I Read What?!

So, I did say I was returning to Pern. And here we are. I had a few options in terms of how to proceed. Technically, The White Dragon finishes off the trilogy that starts with Dragonflight. But I tend to like reviewing series in chronological order when possible. I like seeing how ideas and concepts develop in sequence. So I went with Dragonsong instead.

Dragonsong should be interesting because it was specifically created for a young adult audience. Hopefully that means we'll avoid a lot of the really dodgy sexual politics of the main trilogy. At least we won't have any mating flights.

I remember reading Dragonsong and its direct sequel, Dragonsinger, in middle school. As far as I can remember, I enjoyed it. I didn't see the need to reread however, because I've always been the kind of fan that gets attached to the original batch of characters. So I wanted more F'lar and Lessa rather than these new people. No accounting for taste. (Though Lessa is always worth it.)

I don't remember a lot of details, and I think most of what I do remember comes from Dragonsinger instead. So this should be interesting!



So we start with a forward! It's the usual information: Rukbat in the Sagittarian Sector, G-type star, five planets, two asteroid belts and a stray extra planet in an erratic orbit.

Supposedly for two generations, the colonists didn't really pay attention to the Red Star. I don't know for sure, but I think will be retconned later by the book Dragondawn. But I digress. Anyway, spores fell, things and people died. People abandoned the Southern Continent and came north, and then they bred up some dragons.

There's actually a little more information here about the founding of the various holds. First Fort, then Ruatha became overcrowded, and they kept expanding out. We learn that Benden Weyr, in particular, was established in the far east because that's where the Red Star rose. It actually sounds like Benden, not Fort, was the first actual Weyr. (It's implied in Fort and Ruatha, the dragons lived with the humans.) But again, I'm not sure how much of this will be retconned. I suppose I'll know when I reach that book.

We get into the Third Pass. By now there's a complicated society, with Weyrs and Holds, the latter basically setting up wherever natural caves are found. We're told that they had "extraordinary measures" to control population, and children from one Hold were often raised elsewhere to spread the gene pool. This "fostering" practice was also used in Crafthalls to preserve and spread special skills.

Then we skip ahead to Dragonflight, of course. F'lar is given credit for being the one man who believed the ancient tales were true. Yet again, F'nor is lionized up as the one who "listened to his arguments and came to believe" We're told that "F'lar and F'nor seized the opportunity" of Ramoth's birth to seize control of the Weyr. I call fucking shenanigans on that. F'LAR did that. F'nor was a hanger on with about two lines until Lessa's first mating flight.

Again we're told how the three young riders, F'lar, F'nor and Lessa forced the Holders and Craftsmen to recognize the danger and prepare for Thread. Again, bullshit. F'nor isn't even a main character in this book. Why are you still giving him top billing OVER LESSA for being useless? Finally we get to Lessa's flight.

There's nothing about Dragonquest here, because Dragonsong is meant to take place either just before or simultaneously with that book. It starts seven years after Lessa's flight.

This should be interesting. Also, fuck F'nor.