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73 of 75 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Not just for young adults -- a great science fiction novel!, February 16, 2004
This review is from: Dragonflight (Dragonriders of Pern - Volume 1) (Mass Market Paperback)
This book begins Anne McCaffrey's wonderful long-running series, "The Dragonriders of Pern." Although sold as a book for young adults and looking on the surface like a fantasy novel, "Dragonflight" is actually neither. Certainly, teenagers will (and do) love this book, but McCaffrey's work is mature and complicated enough for older readers of science fiction and fantasy to enjoy it on the same level as they would any work from an author of "mature" novels. And although the word "dragon" conjures up images of heroic fantasy, "Dragonflight" is actually science fiction: it only wears the outer clothing of fantasy. New readers will find this a surprise, as they learn that Pern isn't a "neverland" fantasy world, but an Earth-colonized planet; that the dragons are the native alien species who consume special minerals to chemically create their fire-breath; and that the evil menace that threatens the planet -- the "threads" -- are not supernatural monsters, but spores migrating from another planet that passes near Pern. Perhaps most surprising for a new reader is the focus on time-travel and time paradoxes; some of the most exciting parts of the book deal with the complexities, dangers, and potentials of time-travel. The story takes place as Pern nears another invasion from the threads, but the planet is unprepared. Many people no longer believe in the threads (it has been hundreds of "turns" since the last attack), and there are fewer dragon dens (called "weyrs") than there once were to produce the creatures who can destroy the threads. Dragonrider T'Lar searches for a Weyrwoman to help him replenish the dragons before it is too late and unit the dragonriders to face the invasion. This only scratches the surface of a tale full of suprises and unexpted turns. McCaffrey builds an intriguing world and wonderful characters, and each section of the book bursts with new revelations and plot turns. "Dragonflight" is not at all what you expect it to be...and that's an extremely high recommendation in these time when most science fiction and fantasy advertised for younger readers is bland and predictable. This book also sets up the excellent second novel, "Dragonquest," which you will definitely want to read after this terrific book. Recommend for all fantasy and science fiction fans who have yet to take a wild trip on the back of Pernse bronze dragon.
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71 of 75 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A rare vote from the heart, October 17, 2002
This review is from: Dragonflight (Dragonriders of Pern - Volume 1) (Mass Market Paperback)
For me, the thing that makes a book a classic is whether or not it comes to mind occasionally in the year after I have read it. If I don't then find myself comparing it to recently read plotlines or movies from the same genre, it would not be worth a five star rating. In this case, I have (drumroll please) over 10 years' worth of ponderings and influence to demonstrate that Dragonflight -- and the entire trilogy -- is an unparalleled classic. Thumbnail sketch of the plot: a futuristic world barely settled by mankind, which was then cut off from all contact and aid from the motherworld (Earth). Genetic engineering of native life forms to create "Dragons" which form psychic links to individual humans (dragonriders)for life, to aid in fighting a recurring biological threat. Centuries pass between attacks, causing subsequent generations to forget the dragons' purpose, take the dragonriders for granted and weaken their defenses gradually. Now there are signs that the attacks will begin again soon, and the people are caught unprepared. The stage is set for Lessa, a young insignificant, to rise to the top of the dragonrider heirarchy along with F'lar, a seasoned rider, as his mate. I was tempted to dock a star from the rating based on some formulaic elements: the young, fiery, independant-spirited heroine challenging the restrictive views of her medieval society, the super-Alpha male hero who tries to dominate her but comes to appreciate her in the end...if you've read one, you will recognize the Lessa and F'lar characters, as well as some others as such Romance novel archetypes. Despite this, McCaffrey draws them well and uses her characters perfectly to play up the tension and confusion that Pern is going though. HOWEVER. Even if you could hate everything else about this book (not that that's really plausible), you would still have to hand it to McCaffrey for her magnificent, mysterious, humanchild-esque dragons. It could have had something to do with my youth at the time, but those dragons made and impression on me that lasts to this day and is still the standard in my mind for the believability of any alien character in a novel.
Anne McCaffrey wrote the Harper Hall trilogy and the first Dragonrider trilogy in the earlier days of her writing career. Some have opined that her latter writings show improvement; I disagree with extreme prejudice. Or rather, it is not her writing style (mediocre) that elevates the best McCaffrey books, but that infuriatingly elusive freshness that somehow trickled away after that first decade of mainstream success. The unjaded, imaginative approach to her (un)mythological dragons challenged the reader to discard the "monster" bias and even fall in love a little. No small feat, that. Thank you, Anne, for the wonder and delight of Pern and its dragons.
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38 of 39 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
In my heart, I believe Pern is a real place., August 3, 2006
This review is from: Dragonflight (Dragonriders of Pern - Volume 1) (Mass Market Paperback)
Let me get the criticism out of the way first. Over the years, the unending franchise of Pern books has diluted the original magic of this book. After the first two series (this first trilogy, the Masterharper trilogy) and arguably Moreta's story (worth a comfortable 4 stars), McCaffery started trying to fit Pern into a scientific jigsaw puzzle so that it would "make sense." In my view, that was a major mistake, because the glory of this first book, and what made it a true classic, is the degree to which the reader contributes to the world the author created.
Enough of that. This is the classic, and it has earned its reputation. I read this book in the late 70s. I have probably read it a dozen times since then because it is so gosh-darn easy to fall into Dragonflight... and not want to drag myself out again.
I know intellectually that Pern is a made-up universe, but emotionally it's another story. In my heart, I believe it exists. That's how absolutely "real" her world is. The background appeals to our analytical sense of "what if this happened...": forgotten colonists on a generally well-endowed planet, with this one teeny problem: a neighboring planet throws destructive spores at Pern every 200 years, and the residents create genetic telepathic "dragons" which can counter the threat. But the science is left behind, because the story starts thousands of years later, when all the backstory has turned to myth (and not well remembered myth, at that).
But lots of people can create a good world. McCaffrey created marvelous characters to fill it. Like anybody stuck in a "save the world" situation, they try to act heroic, but they fumble because they're just people.
And like the best writers, she makes them come alive with the tiny details. There's one scene, for example, that I can remember with near movie-detail imagery, even when it's been two years since I last skimmed the pages. Lessa, our heroine, spent ten years hiding out as the lowest of filthy servants. The author describes her exaltation as Lessa gets to take her first true bath in years... and how her hair refuses to lie flat, frizzing and curling while she's trying to hold a conversation. It's not an "important" scene, but it paints the background of the world in which she lives, so that we sense the way the people live... not just what they say to one another in the foreground.
I've reviewed a few hundred books on Amazon. If I were permitted only five books on the proverbial desert island, this would be among those I'd choose.
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