Customer Reviews

The Renegades of Pern

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

As long as the people of Pern could remember, dragons had fought Thread and kept people alive. Everyone lived in strong stone fortresses or caves because Thread wouldn't eat through stone. However, it had been hundreds of years since Thread had fallen on Pern and there were many who did not like to live behind stone walls, beholden to the Lord of the area and forced into careers that they did not want. Some, like Jayge Lilcamp's clan were traders. They traversed the length and breadth of Pern, bartering and taking messages to other holds. They were always welcome at holds, especially ones that were out of the way. However, when they ignored the warning that Thread was once again falling on Pern, his trader caravan was decimated. Instead of being independent, they were now forced to accept whatever charity they could from the last hold the visited. Jayge couldn't bear it and set out on his own.

Thella, sister of Telgar Hold's Lord, was bitter that she had not even been given the chance to become a Lady Holder. She knew that she could do a better job than her brother. Since she was passed by, she found her own hold and gathered together as many Holdless men as she could. Then she set about robbing and plotting her revenge. The only thing that was holding her back was the dragonriders because she could not risk being seen and tracked adragonback. She found the solution to her problem in Aramina (seen in The Girl Who Heard Dragons short story), who could hear all dragons. But Aramina escaped from her and was safely ensconced at Benden Hold. However, Thella was not about to give up so easily...

The Renegades of Pern is, like Nerilka's story, a retelling of familiar events from unfamiliar points of view. I highly recommend reading Dragonquest, The White Dragon, and The Girl Who Heard Dragons before reading this one because it will make a lot more sense than reading this one first. It was interesting because all of the other books in the Pern series have been about someone who has a definite place in life on Pern: holder, dragonrider, harper, etc., but Jayge did not. He could do a little bit of everything and was very resourceful. I enjoyed hearing how Aramina made out in the end, even though I was very surprised at what ended up happening. Although Jayge, Aramina, and Thella were what I would call the "main" characters, there was also quite a bit about Piemur and Toric, Holder of the Southern Continent, and the explorations and events taking place in at Southern, which was interesting. My main complaint with the book was the huge number of multiple viewpoints. It really made the book choppy and I know that I really wanted to find out what happened to a certain character and then was suddenly switched to someone else, which is kind of frustrating. Still, The Renegades of Pern is very informative and it was interesting to see things from a very different point of view. Recommended for readers of the Pern series - if you are new to the series, this is NOT the book to start with!

When I first read this book, years ago, I remember being a little disappointed. It wasn't as good as the Dragonflight trilogy or even as good as the Harper Hall trilogy. I'm re-reading the series in chronological order now, and I want to warn people not to listen to the negative reviews!

Yes, it's maybe not quite as enjoyable, it tells stories of the less-pleasant sides of Pern life, but it also tells things that you must hear if you want the whole story. You must read Renegades in order to be properly set up for All the Weyrs of Pern. This is the book that, if nothing else, tells more about the initial excavation of Landing and the discovery of AIVAS, and it introduces Jayge and Aramina of the Paradise River Hold from Dolphins of Pern.

I enjoyed this book more on second reading than I did the first time. The Pern series is five stars. If you enjoy the series, don't skip this four star book based on negative reviews.

This book, although confusing in the beginning, is a worthy link between The White Dragon and All The Weyrs. It is almost a summary of the first three books, starting before Dragonflight, and ending just before All The Weyrs. A must read for all Pern fans. All the Weyrs won't make sense without it. A truely wonderful book.

I love that there are books in the Pern series that have nothing (or almost nothing) to do with dragons. Yes, the dragons are a fun part of it, but this story of the "little people" of Pern is well-wrought and engaging. I thoroughly enjoy reading it every time I pick it up. This is the story of the people who have no borders-be it by choice or by force. Jayge Lilcamp and his family are traders who travel from hold to Hold selling their wares. Aramina, born with the ability to "hear" dragons, and her family were driven from their hold by Fax because of her mother's Ruathan blood. Thella is the sister of Lord Larad and, angry that he was chosen as Lord Holder over her, runs away to become the Lady Holdless-a riever and thief with no thought save her own comfort and ambitions. These three disimilar characters compose the central plot in this story, each viewing the Holders, Dragonriders, and their companions from uniquely fresh points of view. One of my favorites.

I have been re-reading the Pern series from the beginning and while I agree with other reviews that Renegades is not McCaffrey's best work in the series, it does have the advantage of finally connecting the early and late Pern sagas. The first half of the book is distractingly choppy with snippets introducing about a dozen characters. But about half way through the book comes together as McCaffrey links most of the stories of these individuals. The last third is the most valuable with a serious development of the Southern Continent, and discovery of Landing and Aivas. It sets up a fascinating study of two cultures interacting - one that is very low-tech and another that is incredibly sophisticated. Also enjoyable is a more detailed representation of non-dragonrider life on "current day" Pern. If you can get through the first half set-up, the book is worth reading and sets up All the Weyrs nicely.

I found this book a complete and total dissapointment. It had very little in the way of original material, mostly just containing a recap of The White Dragon. I was very surprised and dismayed at this fact, and feel it is well below McCaffrey's writing ability

I always wondered where the 'bad guys' were on Pern. In that regard, it's quite refreshing to find that there are in fact truly unsavory characters abounding the planet. Lord Fax aside, Thella is the most ruthless, evil character of McCaffrey's tales. Read this to fill in knowledge of Pern and the Dragonriders Series as a change of pace. Like 'All the Weyrs', which this is a prerequisite to reading, this is only another good book. Within the context of the larger whole, a worthwhile read.

I loved this book. At first it is a little bit confusing, but if you read it over, the plot as a whole gets better, and you will love it! The book is very well written and organized. I think that this book is a must-read. I have not read the other Pern series books, but I have read The Renegades of Pern, and I am now hooked on the whole series. This book is excellent! :^)

Hm, its kinda disappointing to see how low others rated this book. This is definetly Annie's best book. It has elements of everything: suspense, character building, and an excellent plot.

Annie starts the book out from many different angles (and while some say its confusing) it is sooooooo awesome to see how everything comes together. The story arouses your emotions (hate for Lady Holdess Thella and love for Armania and Jayge) and keeps you reading

Seriously you WILL NOT regret reading this book as it contains all the elements of what has made the Pern series so lovable.

This is a pretty good book, but I found it one of the weaker Pern books. It spans way too many years (about 27) and tells about things that that are in other books (Fax's death, Piemur's journey around the Southern Continent, and the stealing of Ramoth's queen egg, for instance). This wouldn't be a big problem because it gives these events from other people's perspectives, but there is a bigger problem. In the middle of the book, McCaffrey shifts from talking about Thella, Jayge, and Aramina, and instead talks about the Southern Continent and the discovery of Landing. If they would just stick to the renegades, it would have been a great book. On the plus side, the characters were wonderfully developed and it was nice to see Pern from the perspective of the ordinary people. But I'm afraid this is an example of a great idea being ruined by including too much and spanning too many years.