A review by roklobster
Dragonsblood by Todd McCaffrey
3.0
I felt like I'd read this story before. I've never read this book before, but I realized half way through that Todd was reusing tropes from some of the other really grand Pern novels to tell this story: a plague (Moreta), timing it as a way to solve the problem of being short staffed (Dragonflight, Dragonquest, etc), learning Oldtimer science to save the world (Dragonsdawn, the White Dragon, etc.), using the loss of a dragon to create instant sympathy for the character (Dragonquest).
While this gave the book a familiar feel, it also felt like... cheating. Anne was able to use, and reuse, elements of stories throughout the Pern-verse to tell compelling and new stories for what seemed like a generation. This story, while I liked it, wasn't ... new. It tries to bridge the gap between Landing and the era in which we meet the dragons in Dragonflight, and I think it doesn't do enough to move beyond landing tech and into how society formed for the rest of the planet after the tech failed.
But just because I think he cheated doesn't mean I didn't like the read. Easy and comfort read again. It's been a hell of a week.
While this gave the book a familiar feel, it also felt like... cheating. Anne was able to use, and reuse, elements of stories throughout the Pern-verse to tell compelling and new stories for what seemed like a generation. This story, while I liked it, wasn't ... new. It tries to bridge the gap between Landing and the era in which we meet the dragons in Dragonflight, and I think it doesn't do enough to move beyond landing tech and into how society formed for the rest of the planet after the tech failed.
But just because I think he cheated doesn't mean I didn't like the read. Easy and comfort read again. It's been a hell of a week.