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4.09 AVERAGE
4.09 AVERAGE
An enjoyable book dealing with dragons and adventure in another world. :)
Hugely disappointing execution of an interesting premise.
The Dragonriders of Pern is a collection of the first three books of McCaffrey's Pern series. Her world is AMAZING. I had read these books years ago, and had forgotten how much I loved them until I picked them up again. Her descriptions are so colorful that you feel you can picture the world in its entirety, her action scenes take your breath away - both in how simply they're written (making it easy to follow the action) and in their content. The intimate scenes, while never written graphically, are so well executed that sometimes you almost feel voyeuristic - as the scenes involving things such as mating flights are written from an entirely emotional standpoint.
Another thing that makes these books so enjoyable and unique, is that she shifts her focus in each book, no character taking precedence over others for too long, which contributes to fleshing out the world. While I've not had the chance to read the Harper trilogy, it's an example of the tactic she uses to add depth to her world. All of the books have places where they focus away from that story's "main" character at times, however, for example, the first book, Dragonflight, focuses mainly on the heroine, Lessa, and to a lesser extent, F'lar. The second book, Dragonquest, shifts away from Lessa, with more focus on F'nor and F'lar. And the third book, the White Dragon, focuses on young Jaxom - who has connections Lessa and F'lar (however, describing the connections would give away some of the story!).
I highly recommend this book to anyone with a love for fantasy - particularly fantasy in which whole words are created and uncovered. The book comes complete with a "Dragondex" in the back - an index of important information, such as the order in which the Weyrs were established, the list of the Craftmasters, a listing of the Lords and what Holds they oversee, important terminology, and a listing of the Fire-Lizards and their owners. The only thing I found apparently remiss in the Dragondex was a list of which dragon was paired to which rider, as some of the lesser mentioned dragons can get confusing.
Another thing that makes these books so enjoyable and unique, is that she shifts her focus in each book, no character taking precedence over others for too long, which contributes to fleshing out the world. While I've not had the chance to read the Harper trilogy, it's an example of the tactic she uses to add depth to her world. All of the books have places where they focus away from that story's "main" character at times, however, for example, the first book, Dragonflight, focuses mainly on the heroine, Lessa, and to a lesser extent, F'lar. The second book, Dragonquest, shifts away from Lessa, with more focus on F'nor and F'lar. And the third book, the White Dragon, focuses on young Jaxom - who has connections Lessa and F'lar (however, describing the connections would give away some of the story!).
I highly recommend this book to anyone with a love for fantasy - particularly fantasy in which whole words are created and uncovered. The book comes complete with a "Dragondex" in the back - an index of important information, such as the order in which the Weyrs were established, the list of the Craftmasters, a listing of the Lords and what Holds they oversee, important terminology, and a listing of the Fire-Lizards and their owners. The only thing I found apparently remiss in the Dragondex was a list of which dragon was paired to which rider, as some of the lesser mentioned dragons can get confusing.
did not like the writing or the characters, felt like it took forever for anything to happen
I read these books. I don't remember much about them, but I remember that I enjoyed reading them. Is that worth a 4? Should I give a 3? Fuck, this is way too much power for one man to have.
I tried this book when I was younger, but didn't manage to get through it. But it explains so much about the history and background of the Harper Hall Trilogy. Plus, I grew to love Lessa and F'lar and then Jaxom and the rest. Wonderful and amazing.
This is the book I stole off my Dad's shelf when I was a kid and NEVER gave back. Her series made me love dragons in a way that I never imagined. She will truly be missed!
Read and reread and reread these when I was in middle school. Will always have a special place in my heart for them. The author is one of my inspirations (for writing).
I finished the first book but only got 1/2 way through the second. While McCaffrey has created a fantastic world, something always seemed lacking. As the 'villain' of the story, the Threads become annoying after a few pages. You'd think a culture that came over in spaceships would find a want to permanently stop the sun from shooting out balls of deadly fire. But the dragons are awesome, there is no doubt about that.