Customer Reviews

DragonQuest

5 star:		(49)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Dragonquest begins seven Turns after Dragonflight and the reader is immediately plunged back into the complex world of Pern. F'lar and Lessa are still Weyrleaders at Benden and are struggling to unite all of Pern to fight the deadly Thread. It is true that the 5 weyrs who jumped through time to come forward to aid Benden were there in Pern's time of need, but they are set in their ways and not willing to change. F'lar has heard too many complaints from Holds and Crafthalls under the protection of the Oldtimers' Weyrs to disregard them any longer. When the Weyrleaders even go so far as to keep other Weyrs uninformed of irregular Threadfall, F'lar has no choice but to take action. He immediately starts looking for alternative ways of fighting Thread and easing relations between the dragonmen and the rest of the Pernese, but it is an uphill battle all the way. Meantime, there are other problems brewing inside the Weyrs themselves. Kylara, Weyrwoman of the Southern Weyr, has caused much dissent and no end of headaches for the Weryleaders. Brekke, a new queen, is desperately afraid of what will happen when her queen rises to mate. F'nor is trying to support his half-brother F'lar in all of his endeavors, but he has many problems of his own. Outside of the Werys, the Lord Holders cannot understand why the dragonmen simply do not go to the Red Star and kill the Thread there, before it falls on Pern. Emotions are running high and F'lar and Lessa have their hands full trying to keep everything tied together, but will they be able to unite Pern?

This is the second book in The Dragonriders of Pern book and is just as good as the first one in the series. I felt that this book was a little more complex than the first because the author could spend more time on intertwining people's lives since the reader is more familiar with the world of Pern. This will make it a little more difficult for those who have not read Dragonflight, however. I simply love Anne McCaffrey's characters so it is wonderful to have a series where you get to see the characters grow and change. Even McCaffrey's supporting characters are well-fleshed out and fun to read about. If you enjoy fantasy or science fiction or dragons, do not miss out on this series!

I cannot say bad of any book I have read of Anne McCaffrey's because, simply, I cannot find a reason to. And when you come across such a world as Pern and such a wonderful civilization this author has developed, you can only hope to keep on reading and reading and re-reading countless times the stories of this world she has created.

The second installment on the Dragonriders of Pern was actually my third (I read Dragonsdawn before this one but after Dragonflight) and you are introduced to the wonderful Fire-Lizards or re-introduced in my case since I read Dragonsdawn first. In this book you are faced with a world further developed but still not rid of danger. Though the Dragonriders of Pern fly again to fight Thread, their quarrels are now inside within their midst. And without the unity within the Dragonriders, the world of Pern is doomed. New adventures, new developments and new discoveries are made on this wonderful book. You are here introduced to the young Jaxom, holder of Ruatha Hold, son of ungrieved Fax and the missed Lady Gemma, to whom Lessa, Weyrwoman of Benden Weyr has renounced her right to the Hold, rightful hers. Young Jaxom will have a great part in the 3rd volume of the Dragonriders Chronicles and you will be able to witness the true danger of the Red Star which brings the dangerous Silver Threads to the wonderful world of Pern.

Another book you have to buy and read, re-read and enjoy thoroughly as you will never forget the land of Pern... and you should not...

Before you read this book, you should read Dragonflight to get to know background info and characters, but it isn't extremely necessary.
This book starts seven turns after Dragonflight.
Lessa and F'lar (the Weyrwoman and Weyrleader of Benden Weyr)are having difficulties with the Oldtimers. A lot has changed in four hundred years and some of the Oldtimers won't accept that change. Most of the Oldtimers don't want to have anything to do with the modern world and try to isolate themselves. Some even try to pick fights with Benden Weyr and take things that are not part of the tithing of the Holds.
Fire lizards are rediscovered in this book and F'nor and Brekke both Impress.
The Dragonriders must unite together to save Pern from the deadly Thread. The Thread is falling out of pattern thus becomes unpredictable. None of the Oldtimers are telling the other Weyrs about unpredictable Threadfall in their Hold and Weyr areas.
F'lar knows he must do something before Pern is destroyed.

Some events in this book lead to other key events in other books such as The White Dragon and all the Weyrs of Pern.

If you've been nosing around the reviews of the later books, you might have noticed a general feeling that Anne McCaffrey's latest efforts on Pern aren't up to par. I have to agree with that, because in my opinion, this is the book that sets the standard the later books are failing to live up to.

There's so much going on in this book--from the conflicts with the Oldtimers that show how much Pern changed in its long Interval, to the rediscovery of the fire lizards and the re-colonization of the Southern Continent, the ascendancy of Benden Weyr as the primary power on Pern, and the question of whether Thread can be destroyed on Red Star--and there's a huge cast of characters from both Weyr and Hold, along with an in-depth visualization of the world of Pern and its culture and traditions, both past and present.

Yet all this is focused through a core cast of well-defined characters whose personal stories are not neglected. There's room among all that world-changing for a tender love story, personal courage, and success against all odds. And the dragons--gotta have dragons! :)

The plot is conveyed with not only a cohesiveness, but an immediacy missing from the later books. Here, I'm right there with the Southern weyrfolk as they rediscover fire-lizards, right there with F'nor as he peers at the Red Star through that distance-viewer. Reading All The Weyrs of Pern--itself one of the best of the later books--is like reading a report about what the characters did next instead of being there. In Dragonquest, there's no question that the main characters are the movers and shakers of this planet, and that what they do will change their world--and that I care what those changes will be.

I highly recommend Dragonquest, in fact all of the Dragonriders trilogy. If you've read the newer stuff, you are sure to like this as well...and if you haven't read the newer books yet, read this first so that you'll care when you do.

I think Dragonquest is one of the best in the entire Pern series.
The Oldtimers have started causing trouble and the Benden Weyrleaders need to find a way to stop it before it gets any worse.
In this story Mccaffrey develops other chararcters like F'nor and Kylara and Robinton. She also introduces characters. We meet Brekke, a Southerner who heals F'nor when he is injured in a fight and he ends up falling in love with her.
Kylara is made out to be quite the trouble maker and we also meet Felessan, the son of F'lar and Lessa.
Now to my favoritest characters...the Benden Weyrleaders themselves! I love their relationship even more than in the 1st book!! Its so much more tender and loving. I have to admit one of the scenes in the book with them brought tears to my eyes. The one after the knife fight at Telgar where F'lar says 'not while I have you.' Oh that was so beautiful. My friends agree too. And lets not forget the dragons!! I loved Canth but I still love Mnementh the most,then Ramoth. Oh and I loved those firelizards. I want one now!
Dragonquest is one of the best books I've read and I would recommend it to anyone. The entire Pern series makes you wish you could ride on the back of one of those beautiful dragons.

First of all, read the first book in the series (Dragonflight) by Anne McCaffery before you read this one. Besides why wouldn't you want to, it's as good as this one. As Dragonflight, this book features the adventures of F'lar the Benden weyrleader, his weyrmate and Benden weyrwoman Lessa, Masterharper Roberton, F'nor (the half brother of F'lar) and many other characters.

This book, like the previous one is full of many problems for the characters to solve. It makes this a very good read! The oldtimers, the weyrfolk Lessa brought forward seven turns ago is stirring up trouble. F'lar and Lessa is trying to stop their many schemes.

Then of course there's thread to fight. F'lar also duels with an oldtimer and banishs them to the south. F'nor gets injured and was sent to the southern hold to recover where he falls in love with Brekke. Mastersmith Fanderel invents a distance writing and Flessan (F'lar and Lessa's son) finds hidden rooms in Benden. And more romance between the Benden weyrleaders. Then the dragonriders plan to go to the red star....

Want to know what happens? Then read this amazingly interesting book to find out! I tell you, you're going to stay up all night to read this! (You'll also find that parts correspond with the Harperhall trilogy)

If you buy this book in the Kindle edition, be prepared for numerous typos, missing or spurious punctuation marks, and bizarre word substitutions (i.e., "disable" instead of "dissemble"). It appears that the Kindle edition was rushed into publication by hiring an extremely sloppy typist to transcribe the printed edition into an electronic file, and no proofreading was done. If you don't care about such things, the story is decent, but really this is a terrible job of production.

Very rarely is the second book of a series better than the first, but as good as DRAGONFLIGHT is, DRAGONQUEST is more exciting. This book is packed with great scenes: the duel of the Weyrleaders, the battle of the queen dragons, the discovery of fire lizards and that barely touches the surface of this dramatic book, packed with action and romance.

Nothing less than the future of Pern is at stake. Although the Oldtimers have come forward in time to fight Pern's ancient nemesis of Thread, they are stunned by the changes in Pern's society. With Thread, a ghastly kind of interstellar rain that kills everything it touches, falling out of pattern, the Oldtimers are essential to Pern's defense. However, the Oldtimers cling to outmoded traditions that allow no room for Pern's expansion. Only one man, Benden's Weyrleader F'lar sees what needs to be done to keep Pern united in this time of crisis.

I would argue that this book is the one that truly launches the Drangonriders of Pern series, because here the idea is first proposed to free Pern from the menace of Thread by eliminating it at its source. In book after wonderful book, Anne McCaffrey explores Pern and serves up wonderful stories of a society moving from a Dark Age to forging a future based on true knowledge of the past. Many of the characters who make it happen are in this book.

Anne McCaffrey's dragon books ring true because of how she envisions the human/dragon bonding. Her concept of this has proved hugely inspirational to the generation of fantasy writers who followed her. From Paolini's Eragon to Novik's Temeraire series, writers have created other worlds where humans Impress dragons at hatching in stories that soar to new heights. This book is the "grandmother" of them all. Absolutely not to be missed.

This book is even better than Dragonflight. Easily, as a matter of fact. And that's no small feat at all!

In this book, we get to see, well, Pern. :-) We get to know better the people who make Pern works, though the book is still mostly focused on the dragonriders.

The story is much more action packed than Dragonflight, and the characters are better developed too. How McCaffrey managed that, I don't know. :-)

We get to see the dragonriders fight between themselves (politically, mostly), we learn how Halls and Holds work, we get to know some of the most important Lord Holders and Craftmasters.

The book also sets in motion events that will eventually led to the erradication of thread, way down the line (in All the Weyrs of Pern).

I loved this book, and can't put a single fault to it. While it might not be my favorite, it's definitely one of the best.

My only complain is a timeline disagreement with Dragonsinger, but only consistency fanatics like me would even notice it. :-)

I have read everything that Anne McCaffrey has written, as has my mother and brother. Now my daughter is starting to read them and thoroughly enjoys them. We read them whenever the mood strikes and I have read each one several times. Kudos to Ms. McCaffrey on a job well done. I love her characters and feel like they are all a part of the family. Wonderful reading for both men and women, no matter what their age !!!