Here There Be Dragons!....
- Thread starter UncleRogi
- Start date
My favorites were/are the first trilogy and the Harper Hall trilogy. I started to lose interest around the time that they discovered the (I think it was called) Aivas but I'm not sure if I'd just OD'ed on the series or if I just didn't care for that slant.
My fave character has alway been the Masterharper.
Jan
My fave character has alway been the Masterharper.
Jan
I really liked All The Weyrs of Pern because it took the stock fantasy characters and their motivations - yes, even with its sci-fi underpinnings most Pern stories stay within fantasy tropes - and placed them into an "uncomfortable" context for the characters but exciting for the reader. Tons of great little details, such as asking what happens if such people are suddenly educated up to 21st and beyond century technology, etc. Of all the Pern novels, it has a great sense of wonder in it, and I was disappointed that it was never fully followed up. There was great promise in the Pern setting evolving out of its original foundations.
You kind of get the impression that McCaffrey went back to school sometime in the 1980s. The science in the original trilogy was shaky at best. It assumed things like Thread being able to leave the surface of the Red Star with no propulsion, and pretty much implied that fire lizards were bred up into dragons. If that was McCaffrey's idea, how many generations would it have taken, and when did the riders become part of the equation? (And if they got along without riders for all that time, why did they become necessary?)
And that telegraph still makes me go
, even today. Acidity is sort of electrical property that can be transmitted over a telegraph line (and it can affect litmus paper on the other end!)? And how is it the characters already possess such things as loudspeakers and (apparently) electric ventilation systems?
Contrast that with Dragonsdawn, All the Weyrs, etc., in which we have genetic engineering, Oort clouds, scientific analysis of how Thread is constructed, and orbital mechanics. A considerable improvement.
And that telegraph still makes me go
, even today. Acidity is sort of electrical property that can be transmitted over a telegraph line (and it can affect litmus paper on the other end!)? And how is it the characters already possess such things as loudspeakers and (apparently) electric ventilation systems?Contrast that with Dragonsdawn, All the Weyrs, etc., in which we have genetic engineering, Oort clouds, scientific analysis of how Thread is constructed, and orbital mechanics. A considerable improvement.
It's been too long since I've done a complete re-read of the Pern books. I used to enjoy doing that in chronological (not published) order. But I may have lost track or missed some - looking at my bookshelf it seems I have "The Skies of Pern" in last position - did any come out after that? And if so, were they written by Anne or by her son? And are the ones by Todd as good as the ones that Anne wrote herself?
I had avoided the books because of my fantasy bias. Then in the late 80s the woman I was dating convinced me to try the books and explained they weren't fantasy. To keep her happy I read one and was hooked. I've tried to read them in chrnological order but have had to back track or skip ahead on occasion.
The list includes:
Dragonsdawn
The Chronicles of Pern
Moreta: Dragonlady of Pern
Dragonseye
Dragon's Kin
Dragon's Fire
Dragonharper
DragonsBlood
Dragonheart
Dragongirl (out in July)
The Masterharper of Pern
Dragonflight
Dragonquest
The White Dragon
Dragonsong
Dragonsinger
Dragondrums
The Renegades of Pern
All the Wehrs of Pern
The Skies of Pern
The Dolphin's of Pern
There were a few short stories too but I don't recall the titles.
I'd say just check out the ones you don't have, if any. I tried to make it in what I believe is some kind of rough chronological order too. I bolded the Todd McCaffery ones. Personally, I don't think they're as good but they're not bad either.
he order they were written(which McCaffrey recommends:
Dragonflight
Dragonquest
The White Dragon
The Harper Hall Trilogy(Drangsinger,Dragonsong,Dragon Drums)
Moreta,Dragonlady of Pern
Nerilka's Story
Dragonsdawn
The Renegades of Pern
All the Weyrs of Pern
The Chronidles of Pern: First Fall
The Dolphins of Pern
Dragonseye
The Masterharper of Pern
The Skies Of Pern
W/ her son
Dragon's Kin
Dragon's Fire
By Himself
Dragon's Blood
Dragonflight
Dragonquest
The White Dragon
The Harper Hall Trilogy(Drangsinger,Dragonsong,Dragon Drums)
Moreta,Dragonlady of Pern
Nerilka's Story
Dragonsdawn
The Renegades of Pern
All the Weyrs of Pern
The Chronidles of Pern: First Fall
The Dolphins of Pern
Dragonseye
The Masterharper of Pern
The Skies Of Pern
W/ her son
Dragon's Kin
Dragon's Fire
By Himself
Dragon's Blood
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I've read and re-read the series (in both publication and by internal chronological order) so many times I can't read some of the older books without falling asleep. I swear I have some chapters memorized.
While it's generally better to read the original trilogy and Harper Hall books by publication order, the rest doesn't really suffer much if you read by internal chronology.
Honestly? I don't find many differences between Anne's later works and Todd's. His style is very similar to his mother's. I found myself double checking to make sure who wrote which.
While it's generally better to read the original trilogy and Harper Hall books by publication order, the rest doesn't really suffer much if you read by internal chronology.
Honestly? I don't find many differences between Anne's later works and Todd's. His style is very similar to his mother's. I found myself double checking to make sure who wrote which.
I really like the series. Todd is not as good as his mother, and he tend to play a bit loose with the "rules" (admittedly, most of them can be rationalized by the fact that he writes about the third pass, and his mother mostly the ninth pass.
As I understand it, Anne will write one last book in the series to wrap up the ninth pass story (there's still some dangling threads (pun intended..
) left).
Just a note: I would recommend to read the "Harper Hall"-trilogy before the White Dragon, because otherwise White Dragon will drag a lot in the middle.
I like most of the books. I do have an affinity for the ninth pass books, mostly because of the evolution of the world and the characters, but Dragonsdawn is also an amazing book.
As I understand it, Anne will write one last book in the series to wrap up the ninth pass story (there's still some dangling threads (pun intended..
) left).Just a note: I would recommend to read the "Harper Hall"-trilogy before the White Dragon, because otherwise White Dragon will drag a lot in the middle.
I like most of the books. I do have an affinity for the ninth pass books, mostly because of the evolution of the world and the characters, but Dragonsdawn is also an amazing book.
I lost my taste for the Pern books not long after All the Weyrs. I'm not sure if it was in that book or the next one, but McCaffrey did something that really bugged me --
That kind of soured me on the whole series. I did read a few more after that, but I got bored with how they just kept doubling back over the same events, retelling stories I'd already read from different angles, etc. McCaffrey seems to do that a lot; as I recall, Dinosaur Planet Survivors and Sassinak are about 50% the same story, just from slightly different perspectives.
So the only Pern books I still own are the original trilogy, the Harper Hall trilogy, and Dragonsdawn. I feel those are the strongest ones in the series. Although I haven't reread them in quite a few years.
She offhandedly suggested that the Thread were sentient life forms, and then the characters blithely went ahead and exterminated them anyway without the slightest ethical qualm. There wasn't even any story reason for suggesting they were sentient; she just gratuitously and casually implied that her heroic characters had committed an act of genocide, and neither the author nor the characters seemed the tiniest bit bothered by it.
That kind of soured me on the whole series. I did read a few more after that, but I got bored with how they just kept doubling back over the same events, retelling stories I'd already read from different angles, etc. McCaffrey seems to do that a lot; as I recall, Dinosaur Planet Survivors and Sassinak are about 50% the same story, just from slightly different perspectives.
So the only Pern books I still own are the original trilogy, the Harper Hall trilogy, and Dragonsdawn. I feel those are the strongest ones in the series. Although I haven't reread them in quite a few years.
True, but in that case it was necessary. Dinosaur Planet Survivors didn't really have a plot, and was full of stupid coincidences. Sassinak and the rest of the Planet Pirate trilogy gave it more backstory, more plot, and at least somewhat more depth.
I took the suggestion to mean that there was some kind of intelligence behind thread, not that thread itself was intelligent. That's just a dumb idea because it hasn't shown any sign of being smart or aware. Like how we use bullets or missiles to kill people; it could be a biological weapon engineered for some nefarious purpose. I think that's the thread they wanted to leave dangling since the Dragonriders were supposedly thinking about space exploration. But even if they were it still wouldn't change the need to kill the things because either you do that or everyone on the planet dies. It's less an issue of ethics and more of a fundimental concept of basic survival. If something eats you then kill it before it can do that, and you won't die.
Also you should remember that the people you're attributing humanity's values to have evolved different Pernese values over many generations where their lives consist of living and hiding in underground caves and mountains with the frequent threat of being killed and painfully dissolved. I'm pretty sure they wouldn't think too hard about getting rid of thread. You could probably write a decent anthropology paper exploring this issue.
Also you should remember that the people you're attributing humanity's values to have evolved different Pernese values over many generations where their lives consist of living and hiding in underground caves and mountains with the frequent threat of being killed and painfully dissolved. I'm pretty sure they wouldn't think too hard about getting rid of thread. You could probably write a decent anthropology paper exploring this issue.
^^But I'm talking about my values.
Sure, you can tell me a story featuring characters who are completely callous about killing entire species, and there may be a perfect anthropological justification for that mentality, but I'm not going to find those characters sympathetic or enjoy reading about them. I deeply dislike seeing death treated in fiction as something casual or incidental.
Where is that particular speculation mentioned? I haven't read much beyond "All The Weyrs" myself, but I ask because it just doesn't seem all that likely. Or provable by the characters one way or the other.
In one state, Thread is an inanimate ovoid; in the other, it's a mindless eating machine.
And not a successful life-form, either. Once it gets started, all it does is eat itself out of existence, like a poorly designed virus. We don't have any qualms about exterminating viruses; I don't see why a different standard would apply here.
Unless something radically different has come to light in one of the later books, of course.
In one state, Thread is an inanimate ovoid; in the other, it's a mindless eating machine.
And not a successful life-form, either. Once it gets started, all it does is eat itself out of existence, like a poorly designed virus. We don't have any qualms about exterminating viruses; I don't see why a different standard would apply here. Unless something radically different has come to light in one of the later books, of course.
