Reviews - The Masterharper of Pern

106 reviews for:

The Masterharper of Pern

Anne McCaffrey

4.04 AVERAGE

tecovb's review

3.0

adventurous emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

mal_eficent's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

McCaffrey wrote herself into contradiction after contradiction in Pern, partly because she never intended to write as many stories as she did, and while so much of this book feeds into that it also offers so much context for the 9th pass and the setting of Dragonflight that I almost forgive it entirely.

I enjoy Robinton as a character, I enjoyed his mother far more, and while I was invested in this story more for the world building than the biography, it was still a fun read. Robinton's life was covered in far too much detail to stay interesting in every moment, and his strange, M in Bond role as MasterHarper wasn't explained as well as I hoped.

My main complaint is (once again with Pern) how rushed the ending of the book is. The last quarter skims over the events leading up to Fax's invasions, when that's really the meat of the story. I presume it's so readers aren't repeating something they've already read, but I think we could have skimmed a lot more earlier on, instead. Otherwise, the same problems all of McCaffrey's writing has are prevalent here: her approach to gender, relationships, and even the strange classism (making drudges, who are essentially serfs, purposely lazy and 'dumb' as a reason for why they're in this role).

If you're returning to Pern, or making your way through the series for the first time, I definitely recommend this as one to pick up after the Harper Hall trilogy.

frogglodite's review against another edition

5.0

I <3 Anne and I <3 <3 Pern!!

mjfmjfmjf's review against another edition

4.0

A direct prequel to the original Dragonriders of Pern series - basically this ends at the end of the first novella (Weyr Search) in Dragonflight. It basically takes one of the most obviously popular characters and takes him from birth on up. And ties all the other characters neatly. It is a bit longer than it should be and perhaps a bit too tidy - and yet it still had a few moments of surprise and was well done.

mgrey15's review against another edition

2.75

adventurous emotional funny hopeful relaxing sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

It was fun to learn more about Robinton’s background, but a lot of the plot points felt like rehashing from another novel, and that was kinda disappointing.

neilsef's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous emotional informative inspiring sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

This is the tale of the life of Master Harper Robinton from his birth up to the events at the start of Dragonflight.

It is a story that is a joy to read, with many heartwarming moments, but equally, it has several emotionally heartrending moments as well.

You learn about Robinton's parents, how his musical talent developed and his progression from apprentice to the Master Harper of Pern and all the events that shaped his life along the way.

For all Pern lovers, this is a must-read.