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fantasy_with_me's review against another edition
2.0
I've enjoyed his other books despite poor reviews. I've grown used to Fiona's unique antics. But this book is suddenly all females, all very similar personalities, and it turned Xhinna into a cheap grumpy copy of Fiona. Way too many characters, way too many similar names, all thrown at you. You dont have time to connect with anyone so none of them have a true impact before theyre never mentioned again. The story telling is vague at best. It's forced in the beginning, and Xhinna just feels awkward, then the second part is just sheer confusion. Multiple times, the author swapped the color of a dragon (swapped brown and bronze, and called a green a Queen, not to be confused with Green Queens). And don't get me started on the lax rules of time travel... supposedly it's this big thing, but everyone does it to excess all the time and none of these people suffer like they did the past 4 books, from being in multiple places at once?
And there's a character that does something horrible, that could itself be an arc spanning 3 books and redemption, and it's all crammed into this book. The events at the end should be a big climax.... and it's a single page after thought????
I was excited to have a story told from not-a-gold-rider's POV.... disappointed in this one.
And there's a character that does something horrible, that could itself be an arc spanning 3 books and redemption, and it's all crammed into this book. The events at the end should be a big climax.... and it's a single page after thought????
I was excited to have a story told from not-a-gold-rider's POV.... disappointed in this one.
vaderbird's review against another edition
3.0
5 star - Perfect
4 star - i would recommend
3 star - good
2 star - struggled to complete
1 star - could not finish
4 star - i would recommend
3 star - good
2 star - struggled to complete
1 star - could not finish
valerielong's review
3.0
Sky Dragons by Anne & Todd McCaffrey is the 24th book in the Dragonriders of Pern series and was the last book in the series to be published after Anne McCaffrey died in November 2011.
This unfortunately was not one of the better books in the series. I think all the "timing" it that has happened in the last few books that were published has made even the authors' brains a bit addled. All of the back and forth, back and forth is becoming utterly confusing.
I still love the characters that Todd McCaffrey has created. Some of them really stretch themselves and grow during this book. We see them overcome some formidable obstacles, including dissension amongst themselves. In the end, they come up with a solution to help the planet which is still in peril from the dreaded dragon sickness. It remains to be seen whether or not this solution will actually be the solution needed, but it's a start. We may never know if what they tried worked or not since there hasn't been another Pern book published since Ms. McCaffrey died.
In the end, I would still recommend this book to Pern-lovers because I think it does advance the storyline, but it is certainly not one of the best books in this series.
This unfortunately was not one of the better books in the series. I think all the "timing" it that has happened in the last few books that were published has made even the authors' brains a bit addled. All of the back and forth, back and forth is becoming utterly confusing.
I still love the characters that Todd McCaffrey has created. Some of them really stretch themselves and grow during this book. We see them overcome some formidable obstacles, including dissension amongst themselves. In the end, they come up with a solution to help the planet which is still in peril from the dreaded dragon sickness. It remains to be seen whether or not this solution will actually be the solution needed, but it's a start. We may never know if what they tried worked or not since there hasn't been another Pern book published since Ms. McCaffrey died.
In the end, I would still recommend this book to Pern-lovers because I think it does advance the storyline, but it is certainly not one of the best books in this series.
laurla's review
"she learned there's no point in demanding justice when you're being unjust yourself."
erinngillespie's review
4.0
You will have to bare with me here guys, I never usually do a written reveiw. Mostly, because I can`t spell and I have the imagination of a rock. However my hubby is in the hospital and he took his phone with him , so I am stuck with typing.
This is a two book , book. The first one "sky dragons" I will say right now DISTROYED me . There was one scene were there was a death that I am still devisated over ! Todd did such an awsome job of putting us right at the scene like we were looking right over the characters shoulder. He wove in so many changes in "tradition" so seamlessly that i didn`t even notice. The book felt real and so beliveable , i devoured the story .
The second "book" started with a huge jump in time and i really felt that i missed out on a major chunck of the story. It made it difficult to actually get back into the story . there was at least two story lines that i wanted to follow that was just thrown at us . Mostly the main characters journey into motherhoood and the main characters choice to give up her "pet". Then end result was told but the journey there was not explored and I really missed that . The ending was unexpected but still in the correct storyline . All in all a really good book as I have come to expect from this author.
My only real complaint is that it is really hard to find out what the next book in the series is, anybody know the correct order of read?
Thanks all for tolerating my sub par writing .
This is a two book , book. The first one "sky dragons" I will say right now DISTROYED me . There was one scene were there was a death that I am still devisated over ! Todd did such an awsome job of putting us right at the scene like we were looking right over the characters shoulder. He wove in so many changes in "tradition" so seamlessly that i didn`t even notice. The book felt real and so beliveable , i devoured the story .
The second "book" started with a huge jump in time and i really felt that i missed out on a major chunck of the story. It made it difficult to actually get back into the story . there was at least two story lines that i wanted to follow that was just thrown at us . Mostly the main characters journey into motherhoood and the main characters choice to give up her "pet". Then end result was told but the journey there was not explored and I really missed that . The ending was unexpected but still in the correct storyline . All in all a really good book as I have come to expect from this author.
My only real complaint is that it is really hard to find out what the next book in the series is, anybody know the correct order of read?
Thanks all for tolerating my sub par writing .
angelahayes's review
5.0
Love this series of books. It's one of my all time favourites. I decided to re-read the entire Dragonriders of Pern series and over the past couple of months, I have been working my way through them all. Anne McCaffrey has such a wonderful, boundless imagination and such a vivid and descriptive style, her stories transport the reader into the fantastic world that she created and sweeps you up on the breathtaking adventures. Spellbinding!
amalyndb's review
5.0
The last Pern novel Anne McCaffrey collaborated on with her son Todd is a fitting finale to the series.
After being left behind on the eastern island of the Western Continent with the new weyrlings, Xhinna and Taria must protect them against both tunnel snakes and Mrreows. When Thread begins to fall, they bring everyone back three turns again to the western island, settling in the only protection they can find - the tops of sky broom trees. Power struggles ensue, with queen riders wanting to be in charge over a blue rider (and a female on, breaking tradition), especially when help arrives in the form of older riders. J'keran especially becomes problematic, trying to drown stress and memories in the alcohol he brews, and at one point near kills Xhinna in a drunken rage under the influence of a bad batch of rotgut when he thinks she is trying to kill dragon eggs out of jealousy (whereas she is trying to kill tunnel snakes that are attacking them). He succeeds in tearing Taria away from Xhinna, both fleeing the camp with their dragons and then stealing and poaching supplies and trying to lure other riders away.
In the need for candidates for hatchings, Xhinna, guided by Jirana's Sight, searches near Crom Hold, Jirana leading her there two turns after the plague's end. Boys cannot be spared, needed to restore fallow fields and crafts, and girls are recruited in numbers, giving them a chance to survive and thrive where they else would likely have died of starvation.
There are various bits of information and lore throughout that previously were not encountered: green dragons being able to clutch queen eggs when they have never chewed firestone, the concept that blues and greens might have been the first fire lizards, with golds being born to them and others evolving over time, fighting Thread just as it enters the atmosphere.
We also see the strongest female leadership and more equitable leadership and where the novel ends, it leads me questioning how the transition back to dealing with more traditional weyrs and weyrleaders was handled, as from the novels set after that in time, the prior status quo of predominant patriarchy returned (yes, not all weyrleaders...). With the sheer number of dragons and riders from Sky Weyr and the Western Continent, they could have overwhelmed and overthrown attitudes. Did they retake Igen Weyr? Were they all dispersed? How did those in leadership roles handle being demoted in decision making by the riders who stayed in the current pass? Not to mention how did the riders and weyrfolk of Telgar Weyr handle the return of D'gan's flight of dragons and riders after they had been doing things differently under the leadership of Fiona and T'mar. How did the holds and craftholds react to having D'gan return with his forceful taking of tithes and workers, sometimes involuntarily?
How were the female blue and green riders received by the weyrs in general?
We read that L'tor viewed T'mar as poaching Shaneese on his return from being lost between and had railed that he had "too many women" - so a breakup of some polyamorous relationships. While Xhinna and Taria were torn apart for a time by multiple factors (pregnancy stress, irritability from Timing it in the past twice, influence of J'keran, influence of rotgut which possibly contains the wrong sort of alcohol, as there is mention that it was "bad in small doses, dangerous in large ones, and lethal if they'd drank another bottle" (chapter nine: A Knife in the Dark) ), they in time find each other again, and Xhinna supports Turia's choice of having children with R'ney, and Xhinna herself has a child with someone, while still staying committed to one another (Unsure who fathered Xelinana, both due to Xhinna saying "But if you think after all these months that you'll get me to tell you who's the father, you're sadly mistaken" and it is mentioned that mothers tend to blend both parents' names for their children: Taria and R'ney Tarena, unsure if Taralin is also R'ney's son, which is only of interest in trying to sort out genetics). The emphasis is that all children are loved and cared for, regardless of who sired or birthed them, as we see after the death of one of the mothers.
So enjoyable while reading it- but depressing as I realize afterward that the more equal society brought about through Fiona and Xhinna might all collapse with the return of D'gan, and integration with other weyrs.
After being left behind on the eastern island of the Western Continent with the new weyrlings, Xhinna and Taria must protect them against both tunnel snakes and Mrreows. When Thread begins to fall, they bring everyone back three turns again to the western island, settling in the only protection they can find - the tops of sky broom trees. Power struggles ensue, with queen riders wanting to be in charge over a blue rider (and a female on, breaking tradition), especially when help arrives in the form of older riders. J'keran especially becomes problematic, trying to drown stress and memories in the alcohol he brews, and at one point near kills Xhinna in a drunken rage under the influence of a bad batch of rotgut when he thinks she is trying to kill dragon eggs out of jealousy (whereas she is trying to kill tunnel snakes that are attacking them). He succeeds in tearing Taria away from Xhinna, both fleeing the camp with their dragons and then stealing and poaching supplies and trying to lure other riders away.
In the need for candidates for hatchings, Xhinna, guided by Jirana's Sight, searches near Crom Hold, Jirana leading her there two turns after the plague's end. Boys cannot be spared, needed to restore fallow fields and crafts, and girls are recruited in numbers, giving them a chance to survive and thrive where they else would likely have died of starvation.
There are various bits of information and lore throughout that previously were not encountered: green dragons being able to clutch queen eggs when they have never chewed firestone, the concept that blues and greens might have been the first fire lizards, with golds being born to them and others evolving over time, fighting Thread just as it enters the atmosphere.
We also see the strongest female leadership and more equitable leadership and where the novel ends, it leads me questioning how the transition back to dealing with more traditional weyrs and weyrleaders was handled, as from the novels set after that in time, the prior status quo of predominant patriarchy returned (yes, not all weyrleaders...). With the sheer number of dragons and riders from Sky Weyr and the Western Continent, they could have overwhelmed and overthrown attitudes. Did they retake Igen Weyr? Were they all dispersed? How did those in leadership roles handle being demoted in decision making by the riders who stayed in the current pass? Not to mention how did the riders and weyrfolk of Telgar Weyr handle the return of D'gan's flight of dragons and riders after they had been doing things differently under the leadership of Fiona and T'mar. How did the holds and craftholds react to having D'gan return with his forceful taking of tithes and workers, sometimes involuntarily?
How were the female blue and green riders received by the weyrs in general?
We read that L'tor viewed T'mar as poaching Shaneese on his return from being lost between and had railed that he had "too many women" - so a breakup of some polyamorous relationships. While Xhinna and Taria were torn apart for a time by multiple factors (pregnancy stress, irritability from Timing it in the past twice, influence of J'keran, influence of rotgut which possibly contains the wrong sort of alcohol, as there is mention that it was "bad in small doses, dangerous in large ones, and lethal if they'd drank another bottle" (chapter nine: A Knife in the Dark) ), they in time find each other again, and Xhinna supports Turia's choice of having children with R'ney, and Xhinna herself has a child with someone, while still staying committed to one another (Unsure who fathered Xelinana, both due to Xhinna saying "But if you think after all these months that you'll get me to tell you who's the father, you're sadly mistaken" and it is mentioned that mothers tend to blend both parents' names for their children: Taria and R'ney Tarena, unsure if Taralin is also R'ney's son, which is only of interest in trying to sort out genetics). The emphasis is that all children are loved and cared for, regardless of who sired or birthed them, as we see after the death of one of the mothers.
So enjoyable while reading it- but depressing as I realize afterward that the more equal society brought about through Fiona and Xhinna might all collapse with the return of D'gan, and integration with other weyrs.
acreech's review
3.0
Nice to have all the dangling threads of the previous books tied up fairly well, although I was finding it hard to keep track of all the new characters. The perspective in this book shifted from Fiona (main perspective of the past three) to her friend and slightly minor character Xhinna, who turns out to be quite a bit more than she appears at first. The last book ended with a clever way to force the characters to solve their problems without much time travel, allowing events to proceed in fairly normal fashion for once. Being a fan of both cats and dragons, I was pleased to see that the two species eventually found a common ground.
merixcil's review
2.0
Complicated feelings on this one. It actually felt very fanfic like in both good and bad ways - good because it's gay and characters have time to breathe. Bad because the pacing is weird and every action has to be imbued with desperate emotion regardless of if it's necessary. I think this needed more of a reason for everyone to go back in time than just to wait three years for Thread, and it needed a good bit of editing
bookcrazylady45's review
3.0
As I am reading this series on the timeline not on publishing dates, I ended up reading a lot of Todd and Todd and Anne and now have all Anne to look forward to. This book fit in okay with the timeline and filled gaps and was a good bridge but I have a feeling it would not make a good standalone book even for a long time Pern reader. I do think a lot of the not very kind reviews from people who would rather have no Pern books than any written by anyone else, especially Anne's children, are a bit off. I am grateful as hell that they picked up the baton and kept the world alive. If the books are not as absolutely great as Anne would have written them...so what. I have read so many series where the original writer kept putting out new books every year for 30 years and the quality deteriorated badly but fans are so desperate for the series to continue that they keep buying them and complaining but buying them and begging the writer to continue. This really is no different. I can never understand people who continue to buy only to bitch. Stop buying and move on or write your own...that is what fan fiction is for...if you think you can do better.