Dragonseye

Rating:
Summary: Okay, not her greatest. And what's with the flying pig?
Review: This book was better than The Dolphins of Pern, but not near as good as any of McCaffrey's earlier works. The main "bad guy", a Lord Chalkin of Bitra, seemed so stereotyped in the beginning I nearly threw away the book in disgust. And what is with all these other sensless characters? There was too much jumping aroung form character to character and I never really CARED about any of them. However, once you get past the first 80 or so pages, it begins to get more interesting, if you've read the others in the Dragonriders series. I say if because if you haven't,despite the introduction or preface or whatever she calls it in this one, you won't have a clue what is going on. But if you have read the other books, you may find it fascinating to hear about the creation of the Star Stones and Teaching Ballads. What I thought was good was the way McCaffrey showed us these people gradually losing thier technology, and the Earth terms that are replaced by Pernese ones in the later-timed books (ie some people said Turn, others said year, showing the transition from old to new). It's sort of an opposite of All the Weyrs (losing their technology and Earth heritage, instead of regaining it in All the Weyrs), and I thought THIS was the interesting part. If McCaffrey had remembered her old style of writing (ie given us decent characters), this could have been a masterpice. But it wasn't. Thought I do reccommend it to fans of Pern history and McCaffrey's skill at worldbuilding. One final comment: WHAT is with this new artist? What happened to my hero, Michael Whelan? Why does the dragon on the front look like a pig with wings? (Hmm..maybe he's trying to make a statement: Anne McCaffrey will lose her gift of characterization when pigs fly. I guess the cover IS appropriate. Sigh.

Rating:
Summary: Newcomer to McCaffrey says: Contrived and Boring
Review: Summary: If you're not a Pern veteran, stay away from Dragonseye. Being a Pern newbie myself, I can't possibly comment on the value of this book for a devoted Pernster.

This book felt like a movie trailer written by someone who ended up waiting until the night before it was due-- and then accidentally fell asleep, woke up with 1 hour to go before deadline, and scrapped something together. It was minimally interesting in a couple places but ultimately boring and confusing, and most of all _pointless_ because the "movie" itself was never made.

I naively started with this book instead of Dragonflight because it the only one at the store. So, I'll give Dragonseye the benefit of the doubt and bump my rating up to 2 stars, just in case I would have appreciated it if I'd read all the previous ones. (And I was interested enough to finish it... barely).

I listened to the unabridged audio version, and after the last tape, I looked for the next one. Once I realized that it WAS the last tape, I looked for the sequel. Ok, no sequel. Then I checked to see if it was one of those "Anne McCaffrey's Dragonseye by Joe Newcomer" type books. Nope. Well, I give up. Maybe it's just not my thing. But I've heard so many good things about McCaffrey! What gives?


Rating:
Summary: Solving a few of those mysteries
Review: In this book, Dragonseye (aka Red Star Rising, the Second Chronicle of Pern), you meet up with familiar attitudes. Close to the second pass (about 250 years after the colonists landed) Chalkin, a Lord Holder of Brita Hold, is abusing his responsibility to his hold and refuses to prepare for Threadfall. The Weyrleaders and many other holders are trying to do what they can to overrun his authority. Unfortunately you need a unanimous vote to impeach a Lord Holder, and some don't believe the stories. Artist Iantine may offer a solution, but can they save Brita Hold in time?

This book answers some questions like:
Where did the firelizards go? And why don't the people still have them, since the colonists had them?
When did computers disappear and why?
Why didn't the people go and find AVIAS after the dust had settled?
How did the Star Stones get to be?
When and why did the teaching meathods go from teachers to harpers?

If you are looking for old and familiar characters, you will be disappointed. I would reccommend starting with a book that is later on in time, so you will get familiar faces and characters that you will see over and over again, not like the one time only characters in this book. The first book anyone should read is Dragonsflight.

Rating:
Summary: Great Book for the Pern Lover!
Review: It has been two hundred years since the last Threadfall on Pern and there is no one alive who remembers the deadly silver thread and its first horrific onslaught - except for the dragonriders. For two centuries they have been faithfully practicing the manuevers that Sean O'Connell, the first Weryleader, had developed to most effectively fight Thread. Now the signs of Threadfall are appearing: violent winter storms & volcanic eruptions, as well as other, more subtle signs. But one stubborn Lord Holder, Chalkin of Bitra, refuses to believe the signs. He also refuses to let his people prepare for Threadfall or to let dragonriders patrol his holdings. The Lord Holders must band together and find a way to deal with Chalkin before it is too late...

But, of course, Chalkin is not the only person who is causing problems. Clisser, who is in charge of teaching, is forced to deal with Pern's slowly dying technology. Most of the computers are already dead and unrepairable. Students and parents are rebelling at learning "useless" information, such as wars fought on old Terran and other alien information. Clisser and his fellow teachers must make the tough decision as to curriculum changes - do they begin teaching at the beginning of Pern's history and focus on the here and now or do they continue to teach their students to try and see beyond their own planet? Artist Iantine is caught up in Chalkin's evil wake when he accepted Chalkin's patronage and agreed to paint portraits of his children and his wife. Little did Iantine realize that Chalkin would not be satisfied with any portrait that he made and that he would be forced to pay for food and lodging while staying in Chalkin's home. When he was finally able to escape, he recorded the horrific circumstances of Chalkin's luckless people and forced the Lord Holder's council to realize that Chalkin was not doing his duty. K'vin is the new Weyrleader of Telgar Weyr and is uncertain as to his relationship with the Weyrwoman, Zulaya, who is older than he and much more experienced. As the newest Weyrleader, K'vin is determined to have Telgar put in a good showing at the first Threadfall. If only he could get brave fools like P'tero to stop taking foolish risks to show off for their lovers!

At first, when I started reading Dragonseye, I assumed it was just like Dragonflight - no one believes Thread will fall anymore, it is up to the heroic dragonriders to save everyone, etc., but I was pleasantly surprised by the subtle - but critical - differences. For one thing, Pern still has much of its technology intact at this point and people still remember the first settlers of Pern and why they came to the out of the way planet. They still have computers, pianos, solar panels, etc., and can repair much of what they have. This book covered the tough decisions as to what to pass on to future generations and how and the teaching ballads were born. They also wanted to create something more concrete to warn future Pernese that Thread was coming so they created the Star Stones. The Lord Holders were forced to look at the constitution of Pern and to make a decision regarding Chalkin and realize that lineage wasn't enough. It was also interesting to see the language start to shift into what is more recognizable in Dragonflight as the people of Pern start to use the word 'turn' for 'year', etc. Anyway, the story is familiar, but the characters contained are fresh and new and I greatly enjoyed this midway point between the original settlers and the time of F'lar and Lessa. I particularly enjoyed learning about the artists and found Iantine to be one of my favorite characters in the series. I know that other people have rated this book poorly, but I really enjoyed it and recommend it to other readers who have enjoyed the Pern series.

Rating:
Summary: More like 3 and 1/2
Review: Well if you are stickly a Pern fan it would be a fine novel, and God knows this book is still much better then alot of the stuff getting published. Ms. McCaffey oversteps her bounds here I think, that is the main problem. Previously the books have delt with the later "pases" of the red star. This book was supposed to introduce us to the secound pass. I urge anyone thinking of starting a kinship with these books to reconsider and start at the begining. Then you will do better about understanding this serise of books.

Rating:
Summary: Good but not without errors
Review: This book was pretty good but there were a lot of noticeable (sp) typos in there. I think the story was pretty interesting and the characterization was really well done. Hope to see more on Pern from Ms. McCaffrey soon!