It's a sizeable chunk of the book, about a third, and since it comes in the end it means the book leaves a relatively positive taste in your mouth once you finish it, no mean accomplishment after how bad the first two-thirds of the book were.
But a third of a book is still just a third of a book. The fact that it comes at the end means the memory of the book is more positive than it has any right to be, but it still doesn't make it a good book. So I can't recommend this book. Though I fear most Pern fans will read it anyway, hoping against hope and experience--just be forewarned. Anyone who hasn't read the Pern books yet will obviously start with the first ones so it will be long period of enjoyment before they get to the lower quality of the latter books. I envy them their journey and would recommend that current Pern fans can better spend their time retracing their steps in the series rather than continuing forward.
I'll let you know how the next one turns out--though I fear we all already know.

OK, I accept that Anne McCaffrey has passed the Pern torch to her son, Todd. I even accept that Todd is passable as an author, though he lacks his mother's genious. But how many plagues will Pern suffer? Can't he come up with another plotline? There are fewer than two dozen characters in the storyline, and most of these flit into scenes without any development. His characters are inconsistent and the situation unbelievable. In a sudden, catastrophic plague, the Masterharper of Pern sets his most junior apprentices to searching the Archives for a cure. Not Healers. Not even Masters. Or Journeymen. And the basis for the search? Look for information about the last Plague. No symptoms of illness, no original source, no planet-wide gathering of Lords, Masters and Weyrleaders - almost all critical decisions are made by a pubescent Apprentice Harper! This premise is well outside bounds set previously in the series, and so absurd that "suspension of disbelief" is impossible. This is a cute enough story that should be in Youth Fiction, but not creditable or deep enough for anyone over the age of twelve to waste any time on this pathetic attempt to continue the Pern saga.

This is the firsst of the collaborations between Anne McCaffrey and her son that i've read and my overall impression is disappointment! I adore the Pern series and have been reading them since they first came out but thisis definitely lower quality. In the first place, it is highly inconsistent with the body of the works:
1. If this is supposed to have happened before "Moreta's Ride",why is there no mention of this previous, major plague in that work; if it happens subsequent, why don't the people of Pern have the benefit of that previous experience.
2. Somewhere on Pern, there is a "Healer's Hall". Every other profession has a power base but healers don't? If they exist, as logically they must, where are they? Where is there the group of people trying to find a cure as in Moreta's day?
3. By all accounts, the ability to impress fire lizards is discovered in Lessa's day but here they are, all over the place. PLEASE do not tell me the records were lost! Weyr records were lost when most of the Weyrs of Pern went forward in time leaving their records untended. The rest of Pern, however, went on its merry way and the Harpers kept their records intact. Where are the teaching Sagas about this in Lessa's day?
4. Finally, since when are major tasks, like finding information about plagues, left to the bumbling efforts of adolescents, WITHOUT ANY SUPERVISION? Look at the original Pern books where many adolescents appear as major or minor characters but only under the direction and supervision of adults.

In addition, I find the total concentration on "superteen" Kindan a little lacking in the color and richness of Anne McCaffrey's solo works. Compare this with three novels in "Harper Hall of Pern" and you can see the difference.

Unfortunately, this should have been written as the other side of "Moreta's Ride" - the same history from the point of view of the people of Pern, rather than the Weyrs. Unfortunately, that would have required leaving out the firelizards and weaving in a far more complex tapestry.

This plague thing is getting OLD. The last great Pern novel was Moreta, and that should have been the end of the plague themes, but sadly, it is repeated again here. There was yet another book about the plague, but all the novels between Moreta and this one run together for me. I couldn't care LESS about Kinden, Pellar, Christoph, or any of these people (A couple of the older people like Zist were at least interesting). I want to read about dragons. I was hopeful that Kinden got a fire lizard, but he was rarely around. Anne and Todd, PLEASE start writing about dragons and riders again. There is no series anywhere that does them as well. This ancillary stuff is B O R I N G. But I keep buying in perpetual hope.

One other thing - in the audiobook reading there were MANY mistakes. The most common was the pronounciation of Vaxorem. Sometimes it was Voraxem. And it changed back and forth within a few sentences. Confusing and irritating. If it was written that way, for Pete's sake, couldn't it have been corrected for the reading???

It's Pern, and so I had to borrow it from the library, and I will buy it at some time, because I simply must own the complete Pern library, in hardcover. :) But must say that I too am disappointed, for all the same reasons every other review mentions.

No more plagues! Enough already! It was great in Moreta and Nerilka's Story, but that's it. I appreciated what someone noted in a comment, that when Anne took a small piece of one book (such as ship-fish) and spun it off into another entire novel, there was genius at work. I for one would really, really like to see such moves again. Please. New things, not recycled old ideas again...and again....and again.

And I too agree that the very young apprentices (13-ish, I think?) were given far too much latitude in this story for their age, despite the fact that such a society would have much more mature youngsters than our own does. I missed the adult subtle nuances and interplays, the brilliant conversations and decisions and actions. The leadership of the young people truly was unbelievable, and that honestly made me sorrowful, because I felt so let down.

A few things that really intrigued me: I liked the mention of massage as a healing art, and crystals. I liked the pushing of "feminist" ideas, even if it was a little forced, as pointed out by another reviewer.

I love Pern. I've loved it since I was 12-years-old and read The White Dragon for the first time. This series had succored me, given my own imagination flight, and allowed me to delve back into it time and again with a sigh of pleasure and familiarity. So whenever a new Pern novel comes out, I am so hopeful, and I read it, because I just have to. And each time, I get a little bummed out.

Yes, it's still Pern. And yes, Todd McCaffrey is learning his new trade, he is fine-tuning his abilities with each new book. And perhaps there will be brilliance later on. But...I'm still disappointed, and my hopes are getting more and more dimmed with each new book. I've lowered my expectations, and that's what makes me sad.

Can I also humbly suggest, Todd, that you do indeed follow your own path as a writer, perhaps with your own series one day? And that if you do continue on with Pern (and I must admit that I cannot bear for the series to die just yet, despite my dwindling lack of faith in it), you perhaps take into account some of the ideas of fans--such as, no more plagues. And taking small ideas from one book and expanding them in another. And having excellent copyeditors and line editors go over each book to ensure its accuracy, pacing, timing, style--I found several inaccuracies in Dragon Harper that made me wince. And I have no idea whether or not detailed notes are kept on each novel, that list character traits, etc., but if not, perhaps it might be wise to consider such a system so as to ensure catching the inaccuracies that are immediately noticeable by readers?

And please, please, please--I too want another book set in Lessa and F'lar's time, to continue on with those first, most beloved characters (even if it's about the deaths of those two particular characters, which is of course inevitable....) It's hard to let go of that which we love!

So yes, I will keep reading this series. It seems to be a part of my own family, in a way, and I cannot stop loving it, even when it has fallen into a bit of dysfunction. I can only implore its creators to help it get back on its mighty dragon wings and fly gracefully, where it belongs.

I got this book because I like the Pern universe - I didn't read the synopsis beforehand. Wish I had.

While it is pretty well-written, I was really disappointed that it slogged through yet another "oh, my, Pern is infected with a strange ailment and only the children and the dragons can save us now, boo hoo". What's this number 3 or number 4?

I could criticize the too tidy ending, too, but really the main complaint is this: Why should anyone shell out 26 bucks retail for the same recycled story?

Given that Anne and Todd McCaffrey's "Dragon Harper" is the sequel to "Dragon's Kin" and "Dragon's Fire", it seemed like a good idea to reread those books first, before plunging into "Harper". That way, I could get reacquainted with the characters of Pern's late Second Interval, barely a dozen Turns before Thread is due to fall again. After about six hours, I'm done with the new book.

How was it? First, a brief sketch of the plot. The story starts with a cryptic prologue in which a wing of Ista dragonriders have obviously been "timing it", having gone missing for a sevenday, but no one will say why to the obvious anger and frustration of their Wing Leader.

Chapter One starts off exactly where Chapter Eleven of "Dragon's Fire" left off - with former miner Cristov arriving at High Reaches Weyr and Impressing bronze Sereth. Harper apprentice Kindan is also present, but fails to Impress. Thus he returns to the Harper Hall.

Kindan, the main protagonist of the story, does not have it easy. First, he has to find a way of dealing with senior apprentice Vaxoram, who is bullying Kindan's friends relentlessly, until he can't stand it anymore. At this point in Pern's history, two millennia before F'lar and Lessa, swords are still the preferred weapon for dueling, rather than belt knives. After the duel, Kindan has to learn how to deal graciously with a vanquished opponent. Will they be able to settle their differences? Or will bad feelings fester?

Then there's the little problem with Koriana, the daughter of the Lord of nearby Fort Hold. Kindan and Koriana meet when they each Impress firelizards, and there's instant attraction. Unfortunately, by now Pern has definitely developed a male-dominated feudal society, and Koriana's parents have other ideas than letting her run off with a lowly harper apprentice, and a commoner at that.

To compound Kindan's misery, he's going through his growth spurt and has turned into a world-class klutz.

A much bigger problem, affecting the entire planet, is an acute shortage of apprentice harpers and healers. With Thread due to start falling in just a few more Turns, most of the Holds and Crafts are hoarding their people, in one final burst of activity to finish widening out holds and laying up foodstuffs before they have to hunker down and weather the fifty-Turn siege of Thread. Practically no one wants their kids to volunteer to be a harper or a healer, especially not a healer -- it takes too long to get trained. Harpers, given their need to travel all over Pern, are given some basic training in leechcraft, but the situation is slowly getting worse.

Because all of the dwindling number of masters and journeymen are already feeling overloaded, they rely too much on apprentices to search the archives when urgent research is needed. Of course, the Harper Hall's Archive Room is a huge, dimly-lit cavern. Young eyes tend to be best at looking at all that tiny printing by glowlight. Also, Kindan has proven very adept at digging up helpful lore, such as the solution to that exploding firestone problem in the previous book.

Thus, when a few small, outlying cotholds near Benden Hold start to fall silent and ominous rumblings of a "super-flu" start leaking out, the Master Harpers and Healers don't react with enough urgency at first. Will they "get with the program" soon enough to prevent tens of thousands of deaths?

It doesn't help that, as supplies start to get scant, Kindan has to rely on a torch to go through the records. And, remember that bit about him being a klutz ...?

Meanwhile, where are the dragons and their riders?

As a side note: There are a few interesting little tidbits in the story, such as a possible explanation for why dragons and firelizards hum at a Hatching.

Essentially, I enjoyed the story, and liked the characters. It's definitely light reading, but a pleasant way to while away the afternoon.

That's not to say that the book is flawless. It does seem like the plague idea has been worked enough. It's time for some fresh material. Will Todd be creative enough to pull it off next time around? No one can replace Anne's skill in writing her earlier Pern works -- not even Anne herself, who is now past 80. There's a reason why she's handing off to her son.

On a more technical note, I find the "Dramatis Personae" at the front of the book way too sketchy, with only a couple of dozen names. It's a shame they couldn't come up with a full "Dragondex" in the back like the earliest Pern novels had.

So, should you rush right out and read this book? Seriously, judging by the tone of some of the other reviews already written, and the way "Dragon's Fire" has been received, I'll reserve judgement. For myself, I'm glad I didn't wait. But, it's totally up to you.

Annie has passed the torch to Todd, and, sadly, he's dropped it. Anne's name may be on the cover, but her magic isn't inside.

Six months of anticipation waiting for this titles to be released soon turned to disappointment while reading this latest entry to the Dragonriders of Pern.

Overall, Todd's earlier stories of mining and watch-whers were interesting, but Anne and Todd have gone back to storylines and plots covered numerous times, and much better, in Anne's earlier novels. Todd and readers would be better served if Todd had stayed with the mines and continued to carve out his own Pern niche.

Plagues were covered much better in both Nerilka's Story and Moreta, as both titles are much better than Dragon Harper.

Ranks down with Skies of Pern and Dolophins of Pern as titles to read only once.

Dragon Harper (2007) is the third SF novel in this subseries of the Dragonriders of Pern, following Dragon's Fire. In the previous volume, Pellar tried to stop Tenim from destroying the last firestone mine, but failed. He also lost his fire-lizard to Tenim's falcon. Later, Cristov found a bed of the old form of firestone and starts a new mine.

Pellar is highly respected by the High Reaches Weyr leaders and was invited to the Hatching so that he might Impress a dragon. Instead, he stayed with Halla and supervised the new firestone mine. They were very happy to be digging up a form of firestone that didn't explode when wetted.

Cristov attended the Hatching and Impressed the bronze dragon Sereth. Later, C'tov returned to visit Pellar and Halla. He discovered that they have expanded the camp to three mines.

In this novel, Kindan hopes to ride back from High Reaches with M'tal, the Benden Weyrleader. Instead, he rides to Harper Hall on Gaminth, the bronze dragon of D'vin. M'tal does renew his promise to take Kindan as the Benden Harper when he is promoted to Journeyman.

Verilan is the youngest apprentice. Kelsa and Nonala are female apprentices. All three have been harassed by Vaxoram, the senior apprentice. Kindan -- himself a latecomer among the apprentices -- takes these three under his wing and protects them from Vaxoram and his cronies.

Kindan and his friends walk out to meet a dragon in the fog. M'tal appears and Kindan introduces the others to him. M'tal comments that Verilan should see the healer about his cough. When Verilan protests the idea, his friends agree with M'tal. After giving a bucket of fire-lizard eggs to Kindan and sending him to the kitchen, M'tal carries Verilan to the healer.

One day, Vaxoram makes a snide remark about Nonala and Kindan slaps him in the face and challenges him. Vaxoram hits him back, but Weyrleader M'tal arrives just then and stops the punching. Kindan repeats his challenge and they agree on a time.

Masterharper Murenny soon heats about the challenge and calls Kindan to his office. The masterharper has M'tal with him and they discuss the situation with Kindan. They decide to let Mikal prepare Kindan for the duel.

In this story, Kindan is called to Fort Hold for the hatching of the fire-lizard eggs. He helps Korianna -- daughter of the Lord Holder -- to impress her gold fire-lizard, Koriss. Meanwhile, he impresses Valla, a bronze fire-lizard. The Lord Holder's two sons are supposed to get their own fire-lizards, but the queen chases the hatchlings away.

Kindan is infatuated with Korianna and she seems to respond in kind. Lady Sannora -- Korianna's mother -- doesn't seem to approve of their relationship. Neither does Lord Bemin, Korianna's father.

This story tells of a disease that infests all of Pern. Only the dragonriders are not effected, but the other Weyrfolk are susceptible. Kindan early recognizes the danger of the new disease and spreads the word to the other holds, halls and weyrs.

Searching through the archives, Kindan and his friends find evidence of the first instance of the disease. He is sent to Fort Hold to help fight the disease there and develops some effective countermeasures. Yet, the disease kills twenty percent of the Hold inhabitants.

This novel relates the actions taken by Kindan to solve the problems around him. With the assistance of his friends and others, Kindan discovers and executes solutions to various situations. He displays both wisdom and leadership.

Highly recommended for McCaffrey fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of interpersonal relationships, problem-solving and a touch of romance.

-Arthur W. Jordin