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A review by amalyndb
Dragongirl by Todd McCaffrey
5.0
Fiona and the weyrlings have returned from the past to Fort Weyr. Telgar is lost when D'gan's dragon, befuddled by his illness, gives bad direction to the wings and they follow him to their death between.
Fiona heads to Telgar and becomes the Weyrwoman, accompanied by those dear to her. The weyrfolk come to find hope in the new riders - only for Fiona's Talenth to fall ill with the plague. The cure is found at last, all dragons inoculated, Lorana and Kindan bringing the joy of hope to all.
Disaster strikes with the new Telgar's first Fall - T'mar is injured and when his Zirenth brings him back to the weyr, his riding strap breaks, smacking him into the side of the weyrbowl, cracking his skull, sending him into a coma, and breaking his legs. Lorana and Fiona manage to keep Zirenth from disappearing forever between - and then when Fiona's Talenth rises while T'mar is in a coma, Lorana and Kindan form a bond with Zirenth that allows him to fly her queen - and for the three to form a new relationship. Losses from Thread continue to be heavy, and even with the Impression of numerous queen clutches, there is a strong possibility of all mature dragons being lost to Thread before the weyrlings are mature enough to be of use.
Polyamory is touched upon, without being referred to in so direct a term. In other Pern novels, there is the hint of non-standard (in terms of 20th century hetero-normative nuclear family as a reference of 'standard') relationships, in that queen riders have sex with whichever bronze rider whose dragon has ridden their queen - some pairings last across flights, some vary from flight to flight and between them as well. In Dragongirl, there is polyamory in the sense that Kindan and Lorana are a couple, T'mar and Fiona are a couple - and then Fiona and Kindan are a couple, hesitantly unsure what they have, but supported by Lorana, and T'mar has a relationship with Shaneese, supported and urged on by Fiona.
There is mention of some dissent among the weyrfolk about the arrangement at first, but some of it can be attributed to the very non-traditional, unheard of, riding of Zirenth by Kindan (who has never impressed a dragon) and Lorana (whose gold Arith was lost to the dragon plague and choosing the wrong vial of the cure). There is mention that sometimes these arrangements happen among blue and green riders but also mention that they rarely last.
Additionally there is very clear (but no intimate scenes beyond the cuddling of her friend? girlfriend? Taria) mention that Xhinna has strong attractive to women, something I do not previously recall mentioned in the Pern novels (although there has been passing reference to having a partner of choice on hand during a mating flight and the other rider having their preference available). There has always been the hint in the background that amongst dragonriders, relationships between men are often amongst the green and blue riders and do not attract comment. I never really clued in when I was younger how very different this was in a sci-fi/fantasy series until recently, when discussing literary representations of gay/lesbian/queer relationships and gender identities. And to me, that's wonderful in a series, when all love can be seen as a norm, acceptable, and able to exist without extreme reactions toward it.
(Granted, a part of me was wondering if Lorana and Fiona would have a relationship between them deeper than a sisterly love - my impression was of a shared cuddle pile when all three would share a bed.)
Fiona heads to Telgar and becomes the Weyrwoman, accompanied by those dear to her. The weyrfolk come to find hope in the new riders - only for Fiona's Talenth to fall ill with the plague. The cure is found at last, all dragons inoculated, Lorana and Kindan bringing the joy of hope to all.
Disaster strikes with the new Telgar's first Fall - T'mar is injured and when his Zirenth brings him back to the weyr, his riding strap breaks, smacking him into the side of the weyrbowl, cracking his skull, sending him into a coma, and breaking his legs. Lorana and Fiona manage to keep Zirenth from disappearing forever between - and then when Fiona's Talenth rises while T'mar is in a coma, Lorana and Kindan form a bond with Zirenth that allows him to fly her queen - and for the three to form a new relationship. Losses from Thread continue to be heavy, and even with the Impression of numerous queen clutches, there is a strong possibility of all mature dragons being lost to Thread before the weyrlings are mature enough to be of use.
Polyamory is touched upon, without being referred to in so direct a term. In other Pern novels, there is the hint of non-standard (in terms of 20th century hetero-normative nuclear family as a reference of 'standard') relationships, in that queen riders have sex with whichever bronze rider whose dragon has ridden their queen - some pairings last across flights, some vary from flight to flight and between them as well. In Dragongirl, there is polyamory in the sense that Kindan and Lorana are a couple, T'mar and Fiona are a couple - and then Fiona and Kindan are a couple, hesitantly unsure what they have, but supported by Lorana, and T'mar has a relationship with Shaneese, supported and urged on by Fiona.
There is mention of some dissent among the weyrfolk about the arrangement at first, but some of it can be attributed to the very non-traditional, unheard of, riding of Zirenth by Kindan (who has never impressed a dragon) and Lorana (whose gold Arith was lost to the dragon plague and choosing the wrong vial of the cure). There is mention that sometimes these arrangements happen among blue and green riders but also mention that they rarely last.
Additionally there is very clear (but no intimate scenes beyond the cuddling of her friend? girlfriend? Taria) mention that Xhinna has strong attractive to women, something I do not previously recall mentioned in the Pern novels (although there has been passing reference to having a partner of choice on hand during a mating flight and the other rider having their preference available). There has always been the hint in the background that amongst dragonriders, relationships between men are often amongst the green and blue riders and do not attract comment. I never really clued in when I was younger how very different this was in a sci-fi/fantasy series until recently, when discussing literary representations of gay/lesbian/queer relationships and gender identities. And to me, that's wonderful in a series, when all love can be seen as a norm, acceptable, and able to exist without extreme reactions toward it.
(Granted, a part of me was wondering if Lorana and Fiona would have a relationship between them deeper than a sisterly love - my impression was of a shared cuddle pile when all three would share a bed.)