A review by tessisreading2
Pegasus in Flight by Anne McCaffrey

4.0

Four stars because this was a favorite of my adolescence, but I have to say re-reading it reminded me of an argument I got into with a middle-aged man, back in my misspent youth. He was proclaiming the virtues of a certain Golden Age science fiction writer (I won't say which) and how this man wrote great books for young girls who liked science fiction, to which I responded, in essence, "Maybe back in the day that was true, but in this age of Anne McCaffrey and Robin McKinley, no." Young me had better things to read, with heroines less trapped in hidebound gender roles and women of all ages doing interesting things - not just spunky preadolescent heroines who were inevitably going to age into simpering wives. Pegasus in Flight reminded me of that because, alas, I am kind of that old dude: the preadolescent girls of today shouldn't bother with it, not in this age of Katniss Everdeen and Hermione Granger. There are just too many false notes - the depictions of many of the colorful characters of Linear G are kind of racist to the modern eye; at one point the main characters state happily that a young woman of color can get married at sixteen because "they mature faster than we do" - and the villains are too cardboard-evil. That said, I loved it as a kid and it is not dreadful; it's not the kind of book that you have to hide at the back of your shelf because it's too racist or sexist or just plain horrible to admit you ever enjoyed. It's just that there's probably better out there for the modern kid. So, like I said, four stars, because happy childhood memories.