stillhq.com : Mikal, a geek from Canberra living in Silicon Valley

Nerilka's Story

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 13:05:00 PST

ISBN: 0345339495
Del Rey (1987), Mass Market Paperback, 208 pages
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This book takes place over almost exactly the same period as Moreta. However, its not a rehash of those events, as it is written from a different person's perspective. There are enough points where the two story lines meet for the books to make sense as a pair, and I'd recommend reading them back to back. This book is an incredibly fast read (I knocked it over in a few hours on a flight), and its a bit more positive than Moreta, which has a pretty sad ending. However, this book isn't the happiest book ever written either. I've seen commentary that says this book is mostly about how unattractive Nerilka is physically. I dispute that though -- the book is about how the human spirit is more important than breeding or good looks, and how Nerilka's efforts to do the right thing in a time of crisis have a lasting impact. I enjoyed this book.

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Moreta: Dragonlady of Pern

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 13:01:00 PST

ISBN: 034529873X
Del Rey (1984), Mass Market Paperback, 384 pages
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Moreta is a book about a pandemic, and its hard to make those fun... If you've bothered to find out anything about the book in advance (or read the preceding Pern books, where it is referred to), you know that its not going to be a fun ride. On the other hand, the book is an interesting read, and its educational to find out how much knowledge has been lost in the Pern universe between Moreta and Lessa. For example, its clear in Moreta that everyone knows they moved from the Southern continent, whereas that is much less clear in the books set in Lessa's time. Its hard to say that a book about thousands of people dying is enjoyable. However, the story is a gripping one, and I'm glad I read it.

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Dragondrums

Thu, 10 Sep 2009 14:07:00 PST

ISBN: 0553258559
Spectra (1997), Mass Market Paperback, 208 pages
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This is the third book in the Harper Hall trilogy (after Dragonsong and Dragonsinger). I didn't enjoy it as much as the other two. This book focuses on Piemur instead of Mellony, and the first half is about his pubescent turmoil, which is probably why I didn't enjoy this book as much. I had similar objections to The White Dragon, which is a very similar book to this one. However, the second half of the book is pretty good, and overall I thought it was a useful contribution to the overall story line of the series.

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Dragonsinger

Mon, 07 Sep 2009 04:09:00 PST

ISBN: 0553258540
Spectra (1997), Mass Market Paperback, 256 pages
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This book is interesting because its 200 or so pages only cover a seven day period. Its a coming of age story that continues directly on from Dragonsong, and overlaps somewhat with The White Dragon (if only peripherally). This book has parallels with Pawn of Prophecy in my mind, mostly because they're both about young children being taken under someone's wing and given the time they need to develop their talents.

I liked this book, which gives me hope for the rest of the series.

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Dragonsong

Mon, 31 Aug 2009 03:09:00 PST

ISBN: 0553258524
Spectra Bantam (1977), Mass Market Paperback, 176 pages
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Dragonsong sits between Dragonquest and The White Dragon, although there is some overlap with The White Dragon and it doesn't matter what order you read those two in.

Some friends and I were joking the other day that all McCaffrey books seem to involve a pained teenager coming to age. That's true with this book, although the story isn't as drawn out as The White Dragon, and I didn't find it quite as annoying to read. I think that's because McCaffrey didn't dwell on how terrible it was to be a teenager as much in this one.

I really enjoyed this one, and thought it was better than The White Dragon, and on par with Dragonflight, although I do feel that The White Dragon opens up more interesting possibilities for the universe than this book did.

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The White Dragon

Mon, 10 Aug 2009 03:57:00 PST

ISBN: 0345341678
Del Rey (1986), Mass Market Paperback, 468 pages
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This book took me ages to finish, and I'm not sure if that was because of distractions in real life (moving into a new house), or if it was because I just wasn't all that into it. The first half of the book is the growing pains of Jaxom, the rider of white dragon Ruth. It was interesting in parts, but other parts seemed to drag on with endless character development. On the other hand, the plot of the last third of the book was really good, and I enjoyed it greatly. I don't think this book was as good as the two previous Pern books however.

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Dragonquest

Sun, 17 May 2009 18:58:00 PST

ISBN: 0345284259
Del Rey (1979), Mass Market Paperback
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This is the sequel to Dragonflight. To be honest, I think Dragonflight is a better book, although this one is by no means bad. I suspect part of my problem with this book is that I found Kylara insanely annoying (which I was meant to). Every time her character popped up it made the book hard to read until she went away again. This is a good interesting book, and I'm looking forward to the later books in the series when you find out more about the settlement of Pern.

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Dragonflight

Mon, 11 May 2009 21:02:00 PST

ISBN: 0345335465
Ballantine Books (1986), Mass Market Paperback, 320 pages
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This is the first book in the Dragons of Pern series, which I read a small part of as a child. Given that they're still being written, its not surprising that I'm pretty out of date on this series. This book is excellent for a few reasons -- the idea is unique and well implemented; its an amazing mix of fantasy with science fiction style justifications for the way things are; and its well written. The underlying premise is that a planet named Pern as a nearly neighbor on an eccentric orbit. When that neighbor comes near to Pern, spores from the other planet try to land on Pern. These spores breed by eating organic life, so they need to be neutralized or life on Pern will cease. There are however a few patches I had to re-read to make full sense of. I really liked this book.

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