Review: Dragonflight by Anne McCaffrey

Dragonflight: Volume 1 of The Dragonriders of Pern by Anne McCaffrey

At the beginning of the book, Pern is in danger.  Five of the six Weyrs are abandoned, have been so for centuries, and lone Benden Weyr is severely underpopulated.  The seven High Reaches mountain Holds, including proud Ruatha, have been usurped by the ruthless Fax.  Dragonriders are viewed as parasites and referred to as “dragonwomen” by the more daring.  The Red Star pulses nearer and nearer, marking the return of Threads.  The traditional teachings have fallen into disuse; many believe that the deadly silver Threads will never fall again.

In forgotten Ruatha Hold, Lessa, the last of the Bloodline, has carefully orchestrated the Hold’s ruin for the past ten Turns.  She hates Fax for killing her family and looks eagerly to rightfully claiming her Hold.  Meanwhile, F’lar, rider of bronze Mnementh (fun name) and his wing ride on Search for queen rider candidates.  Nemorth, the old queen, is all but dead, and Hatching for the queen egg and other eggs is imminent.  When lead by Fax to Ruatha, F’lar and his half-brother F’nor (rider of brown Canth) feel a surge of power and realize that perhaps the Bloodline has not been wiped out.

During an inadequate dinner, Lessa, disguised as a drudge, influences F’lar telepathically to challenge Fax to renounce his claim on Ruatha.  The fight is delayed by Fax’s lady going into labor; she unfortunately dies in childbirth.  Lessa, furious, announces (unwittingly truthfully) that the child lives and is male.  F’lar kills Fax in the ensuing duel (yay!).  After some questioning, he recognizes Lessa’s Blood claim and takes her to Benden Weyr.  Lessa Impresses gold Ramoth and becomes Weyrwoman and, by default, senior queen rider.

For two years she chafes under the pragmatic, traditionalist leadership of R’gul, the Weyrleader.  When Ramoth rises to mate, however, Mnementh flies her, and F’lar becomes Weyrleader – a welcome change.  He promptly throws tradition out the window and installs new rules and procedures that pull the Weyr out of disfavor, starting with the tithes from the Lord Holders.  During a training exercise where he teaches Lessa to teleport between, she inadvertantly discovers a latent ability of dragonkind.  F’lar uses this ability to begin repopulating the five empty Weyrs; Lessa however, risks herself and Ramoth in an incredible flight based on a four-hundred-Turn-old tapestry.

Though not the first book chronologically, Dragonflight is a smashing start to the series.  Anne McCaffrey did a wonderful job of introducing a new world, new characters, new species and new terms in her sci-fi/fantasy arsenal.  Her diction and vivid word pictures make for an exciting read.  The climax of the book is honestly when Lessa makes the discovery; the rest of the book would be spoiled if I told you what it was!   Still, all the loose ends are tied up very well, and subtle happenings or things that seem unimportant become significant later on.  This includes a brilliant answer to the hauntingly beautiful “Question Song”.  Some parts of the book seem slow, such as when the bronze riders are discussing Weyr policy, but everything makes sense in the end.  Lessa is one of my heroes: she’s feisty, brave, and impetuous, plus she can speak to any dragon in the Weyr (a trick F’lar doesn’t find out about until quite late in the book).

A word of warning to the wise: these are not the archetypal role-playing dragons.  They lack the horns, the scales, the elegant neck, and the horse-like build most people are familiar with.  Anne McCaffrey says flat out that her dragons have a soft, supple hide, knobs instead of horns, and multi-faceted eyes.  They also are very ungainly on all fours.  Michael Welhan’s cover art does a fantastic job of accurately portraying the dragons of Pern.  One of my teachers described them as “bugs up close”, but I think that’s a bit unfair.  They still breathe fire, and their telepathy and teleportation more than makes up for any shortcomings.

Possible objectionable content: a few implied sex scenes, most concerning the mating flight; I missed these the first time around – but then, I’m possibly the most naive person you’ll ever meet.  No cursing, since all their oaths relate to their own world.  Just two deaths, and only one is a murder; but it’s Fax, so who cares?  The sex is all premarital, but no one’s offended by that anymore.  I’d say 12+ just because anyone younger would probably find it boring.

Stardragon’s rating: 9.5 out of 10 butterscotch candies.

QUOTES

• “Ruatha?  What good is Ruatha to you now?  When you could be Weyrwoman?” ~F’lar
• “By the First Egg, girl, you’ve power in you to spare when you can turn a dragonman, all unwitting, to do your bidding.  Ah, but never again, for I am now on guard against you.” ~F’lar
• “No, I haven’t!  Is this something I must divine, by instinct, like the dragons?  By the shell of the first Egg, F’nor, no one explains anything to me!” ~Lessa
• “K’net!  Do you really like flying the Igen patrol so much you want another few weeks at it?” ~F’lar
• “Yes, my dear Weyrwoman, I mean it.  I will teach you to fly between today.  If only to keep you from trying it yourself.” ~F’lar
• “I am NOT spiteful.  I said I was sorry.  I am.  But you’ve a nasty, smug habit of keeping your own counsel.  How was I to know you didn’t have the same trick?  You’re F’lar, the Weyrleader, you can do anything.” ~Lessa
• “Where would you be today, good Lord Vincet, if the Weyr had not sent you packing back, hoping your ladies would be returned to you?  All of you actually rode against the Weyr because… ‘there…were…no…more…Threads’!” ~Robinton, Masterharper of Pern

TERMS

• Weyr: hold for dragons and dragonriders
• Turn: Pernese term for a year
• Queen: there are five colors of dragons.  Golds are the queens and the only females that can mate.  Bronzes are the largest males and mate the queens.  Browns are the next largest; then come blues.  Greens are the smallest dragons; they are females that are sterile because they chew firestone.  Greens still rise to mate, but no eggs result.
• Thread: mychorrhiza spores that fall because of the Red Star’s proximity to Pern.  In Pern’s atmosphere, the spore cases open and the silver Threads fall.  These spores devour any organic substance they come in contact with within moments, and only ice, water or fire can destroy them.
• Impression: the bonding of a dragonet to a human partner, much like when ducklings or chicks hatch.
• Between: a nonspace, a postlatum.  The chilling blackness that dragons briefly hover in when teleporting.

Today was just a really long day, but I enjoyed doing this review.  Let’s see if I can get extra credit out of it!