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3.63 AVERAGE
3.63 AVERAGE
Anne McCaffrey is the quintessential writer of fantasy books pertaining to dragons. These books are always wonderful, well written, and perfectly characterized. All of her series are great but the ones that take place on Pern are the best of all. A thoroughly fun and engaging read.
Anne McCaffrey seems to enjoy revisiting her stories from the points of view of minor or previously unknown characters, and as mentioned in a previous review of Nerilka's Story, this doesn't always work all that well. There's a lot going on in Renegades, but really what it is is a transition between the previously published 9th Pass books and All The Weyrs of Pern. There are a lot of people involved in the many plotlines, and all in all it's a bit confusing, even boring at times. And why did Thella have to be the villain? I found myself sympathizing more with her than Jayge or Aramina, though this was probably because I'd previously read Dolphins and had already established firm opinions on those too. Anyway, if you want to complete the Pern series then this is worth a read, but I definitely wouldn't throw it at a total newbie, they might get scared and start running in the other direction.
Oh, thank goodness I'm done. This one did NOT stand up to memory. I can't believe I wasn't more annoyed at all the sexism when I first read these books. I'm now scared to reread the Harper Hall trilogy, which were always my favorites.
I may actually be able to let this one leave my bookshelves permanently now; I really doubt I'll feel the need to read it again.
I may actually be able to let this one leave my bookshelves permanently now; I really doubt I'll feel the need to read it again.
Having read this right after "The White Dragon", I'm not entirely sure how well I can comment on it as a standalone books, rather than as an exploration of what was going on "meanwhile, back at the farm".
The second half was better than the first - I seem to prefer the Southen Continent stuff. Also, when I first read this series (somewhere between 10 and 12), I completely failed to register most of the sci-fi elements. Funny, they're not exactly easy to miss. Still, I like her marriage of soft sci-fi and fantasy: she does it well and if not all the characterization is as distinctive and as well wrought as I could wish, the world of Pernicious more than makes up for those deficiencies.
Also, I rather think I favor those books I discovered during my...formative years, let us call them.
The second half was better than the first - I seem to prefer the Southen Continent stuff. Also, when I first read this series (somewhere between 10 and 12), I completely failed to register most of the sci-fi elements. Funny, they're not exactly easy to miss. Still, I like her marriage of soft sci-fi and fantasy: she does it well and if not all the characterization is as distinctive and as well wrought as I could wish, the world of Pernicious more than makes up for those deficiencies.
Also, I rather think I favor those books I discovered during my...formative years, let us call them.
2015 audiobook read.
I am perhaps getting used to Dick Hill as I didn't find him too bombastic with this addition to the series either.
I am perhaps getting used to Dick Hill as I didn't find him too bombastic with this addition to the series either.
I might not hate this book so much if it were a kind of supplement, like Nerilka's Story. I'd almost certainly skip it in 90% of my series re-reads, but I wouldn't hate its very existence. But what we have here is, frankly, just obnoxious, because a significant chunk of the book is this story about people we've never met and don't care about, but there's just enough connection to the main series storyline that you're going to miss important details — including a rather critical bit that comes between the end of The White Dragon and the beginning of All the Weyrs of Pern — if you skip it.
That said, I kept track on this read-through, so if you want to skip all the Jayge-Aramina-Thella stuff, you can do so by reading the following (in the mass market, ISBN ending 335, edition):
52-66, 67-73, 88-93, 121-125, 141-144, 166-169, 196-274, 277-303, 320-end.
If you don't care about Piemur and the general goings on at Southern Hold, you could probably skip just about everything except the last two chunks.
That said, I kept track on this read-through, so if you want to skip all the Jayge-Aramina-Thella stuff, you can do so by reading the following (in the mass market, ISBN ending 335, edition):
52-66, 67-73, 88-93, 121-125, 141-144, 166-169, 196-274, 277-303, 320-end.
If you don't care about Piemur and the general goings on at Southern Hold, you could probably skip just about everything except the last two chunks.
Dude, even McCaffrey got bored with her own new (deeply boring) characters halfway through the book, chucked the whole Holdless plotlines for huge swathes, and went back to focusing on Piemur and Toric and the politics of the Southern continent. It irks my sense of order that huge chunks of the through-narrative from the original (in my mind) six books/two trilogies has to be continued here before being picked up as the A story once again in [b:All the Weyrs of Pern|61926|All The Weyrs Of Pern|Anne McCaffrey|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1191941122s/61926.jpg|2341135] again. It seems a poorly put-together book, but I nevertheless relished the bits about Piemur growing up and continuing his story from [b:Dragondrums|28553|Dragondrums (Harper Hall Trilogy, Book 3)|Anne McCaffrey|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167947308s/28553.jpg|1592020]. I also like the gaps filled in a bit in and around [b:The White Dragon|127586|The White Dragon (Dragonriders of Pern, Book 3)|Anne McCaffrey|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171940148s/127586.jpg|2886933]. Those two reasons are worth it to me to slog around the Jayge-Aramina-Thella bits to fill in details for the overarching storyline.
Oh, also? The cover shown here does not match my book, even though I selected via ISBN number. ::grumps::
Oh, also? The cover shown here does not match my book, even though I selected via ISBN number. ::grumps::
Anne McCaffrey is the quintessential writer of fantasy books pertaining to dragons. These books are always wonderful, well written, and perfectly characterized. All of her series are great but the ones that take place on Pern are the best of all. A thoroughly fun and engaging read.
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated