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uranaishi's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Alcohol
Minor: Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Infidelity, Rape, Blood, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
wishbea's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
The early chapters did an excellent job teaching me about the politics and world itself. But the more I saw of F'lar and Lessa the more I disliked them, I was initially rooting for them to learn to trust each other but F'lar loses all his charisma as he is clearly abusing Lessa to the point where she appears to have a panic attack about returning to him.
Lessa seems like she might've been considered a strong female character at the time of release, but she, like all of the characters including F'lar, ends up being reduced to being a purely arrogant character. The sexism she has to deal with is dreadful and there are only 3 other female characters in this book I could name, so Lessa gets points for rebelling against her treatment.
The dragons are great and the threat of the "Threads" and the main problem of the Weyr seemed like it wouldn't be solved within the very first book..However, it is! In the space of 30 pages Lessa solves the incredibly complex problem with absolutely no issues convincing anyone!
On top of that, since the main hook and problem of this book has been solved I don't see any reason to read the following book. Surely now
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Confinement, Mental illness, and Pregnancy
polarbbp's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.0
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting
erebus53's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Set on Pern, a planet that is an abandoned human colony, we have a moderately low-tech setting with its own distinct flora and fauna. Having read the Dragonsong, Dragonsinger, Dragondrums books I'm now wondering which order I should read the other titles in! Despite being first published in 1968, I was interested to see that the language used in the writing was still pretty modern in feel. I wonder if this is because of the setting being pseudo-medieval; it's a lot easier to age "modern" and "futuristic" settings by how prominent cigarettes are and how clunky the tech and attitudes toward it feel.
I enjoyed the story of a woman who has had hardships but is no saint. She can be impulsive and messes up frequently and is very stubborn, in ways that male characters in fantasy have often been allowed to get away with unchallenged. It's refreshing to see someone powerful and self-directed, and interesting to see her being sneaky and under-handed while still basically likeable. She is powerful but gets overwhelmed in utterly overwhelming situations, and this humanises her quite a bit.
I can see how Anne McCaffrey has been really influential in fantasy writing. Her basic sci-fi sensibilities underpin a fantasy that is immersive and believable. The magic of it is mysterious and we get a sense that we are experiencing something that is not what we know, but only because we haven't learned enough yet. This is key to magical realism that really grabs me.. (and thinking on that I can see why books like Thief's Magic by Trudi Canavan really caught my attention). It's internally consistent.
Looking forward to reading more of these as I get hold of them!
Graphic: Death, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Bullying, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, and Classism
cossty's review against another edition
The first few chapters were fantastic.
Everything took a nosedive once Lessa was raped.
You are deluded if you believe that MC was not raped or that they raped each other because they couldn't control themselves.
She had undoubtedly been raped.
Everyone knew what was going to happen, but no one said anything to her.
I wonder why.
Following that, her toxic relationship with F'lar was really frustrating to read, and I put the book down.
Yes, I didn't complete it.
That doesn't prevent me from having an opinion about it.
Dragons are sapient in this narrative.
That implies Mnementh also raped Ramoth.
While she was following another dragon, Mnementh leapt out onto her.
I have no objections to rape being depicted in literature.
What I despise is when it's written in a conciliatory tone.
"Because of this and that, it wasn't truly rape."
Because of the "culture," it wasn't a rape.
Because they aren't humans, it wasn't a rape.
Because he is a male, it was not a rape.
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, and Toxic relationship
mirtlifthewise's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Moderate: Rape and Sexual assault
Minor: Toxic relationship and Violence