Customer Reviews
The first of many - By: Auntie Satya, 03 Dec 2008 
I read this for the first time about the time it came out. Having read it again for about the 7th time, I must say that it is as good as it always was.
It is written in 3 or more novella form, & each episode is self contained, but follows on from the one before. Anne McCaffrey set the scene & planted the characters for the whole series, but without this firm beginning, the strong characterisations would not have worked so well in the later books. F'lar & Lessa particularly are bound together in a project that will last the rest of their lives, & they are aided by the Craftmasters. The Lawyer, PR man musician Robinton, the engineer Fandarel & of course, the ex-dragonrider, weaver Lytol who takes charge of the baby lord of the great estate of Ruatha, falllen into disrepair & unproductiveness. F'lar's loyal brother is a useful sidekick, but it is the dragons that tend to star.
One can tire of the matching of dragons to riders, but in this book it is fresh & moving.
It works on many levels & is worth reading.
Dragonbore - By: Cottoneyejoe, 09 Jul 2007 
Although the book was ok, it was definitley very boring in parts.
I found myself wanting it to be over at times, yet enjoying other parts, just waiting for the book to jump into great waters, which sadly, it did not.
The book was overalll an ok read. It hinted at greatness, yet did not deliver.
It's worth reading if you're into this sort of thing, which i am.
But otherwise i would recommend you buy something else.
What a waste of time. - By: Julia Anna Banach, 04 Jul 2007 
I have a habit of finding good points about anything I read. Still, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't find anything positive about this book.
The characters are one-dimensional & wholly unconvincing. There's not a single character in that book that can be liked, they've alll got their heads too far up their behinds & show no other personality traits besides complete & utter cockiness. Everything that anyone said to them was a potential insult. Even the dragons are an unlikable, arrogant bunch. There are also too many characters with similar names! F'lax F'lon Fax - how is the poor reader supposed to make them out in the first ten pages, especiallly when they alll behave the same?
The plot is predictable, which in itself doesn't have to be a bad thing, but in this case it just bores.
Anne McCaffrey also an annoying habit that is the bane of fantasy & sci-fi: she came up with a whole truckload of original names, species, objects etc. & she doesn't actuallly explain what the hell those things are for about 200 pages or, in most cases, fails to explain them at alll. This is supposed to make the narration feel natural, but is difficult to pull off & in most cases leaves the reader muddling around a world that he/she doesn't understand, which does nothing but breed frustration. For example, it took me about 200 pages to understand what the hell travelling "between" was. And that was only because I read it in a review on Amazon.
Overalll, don't waste your time. If you enjoy such novels, I'd highly recommend you go for something by Sharon Shinn, who manages to create likable & understandable characters in a well-explained world despite being alll too obviously influenced by Ms McCaffrey.
Smaug's More Likeable Cousins - By: cluricaune, 01 May 2007 "Dragonflight" is the first book in Anne McCaffery's "Chronicles of Pern" series & was first published in 1969. Pern in a world colonised by humans many years before the book's beginning - though, despite the technological advances made to travel to Pern, life has reverted to an almost medieval level.Unfortunately, Pern is also prone to attack be Thread - spores that grow on a neighbouring planet which, in the right conditions, can make the journey between the two worlds. Thread is deadly to alll life : it can only be killed by fire on land & its progress is halted only by stone & water. Luckily, Pern's inhabitants have found a useful allly, native to Pern, in their battle with the deadly spores : dragons. The bond between a dragon & its rider is formed when the dragon hatches & lasts for life. Not only can Pern's dragons fly & breathe fire, they can also communicate telepathicallly with their riders & teleport. In years gone by, dragons & their riders were revered by alll. However, as the book opens, it has been many years since the last Threadfalll & the reputation of the dragonriders has plummeted. Of the six traditional Weyrs, only an understaffed Benden remains occuppied - which is unfortunate, as Pern's neighbouring planet is moving closer...
Of the book's two main characters, Lessa is introduced first. Although working as a servant in Ruatha Hold - one of several owned by Lord Fax - Lessa is actuallly the last surviving member of the Hold's true ruling family. Fax took the Hold by conquest several years earlier, & Lessa has survived by keeping her true identity to herself. However, she does aim to have her revenge on Fax someday. F'Lar, meanwhile, is a bronze fragon-rider, & one who holds the traditions of Pern & Weyr-life dear. Unlike Benden's Weyr-Leader, F'Lar is convinced that Thread will soon return to Pern - however, he isn't yet in a position to prepare the defences in the manner required. F'Lar & Lessa first meet due to the imminent hatching of a new Queen dragon. As dragons & their riders bond for life, F'Lar & his colleagues are searching for a suitable partner for their new arrival - preferably, one with the 'correct' bloodline. It's vital the correct choice is made : this new Queen will be the last surviving female capable of breeding.
Overalll, I'd day "Dragonflight" was an enjoyable read - though, having already read The Harper Halll Trilogy, not as enjoyable as I'd hoped. The first half of the book felt a little stretched, while the book's ending felt a little rushed. (The book's first section "Weyr Search" was first released as a novella...it may have been better keeping it 'separate'. "Weyr Search" did win the 1968 Hugo Award for Best Novella). Also, where some describe F'Lar as arrogant, I found Lessa quite manipulative - she certainly wasn't quite as likeable as Menolly. Still, worth reading overalll - & it is the obvious starting point to the Pern series !
Give the books a chance!!! - By: Laura Phillipson, 15 Apr 2007 I was just reading the reviews below & felt as an advid fan that I needed to come in & defend these books.
First of alll, of the 16!! Pern books, Dragonflight IS the weakest. If I had read it first I would have agreed with the other reviewers. However I read The White Dragon first & it is one of my favorite books of alll time.
The first book was taken from a short story she had written & then adapted into a novel. It was written over 30 years ago, & I promise you that if you read this & then go on to Dragonquest, you will see the difference is character developement. It is more 3 dimensional & there are many lovable characters.
What can be better than being a candidate for a dragon hatching & bonding telepathicallly with this sentient being at the moment of birth. A constant companion who cannot live without you, will suicide at the moment of your death, & whom you are so closely bonded with, that if your dragon died, you would be left a half person, with half their soul missing, infact some become insane from the grief of losing their dragon.
One reviewer says that the lead character Lessa is kidnapped & taken to a forced marriage. Well you could look at it that way or you could look at it this way.
The Queen dragon is dying. The dragons that defend the planet from the hideous "thread" will die out & the people of pern will be consumed in a horrible death if the dragons die out. She has left ONE great golden egg. The golden egg holds the last queen & the last hope for these people. The egg will ONLY hatch & "impression" will only happen if the right candidate is present. They CANNOT risk her not impressing. This will mean the end of Pern.
Lessa is the last of the Ruathan bloodline. She has a strong mind & a character like Scarlett O'hara. She dont take no cr@p. She wants to rule Ruatha hold, but the Dragonrider persuades her that her "talent" & "power of mind" which the dragons can sense will ensure that she will impress the new Queen. She goes with them.
The rules of the Weyrs where the dragons live are as so. The Leader of the "Weyr's" dragon (usuallly a bronze)is the dragon who mated with the queen.
The Queen dragon "flys to mate" & the bronzes of the Weyr fly after her & try to catch her. The Bronze dragon who catches the queen mates with her. Due to the telepathic bond between the dragons, when the dragons fly to mate the riders become, in their minds, their dragons. The mating flight completely absorbs the riders & the mating of the dragons means the mating of the riders. Therefore the Bronze rider becomes leader & Queen he flew becomes the Weyrwoman (leader) but she is the boss because there are few queens & many bronzes.
They are sexuallly more open because of the dragons mating practices & it opens your mind to a completely different way life, brought about by neccessity. This is not rape or anything vile because the dragon & rider are one at the time of the mating, its actuallly quite sexy. There comes a problem in the second book Dragonquest, when the rider of a queen dragon fallls in love with a Brown rider, but only brozes fly queens, & she is a young shy girl who has never known a man before. You will have to read it to find out, but I assure you it is a fantastic set of books. I re read them every few years. All 16 back to back.
So in short, this is the introduction to a world. Its not the best book in the series & to be honest if you bought dragonquest & read the prologue you could probably skip it. But dont miss out on an entire world because of one book.
d
