Wednesday, April 9, 2014

Dragonquest, by Anne McCaffery


Rating: 4.5/5
352 pages
1971
Publisher: Del Rey
Source: Kindle ebook

Description: Another Turn, and the deadly silver Threads began falling again. So the bold dragonriders took to the air once more and their magnificent flying dragons swirled and swooped, belching flames that destroyed the shimmering strands before they reach the ground.

But F'lar knew he had to find a better way to protect his beloved Pern,and he had to find it before the rebellious Oldtimers could breed anymore dissent... before his brother F'nor would be foolhardy enough to launch another suicide mission... and before those dratted fire-lizards could stir up any more trouble! (from Goodreads)

Review: This is an improvement over of the first book, but it still has issues.

The writing is more consistent in this book, but it contains one character is a stereotypical evil slutty woman and there is what is very clearly a rape scene. I'm sure the author didn't intend it as a rape scene, and it is in keeping with a lot of "forced seduction" scenes in older romance novels, but its just hard to view it as the start of a romantic relationship.

The plot is a bit choppier than the first book, with friction between the Oldtimers and the modern residents of Pern, the discovery of firelizards, and attempts investigate the red star more closely and possibly end the threat of thread all being covered. Some of these felt a bit rushed, or that she could have gone into more detail if she just had had the room. (The firelizards do get more depth in later books.) It does have two very powerful scenes that will stick with the reader, but I do find this book less compelling than the first.

In some ways this is a better book than the first, in others, its a bit weaker. I do actually like it a bit more. Again, its hard for me to judge this book without nostalgia clouding my judgment. I can see the flaws more clearly than when I first read it, but I still like it.

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