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onthesamepage's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
For everyone who read Fourth Wing and thought that the part where dragons mating leading to their human partners mating was interesting—let me introduce you to the OG.
I read this a long, long time ago, and I remembered parts of it being problematic, but I was curious to see how I'd feel about it now. And you know what, the problematic parts were still problematic. But the story and the world are just as interesting as they were when I read them the first time.
Instead of the conflict in this story being people at war with each other, the people are at war with their environment. That doesn't mean that there's no politics or in-fighting, because all of that exists, but it lends a different dynamic to it when one of the parties is in charge of protecting the entire planet. At the beginning of the book, the dragonriders have lost credibility in Pern, because the threat that they exist to fight hasn't been seen for 400 years. This leads to the different towns abandoning the agreements that have always been in place to support the Weyrs. Lessa is thrown into this chaos when F'lar decides she would make a good Weyrwoman. Through her, we slowly begin to piece together how the world functions, and to unravel all the mysteries we've been introduced to.
The strength of this book is really in the story it's telling, and not so much the characters or relationships. Yes, the bond between dragons and humans is cool, and it does get explored quite a bit, but I spent far more time being intrigued by the world and the Threads than the humans. There also isn't a romance to root for, even though one does develop between Lessa and F'lar eventually. Their relationship starts off extremely contentious, however, and it makes it hard to root for them as a couple, or for F'lar as a love interest specifically. There are multiple instances where he talks down to Lessa, shakes her, slaps sense into her, berates her, not to mention the implication of nonconsensual sex (fully off-page, but it is mentioned). And maybe it's a product of the time it was written in, but that doesn't make it more fun to read. Lessa is far from a doormat, though, and she gives as good as she gets at least 50% of the time. It also helps that she's the undisputed hero of this book, and her grit and determination makes it easy to root for her.
I read this a long, long time ago, and I remembered parts of it being problematic, but I was curious to see how I'd feel about it now. And you know what, the problematic parts were still problematic. But the story and the world are just as interesting as they were when I read them the first time.
Instead of the conflict in this story being people at war with each other, the people are at war with their environment. That doesn't mean that there's no politics or in-fighting, because all of that exists, but it lends a different dynamic to it when one of the parties is in charge of protecting the entire planet. At the beginning of the book, the dragonriders have lost credibility in Pern, because the threat that they exist to fight hasn't been seen for 400 years. This leads to the different towns abandoning the agreements that have always been in place to support the Weyrs. Lessa is thrown into this chaos when F'lar decides she would make a good Weyrwoman. Through her, we slowly begin to piece together how the world functions, and to unravel all the mysteries we've been introduced to.
The strength of this book is really in the story it's telling, and not so much the characters or relationships. Yes, the bond between dragons and humans is cool, and it does get explored quite a bit, but I spent far more time being intrigued by the world and the Threads than the humans. There also isn't a romance to root for, even though one does develop between Lessa and F'lar eventually. Their relationship starts off extremely contentious, however, and it makes it hard to root for them as a couple, or for F'lar as a love interest specifically. There are multiple instances where he talks down to Lessa, shakes her, slaps sense into her, berates her, not to mention the implication of nonconsensual sex (fully off-page, but it is mentioned). And maybe it's a product of the time it was written in, but that doesn't make it more fun to read. Lessa is far from a doormat, though, and she gives as good as she gets at least 50% of the time. It also helps that she's the undisputed hero of this book, and her grit and determination makes it easy to root for her.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny and Physical abuse
Moderate: Animal cruelty
Minor: Fatphobia and Rape
uranaishi's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Death of parent, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Sexism, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Death, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Misogyny
Minor: Child abuse, Classism, Fire/Fire injury, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Grief, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, Rape, and Body shaming
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