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A review by metalphoenix
Dragonquest by Anne McCaffrey
5.0
I thought this book was a big improvement from [b:Dragonflight|61975|Dragonflight (Pern, #1)|Anne McCaffrey|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320425845s/61975.jpg|2467422]. F'lar and Lessa are significantly less annoying this time around, due mostly to their already established relationship and leadership. No shaking or yelling or lack of communication this time around; they're partners and bring out the best in each other. They're also not the only major characters, thankfully. I really enjoyed Jaxom's plot, both in his relationship with Lytol and his experience with dragons. The scene where he . Brekke's storyline was really interesting in exploring the sexual culture of the weyr. Her disinterest in casual sex poses problems when her queen is set to mate soon, and her romantic interest in F'nor creates an interesting question about whether browns should be allowed to join the mating competition.
We also get to see a little more thoroughly the idea of what happens when a rider loses a dragon, both in further development in Lytol, and more immediately with a couple of other characters within this book. I also really like the discovery of fire lizards, and what that means for the relationship between the holds and the weyrs as well as the fact that there's no gender line for impression. It was briefly suggested that since a woman could impress any type of fire lizard, she could also impress any type of dragon and therefore be a rider, but this idea was not fully developed. I'm hoping that's addressed more directly later on.
I appreciate that instead of focusing on one clear solution to one overarching antagonist, McCaffrey creates multiple approaches to various problems in these books, not all of which are necessarily successful. In the future goal of making Pern Thread-free, there's both the idea of going to the Red Star and destroying the source, as well as spreading the grubs. In the quest for better communication, there's stationing dragons at various holds, training fire lizards, and the crafthall's technological efforts. There's antagonisms on every level; between different social groups in general (weyrs vs. holds vs. crafthalls), between the different weyrs (Oldtimers vs. Benden), down to individuals (Kylara, Meron, etc.). It gives a feeling of a real society, going through trial and error as they try to better themselves.
However, one fault with trying to tackle so many different concepts is that often they aren't given enough depth or focus. Some problems seem to be handled rather conveniently, or even ultimately ignored. One of the major plots in the book deals with the Oldtimers, as they struggled to adapt to a new society where Thread had not been a concern for so long, and weyrs had fallen from their status of unquestioned superiority. After such a big build up, there's a rather abrupt and somewhat unsatisfying conclusion to these tensions halfway through the book, and not really mentioned again. Kylara is also set up as an interesting antagonist, but is then later easily discarded and ignored. Also, even though I labeled it a plus earlier, without one major plot where everything comes together in a climax, Dragonquest ends up feeling a bit unfinished. That's often a problem with 2nd books in trilogies, however, so I'm looking forward to a more concrete conclusion in [b:White Dragon|127586|The White Dragon (Pern, #5)|Anne McCaffrey|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1307994871s/127586.jpg|2886933].
Spoiler
breaks the "runt" dragon free of its shell was actually quite moving, as he equated it with his own difficult birth. Ruth is a white dragon, a color unheard of previously, and everyone pities the pair as they assume Ruth is a genetic mistake that will die soon. I'm looking forward to Jaxom and Ruth proving everyone wrongWe also get to see a little more thoroughly the idea of what happens when a rider loses a dragon, both in further development in Lytol, and more immediately with a couple of other characters within this book. I also really like the discovery of fire lizards, and what that means for the relationship between the holds and the weyrs as well as the fact that there's no gender line for impression. It was briefly suggested that since a woman could impress any type of fire lizard, she could also impress any type of dragon and therefore be a rider, but this idea was not fully developed. I'm hoping that's addressed more directly later on.
I appreciate that instead of focusing on one clear solution to one overarching antagonist, McCaffrey creates multiple approaches to various problems in these books, not all of which are necessarily successful. In the future goal of making Pern Thread-free, there's both the idea of going to the Red Star and destroying the source, as well as spreading the grubs. In the quest for better communication, there's stationing dragons at various holds, training fire lizards, and the crafthall's technological efforts. There's antagonisms on every level; between different social groups in general (weyrs vs. holds vs. crafthalls), between the different weyrs (Oldtimers vs. Benden), down to individuals (Kylara, Meron, etc.). It gives a feeling of a real society, going through trial and error as they try to better themselves.
However, one fault with trying to tackle so many different concepts is that often they aren't given enough depth or focus. Some problems seem to be handled rather conveniently, or even ultimately ignored. One of the major plots in the book deals with the Oldtimers, as they struggled to adapt to a new society where Thread had not been a concern for so long, and weyrs had fallen from their status of unquestioned superiority. After such a big build up, there's a rather abrupt and somewhat unsatisfying conclusion to these tensions halfway through the book, and not really mentioned again. Kylara is also set up as an interesting antagonist, but is then later easily discarded and ignored. Also, even though I labeled it a plus earlier, without one major plot where everything comes together in a climax, Dragonquest ends up feeling a bit unfinished. That's often a problem with 2nd books in trilogies, however, so I'm looking forward to a more concrete conclusion in [b:White Dragon|127586|The White Dragon (Pern, #5)|Anne McCaffrey|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1307994871s/127586.jpg|2886933].