Anne McCaffrey – Dragonflight

Genre: Science Fantasy

Basic Plot: When Lessa awakes with a feeling of dread early one morning, she had no idea that her life would change so drastically. With the dreaded Red Star getting closer to the planet, there were only a few who believed that the hungry Threads would fall onto Pern and devour all living matter. The dragonriders – those who were bonded to the mighty green, blue, brown bronze and gold beasts – and their lifemates were the only defence Pern had…but Pern’s dragon’s were slowly dying out, the Golden Queen living just long enough to see her very last clutch hatch. But there was hope, because in that last clutch there was a glowing, Golden Egg. And Lessa, waiting on the sands to see if she would be the one who was chosen by the creature within.

Characters: After re-reading this book again after a few years, it really hit me as to how unlikable the main heroes of the story are to begin with. Lessa irritated me so much I wanted to throttle her, but then again, as the story evolved, so did the character into one that was slightly less aggravating. I think the characterisation for Lessa borders on the reader actually disliking her to begin with, but we gain subtle hints that we’re not supposed to. I think it’s a brave thing for an author to be able to have the confidence to make ‘human’ characters in that of course, not everyone is going to like them. They have their own quirks, and unlike some other novels, they never actually step ‘out’ of character in order to help the plot. They seem to hold up the story, not the other way around, which I found rather refreshing.

Style: Written in third person, the ‘viewpoint’ changes a few times throughout the story, but by that time you’re so engrossed that it seems to be the most logical thing in the world. There’s a good balance between action and the character’s thoughts in the novel, and although some of the chapters are rather lengthy, it hardly seems to matter. There are inconsistencies within this story, since DragonFlight was originally written as three short novellas. If you can get past those however, this book actually makes you share the emotion of the characters at the end of the story, and that in itself is worth reading it for!

Conclusion: Although this book was a thoroughly enjoyable read for me, I’ve been a member of the ‘Pern Fan club’ for years now. If you haven’t read any of these novels before, then this book may be a little hard going to keep up with the different terminology. In my opinion, the perseverance is well worth it. The world that Anne McCaffrey has created on Pern is rich and detailed. Enough so, that even the small inconsistencies that can be picked up in this – her first novel – are entirely permissible.

Audience: 12+