trike's review
1.0
This is not a good adaptation of the classic Pern novel. Adaptations are a tricky thing, but this one feels haphazard and clunky when it's at its best. Anyone coming to this without first having read the novel would wonder what all the fuss is about. Perhaps this is why McCaffrey never allowed her books to be adapted to film or TV.
skyclad's review
4.0
I read this book as a kid and it opened up the worlds of sci fi and fantasy to me.
attytheresa's review
5.0
Who knew I'd fall for a scifi series with dragons??? Pern, a planet in a far solar system that was colonized by humans long ago, has eras when the Red Star in its orbit to Pern to endanger it with the Threads - think acid rain or agent orange only these are spores that destory all green life. Dragons, whose fire is the only weapon against the Threads, have all but disappeared and the people of Pern are dismissive about the danger, believing the Threads are gone for good. Yet the Red Star is appearing on the horizon at dawn.
At the center of the story is F'lar, a dragonrider who has steeped himself in the old records and believes without question that the Threads are imminent. Pern is on the cusp of annihilation as the old Queen Dragon is on her deathbed, her Weyrwoman Jora is dead, and a new weyrwoman must be found to imprint on the golden egg (heralding a queen) about to hatch with the new queen. F'lar finds Leesa, a woman exhibiting the powers needed. The rest of the story is how Leesa and F'lar work together with their dragons to unit all and fight against the doom they face.
I enjoyed this so much, I stayed up into the wee hours to finish it! F'lar is arrogant, Leesa is impulsive, both have a lot of growing and compromising to do. Their dragons Mnementh and Ramoth, also have full and flawed personalities. I loved how the plot worked through the problems and solutions; everything happened as it felt it should. Do I have some quibbles? Yes - it would have been nice if the author had truly centered it on Leesa rather than F'lar as the main protagonist but it was written in the 1960s, and while this is a matriarchy (in the wyrs), the Queen is more like a queen bee although Leesa and Ramoth are changing that. In fact, I liked how McCaffrey incorporated some of the social and scientific issues of the day into the narrative: acid rain, agent orange, and women's struggle for equality.
Besides, there's dragon romance and sex.
At the center of the story is F'lar, a dragonrider who has steeped himself in the old records and believes without question that the Threads are imminent. Pern is on the cusp of annihilation as the old Queen Dragon is on her deathbed, her Weyrwoman Jora is dead, and a new weyrwoman must be found to imprint on the golden egg (heralding a queen) about to hatch with the new queen. F'lar finds Leesa, a woman exhibiting the powers needed. The rest of the story is how Leesa and F'lar work together with their dragons to unit all and fight against the doom they face.
I enjoyed this so much, I stayed up into the wee hours to finish it! F'lar is arrogant, Leesa is impulsive, both have a lot of growing and compromising to do. Their dragons Mnementh and Ramoth, also have full and flawed personalities. I loved how the plot worked through the problems and solutions; everything happened as it felt it should. Do I have some quibbles? Yes - it would have been nice if the author had truly centered it on Leesa rather than F'lar as the main protagonist but it was written in the 1960s, and while this is a matriarchy (in the wyrs), the Queen is more like a queen bee although Leesa and Ramoth are changing that. In fact, I liked how McCaffrey incorporated some of the social and scientific issues of the day into the narrative: acid rain, agent orange, and women's struggle for equality.
Besides, there's dragon romance and sex.
vaderbird's review
4.0
5 star - Perfect
4 star - i would recommend
3 star - good
2 star - struggled to complete
1 star - could not finish
4 star - i would recommend
3 star - good
2 star - struggled to complete
1 star - could not finish
cathepsut's review
adventurous
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.0
As a teenager I was a massive fan of the Dragonriders of Pern. I re-read the first trilogy last year and from today‘s view there are some issues with it, but the series will always be close to my heart. For completion‘s sake I got a copy of this graphic novel, published in 1993.
What did I think? For info, I read comics regularly.
The artwork is pretty bad. But in my experience many book-to-comic adaptations have pretty mediocre artwork. Besides of anatomically dodgy looking humans, lack of detail and poorly drawn backgrounds in general, characters change their look quite dramatically at one point. Presumably at the start of issue #2, which I can‘t tell, as there is no indication when one issue ends and the next one begins. The difference was so pronounced that I couldn‘t tell who was who and struggled to tell characters apart till the end.
Storytelling: I doubt that someone who hasn‘t read the novels can make much sense of the plot. If I hadn‘t re-read Dragonflight recently, I would probably have scratched my head. There simply is no decent storytelling, explaining the world or who everybody is and the plot is full of holes.
My recommendation? Don‘t bother!
For newcomers to the series: Read the book instead.
For fans: If you are a completionist, go for it. But this didn‘t do anything for me, except annoy me.
(Anne McCaffrey's Dragonflight #1-3)
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