This is the fifth novel Anne McCaffrey set on Pern. It is placed with the first two novels in the
series to form a trilogy called the “Dragonriders of Pern”, but it can almost
stand as a separate novel. There are
references that will be easier to understand if the first four books have been
read.
The story begins a year or two after Jaxom accidentally impressed
Ruth. Ruth has reached his full growth
and Jaxom is now permitted to train to ride Ruth. The training only includes flying Ruth not
fighting with him, so Jaxom secretly tries to train Ruth in how to fight Thread,
the nasty flesh eating spore that periodically falls on Pern. He makes use of his limited training while
playing his part in recovering a queen egg the Oldtimer’s stole. After that he is trained in fighting Thread,
to prevent future foolishness. Then he
is drawn into the task of finding where D’ram, retired weyrleader of Ista, has
taken himself after the death of his weyrmate (wife). This leads to a serious illness and then an
exploration of the southern continent that marks the Pern series as being
Sci-fi rather than fantasy.
Along the way Jaxom grows up. He starts as a teenager with a certain amount
of teenage angst over how he fits into his world. By the end of the story he’s married and grown
into his dual responsibilities as Lord Holder and dragonrider.
This is an enjoyable book; not challenging, except maybe on
the women’s rights front, but not so formulaic as to be predictable. The main
characters are complex enough that they can be interesting and the minor
characters are simply drawn, but solidly enough not to distract. Unless women’s rights are a serious concern,
this is a book that is well worth putting on the list for light reading.
On the women’s rights front this book follows the earlier
books, which were published starting in 1968.
All of the top positions are filled by men and expected to be filled by
men. There are a handful of strong
women, who are put in positions supporting the top men.
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