All the Weyrs of Pern

Rating:
Summary: A wonderful ending to one most beloved series I've ever seen
Review: I recently started reading the Dragonriders of Pern series about two months ago. I picked up "DragonFlight" one day in the school's library and read the whole thing in three days and haven't stopped reading the Dragonrider books since. After reading the first three volumes and "The Renegades of Pern" (I suggest you read all of these first) I started reading "All the Weyrs of Pern." Being the Pern-addict I am now, I quickly became engrossed in the story line. With the promise of Thread to be forever gone for Pern's skies and many other rediscovered things that have been long been lost since the first people came to Pern. It makes for a solid story line and keeps the reader interested through out the book. All in all I think this is the prefect ending for McCaffrey's "Dragonriders of Pern". If you like being keep on the edge of your set wondering what's going to happen next, I think this book would be worth looking into. But do be warned, have a box of tissues for the ending. It's an unexpected tear jerker.

Rating:
Summary: Am I the Only One Who Had MAJOR Problems with this Book?
Review: I seem to be in the minority, but I had major, major problems with ALL THE WEYRS OF PERN and I fear this book has really ruined Pern and destroyed what made it special. Stuff that bugged me (SPOILERS):

1. THE MODERNIZING OF PERN. Do we really want a modern Pern? I don't know about everyone else, but I loved the medieval setting and dark atmosphere of DRAGONFLIGHT, the tension between dragonriders and Lord Holders, and especially reading about life in the Weyrs. Despite the title, this book was not actually about the Weyrs! What a shame that McCaffrey seems to be veering away from them.

2. TRASHING AND SLASHING OF BELOVED CHARACTERS FROM THE EARLIER BOOKS. Lessa as portrayed in the first book has always been my favorite Pern character. So why is it that with each successive Pern book Anne McCaffrey seems more and more determined to give her a bad name and ruin her? The characterization did not seem consistent to me. I also did not like or believe the way F'lar manipulated and lied to her. It was never his style before (he always treated Lessa as an equal and never underestimated her), and Lessa should be too clever to fall for it anyway -- since she is good at manipulating others herself. These two used to be one of SF's most dynamic couples. Does someone acutally prefer *this* version of F'lar and Lessa?

And lets not even mention Robinton. Do we really want Pern without Robinton in it? Pern without the Masterharper?

3. THE PREPOSTEROUSNESS OF THIS PLOT! Okay, they find a computer and it tells them *exactly* how to get rid of Thread! How convenient (Can you say "deus ex machina"?). Also, all these medieval people just learn to use computers and mass produce what they need? Yeah right. I can't even get my mom to use a computer and you want to tell me people who don't haven't even had electricity until now are going to catch on to using computers that fast?

And duplicating all they need in 4 years? With nothing going wrong?! When even NASA has had disasters? Starting from medieval technology? Um, I don't think so.

4. THE ERADICATION OF THREAD. Do we really want to read about Pern without Thread? Isn't the struggle to survive on Pern what makes this series compelling and dramatic? Doesn't it give the dragons and dragnriders their purpose? I would rather Thread was impossible to eradicate so we could have more dramatic stories about brave men and women battling Thread and struggling to survive on Pern.

5. WHY DOES JAXOM ALWAYS GET TO HAVE HIS CAKE AND EAT IT TOO? Seriously, isn't he supposed to be a Lord Holder? What the heck is he doing leading all the dragonrider missions? Why are F'lar and the other Weyrleaders letting Jaxom do their job? Doesn't he have a Hold to run?! And how come Lessa had to give up Ruatha Hold so she could be a dragonrider and now Jaxom gets to rule Ruatha and go to the Red Star while Lessa doesn't get to do either? This does not seem fair to me, especially since Ruatha belonged to Lessa's family and Jaxom's father murdered them.

I loved Jaxom as a little boy in DRAGONQUEST but ever since THE WHITE DRAGON he has seemed like a spoiled little rich boy to me... The dragonrider / Lord Holder thing could have been an interesting conflict and made a great character but instead Anne McCaffrey always lets him have his cake and eat it too, trashing F'lar, Lessa, F'lessan and others just so Jaxom can hog the spotlight. Ug.

6. WHAT HAPPENED TO THE WOMEN ON PERN? Have they all turned into Stepford Wives? Pern has always been a sexist society but usually there has been a Lessa, a Menolly or a Sharra somewhere in sight who would try to fight for freedom and equality. In this book it seems like all the men are running the show, and the women are staying home barefoot and pregnant! I never thought I would see the day.

7. A HUGE GAFFE / OVERSIGHT. A friend of mine pointed this one out: If the Dragonriders divided the virus into three batches and went back in time to the two long intervals to infect the Thread with it all those centuries ago, why has Thread been falling just as strongly? It should have been weakening all along centuries ago if the virus was starting to infect it.

All in all, I was really bummed by this book, which took eliminated so much of what made Pern special to me -- life in the Weyrs, conlficts between dragonriders and holders, Thread battles, F'lar and Lessa's spirit and heroism, Robinton's wonderful wit, the dark medieval atmosphere, strong women, plots with some credibility... I found ALL THE WEYRS OF PERN so depressing I have been afraid to read any more recent Pern books. If anyone else felt as I did, please post a review, so that I won't feel alone... I miss the old Pern so much!!!

Rating:
Summary: In intresting ending to the series
Review: I thought that it was kind of to bad that the sort of medievil tone was brought to an end. I always enjoyed the mystery that you always had- where did the the dragons come from? why did men come to pern? I think that it might have been an better idea for them to have never found avias, because it will ruin their culture, destroying the weyr, and sending the political system in to turmoil. I also thought that the carectors where sort of shallow, and not as well described as the other books, but I have to say, it was exciting, and the anhillation of thread sort of brought a relief to me (Okay, I'm obsesed.) It was over all an OK book. Not as good as the other ones.

Rating:
Summary: So did I
Review: I'll have to admit, I cried at the end too. This is a really good book, and I've read it numerous times. It's really interesting at the beginning, but slacks off towards the middle, until the end where it gets better again.

Rating:
Summary: a pretty great book
Review: I've fallen in love with the Pern series ever since I read Dragonsinger. Since then I've read a lot of the other books in the series. I love them all. The characters are each very unique and different, with strong individual traits. I also enjoyed the complicated socio-political system they had on Pern, and the low tech atmosphere. This book proved to be very interesting, exciting, and well written. I was pleased to learn about AIVAS and a bit more about Pern's past history. While I'm very glad they erradicated thread, I'm also slightly disappointed that dragonriders will no longer have a major role. What will happen to the future of Pern now? And I was very sorry to read about Master Robinton's death. He was one of my favourite characters. I think I enjoyed these books better before. However, I still suggest that Pern lovers read this book, b/c maybe others will feel more thrilled in the triumph of a menace destroyed than I. All in all, it was still pretty great. I don't know...i just feel a little mixed-up about this book. It's good, but also kinda disappointing. That's the only reason I didn't give it 5 stars.

Rating:
Summary: Still a great book 7 years later
Review: I've just finished reading this book for the 2nd time. The first time I read it was when it came out in paperback in '92. It stills hold up. It is one of the best blendings of fantasy (friendly dragons) and hard sci-fi (AIVAS, a 2,500 year old super computer) that I have ever read. I would recommend reading Dragonsdawn first, but this book stands alone just fine even if you haven't read the rest of the series.

Rating:
Summary: As with all her books, I was unable to put it down
Review: If you read her dragons of pern series, the story is interwoven with characters that you have read about in other books, very captivating, and you can visualize yourself in the role of the main character. There is always a person in the book that the reader can identify with. One of those books that, when started, it is hard to put down

Rating:
Summary: Great, but sad
Review: In All The Weyrs of Pern, Flar and Lessa, in their exploration of the southern continant, come across Landing, the small city that the first colonists set up upon arrival on Pern. Later, due to a Volcanic eruption and thread, they moved to the northern continent. Unfortunatly, they had to leave Aivis, their voice-ativated artificial intellegence behind. Now they have found Aivis again, and, through the help of Aivis, and the cooperation of all the weyrs of Pern, they have a chance of ridding Pern of thread forever. But victory does not come freely and with the greatest loss, and some disagree . . . In my opinion, this is the perfect end to a series, although Dolphins of Pern is also very good. I highly recomend it to anyone who is interested in reading it, and anyone who isn't anyway.

Rating:
Summary: Great Story, Poor Continuity
Review: In _All the Weyrs of Pern_ the large cast of characters from the Dragonrider and Harper Hall books, with the help of the Ancient AI device unearthed at the end of _Renegades_, settle down to their ultimate task: Ridding Pern of Thread for once and for all.

I've read all the Pern books over and over since I first discovered them in eighth grade -- _Dragonquest_ was the first book I bought with my own money. In the main, I really enjoy them. Anne McCaffrey writes well and her ideas are very original, particularly in the earlier books in the series. Some of the later volumes have not thrilled me, however. _Renegades_ I found particularly unmoving, so I picked up ATW with some trepidation the first time. But this is the Dragonriders series at its best, with all the characters the reader has come to know and love facing challenges with fortitude and even humour.

I don't argue that McCaffrey is a great storyteller. She is at her best in situationally-driven stories (rather than character-driven), particularly those where her charcters are put in a new, alien and/or hostile environment where they must develop the skills to succeed in various tasks. This is part of what makes her Dragonrider series appealing to fans of straight science fiction as well as fans of fantasy. And as the basic theme of ATW, it makes for an absorbing read.

McCaffrey needs a continuity editor, however. As her world becomes more and more complex it seems she has trouble keeping track of the details. Unfortunately, I am the kind of person who is bothered by this.

Is Jancis a Mastersmith or a journeyman smith? She seems to be both, often in the same paragraph. And how did she come to be Fandarel's granddaughter when he formerly stated he had no wife, only his work? How did Sharra appear at landing to exchange a significant glance with Jancis, when before and after that single incident it was clearly stated she wasn't there at all? Why is Menolly telling AIVAS about her three children when in _Dolphins_ at a later date she is shown to be pregnant with only the second? How did Lord Oterel appear in _Dolphins_, long after the close of ATW, when he died before ATW ended? These are just some of the details that distracted me.

But, well, this is still a great book and one that really ties up the Pern series. I could only wish that Anne McCaffrey had ended here.

Rating:
Summary: McCaffrey engages the reader from her very first words.
Review: It is difficult to imagine an author surpassing McCaffrey with her characters so humanly and skillfully portrayed. From Robinton to Menolly and all those in between, we are always indebted for their existence by both their nobility and their foibles although there are a few we wouldn't wish to "Fax". One grieves with the Masterharper's passing as with the loss of a friend. If their is a fictional world which I would wish to inhabit, it is Pern. I own all the books in her "Pern" series and have reread them so often that it seems they have "betweened" into my home. There are probably greater books of literature but I haven't read or found them yet.