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A review by willwork4airfare
Dragonquest by Anne McCaffrey
4.0
I love that the second installment picks up after the fight. War isn’t the focus of these novels despite masculinity and combat still being a large part of the fantasy plot, and I just appreciate it more than I can say. She didn’t wait long to re-establish how badly women are still treated in this series, with the usual exception of the main heroine (Lessa). I was excited and looking forward to her collaboration with the women from the past, but it doesn’t look like it’s meant to be.
The treatment of women consistently bothered me while reading even if it’s to be expected in fantasy and even though there are attempts to combat those ideas. Kylara with her flaming red hair and her “promiscuity” are so cliché it’s laughable. Some elements of the plot are so fantastical while others are so predictable, I really love the juxtaposition. Despite all its flaws, I’m sucked into the narrative and I can’t get enough of reading it. It’s one of those series that is really able to transport me to another place in my mind. I love the backstory and everything I learn about Pern and its solar system. I just wish there wasn’t so much sexual assault and coercion.
I’m not a huge fan of second installments, especially ones that just seem broken in half to allow the real action occur during the third (I think Dragonflight, Dragonquest, and White Dragon stand alone as a trilogy themselves), but there are many factors at work that prove she is intending to write a formulaic novel, so it’s easy to forgive in context. I’m definitely a fan of this series and I’m so glad I got into it!
The treatment of women consistently bothered me while reading even if it’s to be expected in fantasy and even though there are attempts to combat those ideas. Kylara with her flaming red hair and her “promiscuity” are so cliché it’s laughable. Some elements of the plot are so fantastical while others are so predictable, I really love the juxtaposition. Despite all its flaws, I’m sucked into the narrative and I can’t get enough of reading it. It’s one of those series that is really able to transport me to another place in my mind. I love the backstory and everything I learn about Pern and its solar system. I just wish there wasn’t so much sexual assault and coercion.
I’m not a huge fan of second installments, especially ones that just seem broken in half to allow the real action occur during the third (I think Dragonflight, Dragonquest, and White Dragon stand alone as a trilogy themselves), but there are many factors at work that prove she is intending to write a formulaic novel, so it’s easy to forgive in context. I’m definitely a fan of this series and I’m so glad I got into it!