Status
Available
Call number
Series
Collection
Publication
Del Rey (1978)
Description
Fantasy. Fiction. Science Fiction. HTML:Volume II of The Dragonriders of Pern®, the legendary series by award-winning author Anne McCaffrey Since Lessa and Ramoth, her golden queen dragon, traveled into the past to bring forward a small army of dragons and riders to save their world from deadly alien spores, fear and desperation have spread across the land. But while the dragonriders struggle with threats both otherworldly and human, a young rider named F'nor and his brown dragon, Canth, hatch a bold plan to destroy the alien scourge at its source�??the baleful red star that fills the heavens and promises doom to
User reviews
LibraryThing member LisaMaria_C
The Pern books are technically science fiction, set on a lost colony of Earth, but it's often found on fantasy lists, for here be dragons. Although I lost interest in the series with its later books the original trilogy and the Harper Hall trilogy set in the same universe remain favorites I've
Part of the reason I love the early Pern novels is that McCaffrey sets up an intriguing world with it's fighting dragons bonded to their riders. Part of it is that McCaffrey makes you care about the characters: Lessa, F'Nor, F'Lar, Brekke (Some of the most moving lump-in-throat episodes concern her in this novel.) Oh, and I'd say F'Nor's dragon Canth certainly is one of the most endearing.
This isn't the kind of book that leaves an impression because of style or because it's thought-provoking--but because it's a wonderful escapist read with characters you love spending time with. (Except perhaps the irritatingly vapid and vain Kylara--although she does make for a great villain.)
Show More
reread more than once. (If you haven't already, you should read the first book, Dragonflight, before reading Dragonquest.) Part of the reason I love the early Pern novels is that McCaffrey sets up an intriguing world with it's fighting dragons bonded to their riders. Part of it is that McCaffrey makes you care about the characters: Lessa, F'Nor, F'Lar, Brekke (Some of the most moving lump-in-throat episodes concern her in this novel.) Oh, and I'd say F'Nor's dragon Canth certainly is one of the most endearing.
This isn't the kind of book that leaves an impression because of style or because it's thought-provoking--but because it's a wonderful escapist read with characters you love spending time with. (Except perhaps the irritatingly vapid and vain Kylara--although she does make for a great villain.)
Show Less
LibraryThing member RussianLoveMachine
Yes, I am still pushing through a reread of this series...but I'm about to drop it. The obvious sexism of the previous book gets even worse in this one, with a protagonist committing what is very clearly rape...after which the woman falls in love with him.
Plot-wise, there's a growing schism betwen
Excellent world-building ruined with awful characterization.
Plot-wise, there's a growing schism betwen
Show More
F'lar's riders and the Oldtimers, who were brought up out of the past to save Pern in a previous book. The Oldtimers are resistant to F'lar's innovations, and Kylara (a stock 'scarlet woman' caricature) wreaks havoc by having the same lack of inhibitions as the men. Meanwhile, the parasitic Thread is falling where and when it shouldn't, making the future of life on Pern questionable.Excellent world-building ruined with awful characterization.
Show Less
LibraryThing member something_
Well, this was... dull. So very, very dull.
Unlike the first book, which followed solely Lessa, on this one we get POVs from several characters. However, each time I started to care about someone's storyline, the chapter ended, POV shifted, and I went back to the starting point of not caring.
Then, there was talking. Lots and lots of talking. Interesting talking? Nope, not to me. And the characters felt so very 2D - the good guys were always good, the antagonistic guys were always 'stupid' and stubborn. There were no actual bad guys (unless you count the threads). I didn't even like Lessa much, and I actually quite liked her in the first book. It didn't help that I was figuring out things twice as fast as the protagonists half of the time.
The plus: the world is still interesting, and the exposition on the nature of the red star was intriguing as well. I got quite curious on what will happen to the white dragon , but not enough to plow through another book like this.
The worst: I didn't care that much about the characters. Only Brekke and F'nor had my sympathy most of the time, and that's the extent of how much I cared in this book.
Unlike the first book, which followed solely Lessa, on this one we get POVs from several characters. However, each time I started to care about someone's storyline, the chapter ended, POV shifted, and I went back to the starting point of not caring.
Show More
Repeat for at least half the book.Then, there was talking. Lots and lots of talking. Interesting talking? Nope, not to me. And the characters felt so very 2D - the good guys were always good, the antagonistic guys were always 'stupid' and stubborn. There were no actual bad guys (unless you count the threads). I didn't even like Lessa much, and I actually quite liked her in the first book. It didn't help that I was figuring out things twice as fast as the protagonists half of the time.
The plus: the world is still interesting, and the exposition on the nature of the red star was intriguing as well. I got quite curious on what will happen to
The worst: I didn't care that much about the characters. Only Brekke and F'nor had my sympathy most of the time, and that's the extent of how much I cared in this book.
Show Less
LibraryThing member swampygirl
I went back and forth between giving it two or three stars, but since I like to stick to the goodreads definitions of stars I felt like saying I liked it was going a tad too far.
I enjoyed Dragonquest a lot more then Dragonflight, it was told better. The thing that is really killing this series for
On a slightly different note, I must admit that I was very interested in seeing if these earlier Pern books had as strong a secular feminist message as Dragonsong, which I reread recently and made me feel like I was being beaten to death. This was another reason that I found these books to be rather silly. While she inserts only a few pro-sexual liberation messages into these first two novels, she manages to have only one character actually take advantage of this fact, and she is promptly labeled a whore and is over-all a horrible person who ruins everyone's lives.
I enjoyed Dragonquest a lot more then Dragonflight, it was told better. The thing that is really killing this series for
Show More
me though is that the bad guys are always idiots. Seriously? If you don't agree with Lessa and F'nor you obviously must be crazy? I also found the work to be somewhat illogical and self-indulgent.On a slightly different note, I must admit that I was very interested in seeing if these earlier Pern books had as strong a secular feminist message as Dragonsong, which I reread recently and made me feel like I was being beaten to death. This was another reason that I found these books to be rather silly. While she inserts only a few pro-sexual liberation messages into these first two novels, she manages to have only one character actually take advantage of this fact, and she is promptly labeled a whore and is over-all a horrible person who ruins everyone's lives.
Show Less
LibraryThing member emrya
2nd in the first Pern trilogy, tells the continuing story of the dragonriders. Very good, my favorite actually.
LibraryThing member maita
Among the dragonriders of pern books, I like this best of all. I like F'nor and I think its funny how F'lar orders him and N'ton around. Best of all, I love how F'nor loves Brekke that they would break traditions for it. Canth is the most amizing brown, ever.
LibraryThing member scampus
The best of Anne McCaffrey's Dragons of Pern series, just pipping the first book, Dragonflight. Try reading the scene where F'nor and Canth go to the Red Star and return a bloodied mess, to be rescued by all the other dragons on Pern, without a lump in your throat.
LibraryThing member DragonFreak
The sequal to dragonflight is much, much better. The pace was still a little too fast, but not as much. The characters in this book makes me feel like they are very immature. I think it's just impression, but that's what it makes me think. And in here is a surprising turn of events that shocked me
Show More
and made me cry out for blood on one of the characters. Show Less
LibraryThing member stpnwlf
Excellent SF/fantasy series
LibraryThing member Krumbs
I think I may have liked this a bit more than the first book. Could be that there was less need for history and talking about what might happen--less saying, more doing. I think my appetite is actually whetted for the next book; the white dragon mystery really intrigued me.
LibraryThing member turtlesleap
The second book in the Dragons of Pern series, continues the story of Lessa, Weyrwoman of Pern and her consort. In this book, McCaffrey begins to explore the dragons themselves in greater depth and sets up an expectation in the reader that these creatures are a bit more than simply beasts "living
Show More
in the present." The author does a nice job of setting up a series of obstacles for her characters to overcome that are, within the context of her created universe, quite believable. Show Less
LibraryThing member pocket_saviour
Used to be my favourite of the DragonRiders series, although re-readings as an adult have left me irritated with the male-dominated themes, particularly the text's treatment of violence towards women. The plot still retains its power, however, and the final scenes are cathartic and bittersweet.
LibraryThing member Ailinel
The Dragonriders of Pern continues to follow Lessa as tensions rise between the old world riders and the modern riders. Expectations of respect and payment due to flights have changed, and while the society remains in many ways feudal, the 400 year stretch without Thread caused some social change,
A fun, easy read, this novel continues to follow the same core group (Lessa, F'lar, Robinton, the Master Smith, etc.).
Show More
and current leaders such as Robinton have used recent crises to push for greater change and integration of groups. Now war among dragonriders or between dragonriders and Lord Holders could easily break out. Thread has begun falling out of pattern, and information has become a valuable commodity. As the story opens the future of Pern remains unclear.A fun, easy read, this novel continues to follow the same core group (Lessa, F'lar, Robinton, the Master Smith, etc.).
Show Less
LibraryThing member theretiredlibrarian
A re-read of an old favorite.
LibraryThing member Serenova_Phoenix
Not quite as good as the first book (and there are some inconsistencies) but it's still really good. I like how this volume shows a different side to the characters introduced in the first book.
LibraryThing member atreic
F'lar and F'nor handle more politics in the second Pern book. Can they invent the telephone? Can they find grubs that eat thread? Can they give all the noblemen of Pern a firelizard of their own? Can the haughty Oldtimers get used to the ways things are done now, 400 years in the future?
LibraryThing member StarKnits
The continuation of the story of Pern started in Dragonflight. I really love this series. I do get a little miffed at the "women" being regulated to the kitchen and the housework. But the introduction of the fire lizards in this story is wonderful.
LibraryThing member themulhern
Seven years later the heroic rescue of Dragonflight brings unfortunate consequences; quarrels between the reactionaries and the more forward looking. Further tensions are caused by more technological discoveries, the newly discovered fire lizards, and a thoroughly self-centered dragon rider. Also,
Show More
the baby from Dragonflight is now a teenager by the end of the book and has plenty of agency. Hints of the high technology past emerge and so does new tech, with improbable speed. A very interim book, but the turn to internal dissension as the pass continues works well. The sixties sexism continues excruciating. Show Less
LibraryThing member jaxcatx
I don't know why it ends up taking me so long to read these books, I like them, I am engrossed, I do end up spending some time looking up words in the dictionary for sure. McCaffrey is a brilliant writer and she's increased my vocabulary without a doubt.
I wish...
-there was more Lessa in this book
-i had a better understanding of how they move between times, because why could they not have stopped the lady dragon fight if they can time travel? I must be missing something here.
-they spoke more about what happened to Kylara and like...did Meron just have a chip on his shoulder? what was his deal? What happened to him? I fell like there were some key points not wrapped up here, just kinda left.
-the idea of different types of abilities was more fleshed out (like Jaxom and Brekke's abilities to hear any dragon)
other than these small things, I loved this book. McCaffrey suggested to read the Harper Hall series prior to reading the next book (The White Dragon), so while I await that series to come to me, I'll have to go on to something else. I suppose all of my wishes above may be answered in one of the many many many dragons of pern books anyway.
I wish...
-there was more Lessa in this book
Show More
and her psychic abilities (which should be way more useful than they are used) -i had a better understanding of how they move between times, because why could they not have stopped the lady dragon fight if they can time travel? I must be missing something here.
-they spoke more about what happened to Kylara and like...did Meron just have a chip on his shoulder? what was his deal? What happened to him? I fell like there were some key points not wrapped up here, just kinda left.
-the idea of different types of abilities was more fleshed out (like Jaxom and Brekke's abilities to hear any dragon)
other than these small things, I loved this book. McCaffrey suggested to read the Harper Hall series prior to reading the next book (The White Dragon), so while I await that series to come to me, I'll have to go on to something else. I suppose all of my wishes above may be answered in one of the many many many dragons of pern books anyway.
Show Less
LibraryThing member GlenRH
The dragon saga continues with expected as well as unforseen plot twists. Well worth the reading time!
Subjects
Awards
Hugo Award (Nominee — Novel — 1972)
Margaret A. Edwards Award (1999)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1971-05
Physical description
6.9 inches
ISBN
0345276957 / 9780345276957