A
spoiler-packed review of,
Dragonflight,
the first Chronicle of Pern.
Since
I was a young girl , my father and my family told me about dragons
and their riders. This became a big myth and we all loved them! When
I was about 7 ,my dad told me about one of the dragons, a powerful,
bronze dragon called Mnementh and his rider F'lar. Lately , I've
finished reading Dragonflight and I was amazed at what Anne McCaffrey
had done
with the traditional tale of the great winged lizard!
When I started reading , I was very confused with what I was seeing ,
multiple times I had to look up and think what I just taken in. The
book speaks to you in such a way as if you had lived in Pern all your
life. I was utterly confused at what a "watch-wher" was or
a "hold", but I had enough determination so I kept reading.
In the end it all does make sense , but I'm still thinking about some
words. Skip
forward Fax meeting F'lar and the other riders, I decided I did not
like Fax very much as a "Lord", I was confused why such an
arrogant person could take over 7 holds ,major and minor like Ruatha.
I already knew that F'lar was going to get tired of Fax and I
expected some big battle against each other, although Fax would get
overwhelmed by the Search's Wing.
I
loved the fact that Lessa was a rebel and hated Fax so much , she
burned and undercooked the meat when Fax came with the dragonriders
and his women. During this part there was a lot of talk of Fax
wanting to challenge the bronze rider ,it went on for a long time and
I just wanted them to fight. In the end they do fight and in my
opinion it was I absolutely loved how well described Ruatha was
described up to this point when they left it for Benden weyr. The
thought of these great stone towers providing shelter for the massive
dragons , made me stop and think how I was reading this book, there
was so many information coming in and I wasnt processing it properly
and in time with the book (if it makes any sense). From this point
on, Lessa's and F'lar's relationship change many times , from point
one she didn't like him , at least who would when you have been taken
away from you from your home land?
When
the impression happens between Lessa and Ramoth, I was perplexed at
how just a simple bond between dragon and human can impede someone
from running away. Ramoth put sense into Lessa's head (literally) and
helped her adapt to life in the weyr.
Lessa
was weyrwoman , at first i thought this would be a great title to
have upon the powerful dragonriders. I proved myself wrong. When the
mating flight happened I had to read parts of chapter multiple times,
for I did not understand the mental strength you need to have to stop
a dragon (who is many times bigger than a human and powerful) from
eating an animal and only to break their necks. I was amazed at how
Lessa managed to control Ramoth.
When
they mentioned time travel , I knew some thing was going to go down ,
everything was connected , everything had an motive. I was amazed at
the great battle between the 216 dragons and the murderous Threads.
Even though it was just 3 pages long , it impacted me. The
description of the fire all over the sky , burning the flying weeds
into ashes. Then the last lines , is really what the book needed to
end, is makes the reader feel happy and proud for F'lar for he is
really a Dragonrider.
I
always notice the presence of Dragonflight on different books and
movies , such as in Avatar ; the connection between rider and dragon.
Eragon, once again the link from rider and dragon that lasts until
one of them dies , His dark materials, here its subtle its the mental
link from deamon and human that lasts until death. No other book
could beat the great Dragonflight, it itself is amazing and one of
the best scfi-books I think will read in my lifetime.
Some
days ago , I finised reading “The Amber Spyglass” by Phillip
Pullman , whilst writing this article I had both books beside me to
judge them. Once finished, I couldnt look at The Amber Spyglass the
same like I looked at Dragonflight as they both made me feel a
different way . Dragonflight made me want to read it again even
though I know what will happen yet I do not want to re-read The Amber
Spyglass for it's ending did not have a happy one , but
Dragonflight's in some sense didnt too. Different books emit
different feelings towards people, the feeling is the writer's choice
, they might want people to feel sad or to pick up the book again and
read more, that is the feeling I get from Dragonflight every time I
see it.
Like
I've said before, I want to continue reading the Chronicles of Pern
and find out what will happen next. I want to thank some people who
led me to this great book , this is my father and my uncles for they
are truly for me ,The dragon men of Pern.
Lyra Belacqua.
