Todd McAffery's to Pern novels, Dragonskin and Dragonsblood, are about as good as his mother's recent efforts. Which is to say they suck.
What happened to the focused, character-driven stories like the original Dragonriders trilogy, and the Harper Hall series? I'm halfway into Dragonsblood and I still don't know what it's supposed to be about. How many resolutions can you hang on the question, "will they defeat the thread? One! And that was Dragonflight.
There seems to be four or five different "main characters" in Dragonsblood, and they each have separate, disjointed narrative threads. All the best pern novels have very clear protagonists that were easy to love and identify with: Lessa, Nerilka, Menolly, and Moretta spring readily to mind. How can I care equally for Loranna, Tieran, Wind Blossom, and C'Rion all the same book? And I haven't seen C'Rion since the first chapter! Why start the book with the Fort Weyr Leader worrying because he's winglight with thread days away and then never address the issue again? It's sloppy.
Jane Yolen's recomendation on the jacket really led me to expect more. I'm just going to have to dig up my old Pern books.
Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
I had honestly thought Jane Yolen was already dead.
Posted by jeniwren (Member # 2002) on :
Jane Yolen primarily writes childrens books now, I think. I love her Pirate Queens and How do Dinosaurs Get Well Soon? There are probably more...I just happened to stumble over both of those.
For Todd MacCaffery's efforts, I liked both books. They weren't towers of acheivement, but they weren't unreadable either. The charm of the original Pern books would be difficult to recapture, as there are so many characters now and we want to know what happens to them all.
Posted by UofUlawguy (Member # 5492) on :
I am honestly surprised that anybody ever thought any Pern novels were good to begin with.
Posted by WntrMute (Member # 7556) on :
I will now present the stunning conclusion to the Pern saga:
Pern got et by dragons.
The End.
Now you can feel better.
Posted by reader (Member # 3888) on :
Dragonsinger and Dragonsong have always been among my favorite YA books.
As for the rest - the premise of the Pern universe is a good one, but the novels themselves mostly don't do it justice.
Posted by blacwolve (Member # 2972) on :
quote:Originally posted by UofUlawguy: I am honestly surprised that anybody ever thought any Pern novels were good to begin with.
Her YA Pern novels Dragonsinger and Dragonsong were great. As far as I could tell the rest of the Pern novels were completely unreadable.
Posted by pH (Member # 1350) on :
...are those the books about like, the girl, and she gets a bronze dragon or something, and that's like extra special?
Because I think I read something like that once, except it was a short story. Or maybe it was an excerpt.
-pH
Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
quote:Originally posted by UofUlawguy: I am honestly surprised that anybody ever thought any Pern novels were good to begin with.
I read the first one, and it was OK enough for me to start the second one. I then got bored and ended up getting distracted and never finished it.
Posted by RoyHobbs (Member # 7594) on :
The first Harper's Hall book was great, the other two were just slightly above mediocre. The first was very focused and well done, a classic ugly-duckling story, the other two didn't quite know where to go, though the premise was interesting...
Menolly was a fascinating protaganist and the Head Harp guy (What was his name? I just remember that it was cool and long...) was also a really strong character. I liked that trilogy, but Anne McCaffrey's other books never did much for me.
Posted by Jon Boy (Member # 4284) on :
quote:Originally posted by mr_porteiro_head: I read the first one, and it was OK enough for me to start the second one. I then got bored and ended up getting distracted and never finished it.
You're not missing anything. When I was a teenager, I read about a dozen of them before I realized that they weren't anything special. I believe that a series should end at some point, but the Dragon series will continue till the end of time, and it will continue to be mediocre.
Posted by luthe (Member # 1601) on :
Anne McCaffrey is just slightly better than Margaret Weis.
Posted by kmbboots (Member # 8576) on :
Pern became a brand rather than a story.
Posted by JemmyGrove (Member # 6707) on :
Gee, the original thread topic sure went south quick. I guess them's the breaks, eh?
I read the first 11 or 12 Pern books starting when I was about 13 I think, and I remember loving them at the time. They may not stand the test of time as great, influential literary works, but I think they have their place. They were among books that I think led me to some of the things I've loved since.
[I did a lot of 'think'-ing in this post, didn't I. ]
[Edited for clarity]
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
![[Roll Eyes]](rolleyes.gif)
]![[Razz]](tongue.gif)