Dragonsdawn (Dragonriders of Pern Series)
by Anne McCaffrey
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Book Reviews of Dragonsdawn (Dragonriders of Pern Series)
Book Review: A great beginning to an awesome series!
Summary: 5 Stars
After you get past the beginning techno stuff, you will have trouble putting down this book.Dragonsdawn is about the colonists who came to Pern. They settle in at Landing and start building houses for families and Crafthalls to set up apprentinceship.
Soon young Sorka and Sean find miniature dragons who come to be called firelizards. Their friendship blossoms soon after they get firelizards of their own.
Unexpected danger comes all too soon in the form of mindless silver worms that fall from the sky to eat anything organic in it's path. Thread!
Only fire, water or stone will stop the Thread, but the sleds that the colonists brought with them weren't for often use and soon they weren't adequate to protect the people, but there is one hope. Those little firelizards that Sorka and Sean found can teleport themselves and breathe fire. They protect things from the Thread.
If only they were big enough to hold a rider. Kitti Ping genetically engeneers dragons and her granddaughter tries to keep on where Kitti left of, but fails with breeding a watchwher, a dragonlike animal who is sensitive to the light and is very protective of those it knows.
Soon, the volcano near Landing erupts and everyone is driven out to live elsewhere and leave a lot of technology behind.
This book is the basis for some of the themes in other later books such as The White Dragon and All The Weyrs of Pern.
Book Review: In the beginning ...
Summary: 5 Stars
DRAGONSDAWN chronicles the origins of human (and dragon) life on Pern. It begins with the original settlers and why they chose to immigrate to far off and isolated Pern. The settlers, weary of the seemingly endless conflict human civilization seemed plagued with and so had decided to establish an agarian society, sever ties with the rest of humanity, and begin again. They selected Pern as their new home based on a planetary survey (done over two centuries earlier) that indicated that Pern was a new Eden. The climate, especially in the Southern Continent, was balmy, there were no large predators and the native biology was either compatible with or adaptible to humans. The colony was established, the new society began to take shape all was going well and then Thread began to fall. The settlers had to act and act quickly. They had to determine just what this terrifying new threat was, how long it would last, and what they could do to stop it. And if this was not enough, the approaching rogue planet seemed to trigger volcanic activity, including the dormant volcanos near the main settlements.
This novel, while not the first book written, gives the 'backstory' of the series. It would be a good place to begin the series or would give anyone already familiar with the series answers to the many questions about how this fascinating society came to be.
Book Review: One of the best Pern books.
Summary: 5 Stars
Anne McCaffreys Pern series manages to encompass both science fiction and fantasy and does it very well. For any fan of McCaffrey or Pern this is a 'must have' book for the collection.
With the first books of Pern the theme was more fantasy than sci-fi with the usual medieval type world, dragons etc. As the series progresses, McCaffrey brings in the sci-fi element, the fact that the Pernese are descendants of colonists from another world who, over the generations have lost their technology and reverted to a simpler way of life. All that is left are the `gengineered' dragons.
Dragonsdawn goes back to the time when Pern was first colonised and is the story of the struggle to survive this new world. It also explains how and why the dragons of Pern were created.
I was engrossed from the first word until the last and was totally caught up in this tale of the 'beginning'. The characters are believable and not one dimensional as in many books. Their struggles to make a life on Pern and to live in harmony make a fascinating read. It isn't a lengthy book and is certainly no heavyweight of literature but it is an entertaining tale that is worthy of anyone's time. This is a book that I did not want to come to the end of.... highly recommended.
Book Review: My First Love
Summary: 5 Stars
This book is excellent! I absolutely fell in love with Dragonsdawn. I had not heard of Anne McCaffery until a few years ago when I randomly picked up her book. I am obessed with imagination, but always disapointed when I realize that it can NEVER be real. Yet, when I read Dragonsdawn, it let an "impossible" myth that dominated my fantasy become a reality. Not by some magic or undefinable subtance, but by a "logic" by science that doesn't seem incrediable. As for the charaters, I was enchanted by the young, red-headed Sorka and the free spirited, son of the Roaming folk Sean. And I fell in love with the loyal dragonet/firelizards. To me the greatest test of a book is weather I want to read another book about the same place and people. I loved this beginning hope of Pern, trashed by disater and conspiracy only to find another way to hope again, so much that it took me a whole year to read anymore about Pern. Afraid that the sequels whould distroy the greatness built by the one book. I highly recommend this book, an ultimate beginning.Book Review: "Some Good Characters, But Needed More Drama"
Summary: 2 Stars
I was rather disappointed by the lack of drama I felt with this book, especially at the end when you've got a volcanic eruption and a big Threadfall coming. To me it seemed the Pernese settlers dealt with it in a business as usual attitude.However, McCaffrey handled the development of Sorka and Sean very well. They were by far my most favorite characters in this book. Liked how Sean starts off as a total loner and very, very slowly warms up to Sorka. Soon finds himself learning to depend on her and starts opening up. This is especially true once they discover the dragons on Pern.
The dragons were pretty cool, especially when the Pernese start genetically altering them to grow bigger. And I did like the very first Threadfall, as debris from an Oort Cloud falls across Pern, burning almost everything it touches. McCaffrey really drew you into the scene and gave you a grand tour of the disaster and its emotional impact on the colony.
On a whole, the book seemed to have its up moments and down moments.