Lynn Nye & McCaffrey – The Dragonlover’s guide to Pern

Normally I do my best to read a piece of literature without first having any sort of preconceptions about how good or bad it’s going to be. If I think I’m going to be bias, I simply either don’t read the book, or just wait until those conceptions have passed. (I think I’ll be waiting a very long time to read the Twilight series in that case).

That having been said however, with this book being about all things Pern, I quite happily ordered a copy from Waterstones, and then read through it in two sittings. I was brimming with enthusiasm to be able to get an insight into the workings of the ‘Pern’ world, and to get some more details about the dragons that the series mostly focuses on.

I have to say that it’s my own fault for the fact I ended up a little disappointed. One need only look as far as Tolkein to notice all of the supplementary books that his trilogy spawned, and I’ve often heard that they create more questions than answers. The Dragonlover’s Guide also does this, but admittedly not to any great extent.

The actual content of the DLG is adequate enough. There are some amusing recipes and trivia that stop it from being too bland and overly serious, and the illustrations break up the text nicely. The short story, written by Anne’s son Todd serves to almost transport the reader back to Pern, almost as a way of making the information more accessible. Another helpful tool it offers comes in the form of an index at the back, labelling things from characters to places to terminology.

So what’s the problem with this book if I’m singing the praises of all of these different things?

I guess I just found it slightly lacking. Whether my expectations were too high remain to be seen. The book started off promising at first, but as I continued to read through, a lot of the content was repeated, and the layout seemed to be so jumbled it really was a good idea to have the index at the back. Perhaps it’s because I’ve been a fan of the Pern series for so long, but the majority of the information was simply a retelling of a few of the novels. Some information also seemed rather contradictory, and (now this really is nitpicking) there were also a number of typographical errors.

If you’re a fan of the Pern series, by all means by this book. There are some genuinely amusing and interesting passages in here, and the illustrations serve the informal feel of the book well. It’s a great read to get some more general information about the world. If you’re looking for something that will give you a lot of background information that you can’t find in the books however, this supplement is lacking, with the main tool being the index at the back.

All in all, a bit of a roller-coaster of a read. It’s a shame that so much space of the book is used to essentially retell one of the novels, but at the same time, I certainly can’t say that it’s of no use or value whatsoever. Perhaps borrow it from a friend and then invest in one if it has the sort of information you’re after.

3 Responses to “Lynn Nye & McCaffrey – The Dragonlover’s guide to Pern”

1. Carmen says:

   February 17, 2010 at 2:17 am

   Hi, I was looking on the internet and I noticed your blog. Keep up the good work.
2. Jame Tomsic says:

   May 28, 2010 at 6:17 pm

   I really enjoyed your article and would like to know if I provide a link back to your site if I can use your article on one of my sites?
3. Sara Slack says:

   June 8, 2010 at 10:40 am

   Of course.