Jaxom, a rebellious young aristocrat, and Ruth, his white dragon, fly into another time to retrieve the queen's stolen egg, thereby averting a drag...
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Nov 11, 2008
Jon
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Jan 31, 2009
notyourmonkey
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Jun 03, 2011
Max
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I can't wait to get my hands on the rest of the books of this series.
I highly enjoyed the first two, but I was hesitant about the third one because of the shift in protagonists. Usually in series with lots of different characters and a book is devoted to a minor character, I dread that book. However, this was not the case with this book. The shift from Lessa, F'lar, and F'nor to Jaxom was extremely well developed. He was featured enough in the first two books and developed enough so that w More...
I highly enjoyed the first two, but I was hesitant about the third one because of the shift in protagonists. Usually in series with lots of different characters and a book is devoted to a minor character, I dread that book. However, this was not the case with this book. The shift from Lessa, F'lar, and F'nor to Jaxom was extremely well developed. He was featured enough in the first two books and developed enough so that w More...
Mar 26, 2011
Paradoxical
rated it: 
Hm, I don't remember Jaxom being so irritating before (haha). He whines and groans and talks a lot about how unfair things are, and yes, he has a lot of responsibility on his shoulders, but it doesn't stop me from wanting to smack him upside the head a few times. It also doesn't help that his romantic attachments bore me to death, and that there is no rhyme or reason for Sharra. <spoiler>I felt like he fell into love with her too quickly and it came out of left field. I felt nothing for he
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Sep 25, 2010
Harmonybites
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Although I lost interest in the later books of the Pern series, the original trilogy (and the Harper Hall books) remain among my favorites in speculative fiction. This is the third book in the series and you should read Dragonflight and Dragonquest first.
This book feels a little different with its focus on different characters: Jaxom and his dragon Ruth. Ruth comes across as a character in his own right more than other Pern dragons, and he's an endearing one.
The plot ha More...
This book feels a little different with its focus on different characters: Jaxom and his dragon Ruth. Ruth comes across as a character in his own right more than other Pern dragons, and he's an endearing one.
The plot ha More...
Aug 09, 2010
Starling
rated it:
This is basically a review of the three books that make up the trilogy. There actually was a book between books two and three that I'm not counting, but which do introduce several characters in this book, but I'm not counting it as one of the main books because that book was originally published as YA and it wasn't available at my local library.
I prefer to review the books as they exist, and not the book I'd wished someone had written. I also think that if a book is part of a series th More...
I prefer to review the books as they exist, and not the book I'd wished someone had written. I also think that if a book is part of a series th More...
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Jun 22, 2009
Hannah
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A lovely story, definitely one of the best of the Dragonriders series. All the well-loved heroes from Dragonflight, Dragonquest and the Harper novels are here, and through Jaxom's eyes, we follow their various activities from an outsider's perspective. Compared to the powerful and serious fighting dragons at the Weyrs, Ruth is very much like a playful child, and the contrast is both interesting and refreshing. Ruth is loveable and fun, and I found myself cheering for him as he discovered his own
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Aug 15, 2011
lancelot
rated it:
I honestly considered giving this one a gentleman’s three-out-of-five so as not to make enemies, but I figure anyone who reads this post is my friend, and as a friend, will bear through our differences in light of our many common interests.
I did not like this book.
I know people who did. It’s certainly worth grabbing to keep up on where the series is headed, but it was painful for me. I loved the start, the set-up of a holder getting a dragon, even Jaxom was enjoyable (tho More...
I did not like this book.
I know people who did. It’s certainly worth grabbing to keep up on where the series is headed, but it was painful for me. I loved the start, the set-up of a holder getting a dragon, even Jaxom was enjoyable (tho More...
Aug 14, 2011
Punk
rated it:
Fantasy. More dragonriding with some archeology thrown in for color and the first appearance by a female green dragonrider. Except the text calls her a "dragon girl" and she doesn't get the honorific apostrophe like the men do and also no one likes her very much because she's bitchy. We also get our first female crafter, a harper, but she's the appropriate combination of bossy and nurturing and everybody loves her. If, on Pern, you are female and only bossy or only nurturing, then you'
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Mar 02, 2010
Tamcamry
rated it:
• I think this is a very fitting end to the original dragonrider trilogy. I also like the fact the A.M. left her series open for more. Since she did eventually go back and write more in the series it works out well. I do think that some of the action was a little more forced than it needed to be. Like suddenly Toric becomes a threat to the entire Southern Continent. I also think there was a little too much about the fact that Ruth will never mate. I don’t know. It just seemed like with al
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Jan 12, 2010
Mei-Lu
rated it:
I've only read three of the Pern books (Dragonflight, Dragonquest and the White Dragon) but so far this is my favorite of them all. I really enjoyed the character of Jaxom. This book had a maturity in handling themes of coming-of-age that I really appreciated and I love that you start learning more and more about how the humans got to Pern. I can't wait to read the later books which go more deeply into the tech and the genetic engineering of the dragons. I will say that I wished I'd read the
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Dec 26, 2011
Laura
rated it:
After Anne Mcaffrey died late 2011 I rooted around in my bookshelves for all my old pern paperbacks from the early 80's. I was utterly obsessed with these books when I was a young teenager, and they were extremely formative in my own history as a writer. The first novel I ever wrote -- longhand, in mead spiralbound notebooks -- was a thin knockoff of Dragonflight (I seem to remember it had unicorns, but I'm so embarrassed by that book I haven't managed to actually read enough of it to check).
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Apr 05, 2011
Amanda
rated it:
loved it as a kid-mostly because i loved pet animals...and who doesn't want a pet dragon?
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Oct 31, 2011
***Dave
rated it:
About half of "The White Dragon" is a fine Pern novel, ranking right up there with the first two of the series. That's the half, unfortunately, that doesn't have Jaxom, the protagonist, in it. The Jaxom sections, dealing with his trials and travails and maturation and bonding with his sport white dragon, Ruth, veer between the YA light-weightness of the Harper Hall trilogy, and listening to Luke whining about how he was going to spend the afternoon going into Toshi Station.
T More...
T More...
Jan 01, 2012
Ricky
rated it:
This book frustrates me for what it could have been. Once again, I find a fantasy author who is plagued by falling overly in love with his or her minor characters. Masterharper Robinton is an annoying, unnecessary character whose presence and overwritten dialogue dilutes the plot of the story and drags things along—reduce him to the minor role he plays (regardless of McCaffrey’s apparent affection for him) and this book is at least 75 pages shorter, more suspenseful, and less cumbersome throug
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Apr 25, 2011
Ken
rated it:
Even when I was a teenager, I generally found teen literature to be overwrought at best...so, as my reading skills advanced...I skipped directly over teen lit and started into adult SF and Fantasy...
I stumbled upon "The White Dragon" and fell in love with the story of Jaxom...a true coming-of-age hero who finds that even whacked out Pern and its dragon-riding citizens still have a class system and teenage expectations to buck...
I can still vividly remember the devel More...
I stumbled upon "The White Dragon" and fell in love with the story of Jaxom...a true coming-of-age hero who finds that even whacked out Pern and its dragon-riding citizens still have a class system and teenage expectations to buck...
I can still vividly remember the devel More...
Jul 11, 2010
Debbie
rated it:
Book three in the Dragonriders of Pern trilogy.
Jaxom, the young Lord Holder of Ruatha, helped to release a rare white dragon from his shell. Impressing the dragon caused a fuss because dragonriders live in the Weyrs and everyone said he could not be both a Lord Holder and a dragonrider.
Stubbornly, Jaxom fights to stay in his home and to keep Ruth, his runt of a dragon. Unfortunately, no one will teach the pair to fly together and fight "thread," so he and Ru More...
Jaxom, the young Lord Holder of Ruatha, helped to release a rare white dragon from his shell. Impressing the dragon caused a fuss because dragonriders live in the Weyrs and everyone said he could not be both a Lord Holder and a dragonrider.
Stubbornly, Jaxom fights to stay in his home and to keep Ruth, his runt of a dragon. Unfortunately, no one will teach the pair to fly together and fight "thread," so he and Ru More...
Jan 31, 2011
Aslan
rated it:
"The White Dragon" was a spectacular book and one that i truelly enjoyed reading. In the book there were multiple metaphors that could be used in reality. One of them being that just because you are the only white dragon doesn't mean you cant be destined for greatness. The dragon's name was Ruth and this was how he had to live. He showed his worth in more than one way by saving the planet the people lived on, giving him great respect. Overall i thought the book was well laid out and ha
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Mar 19, 2009
Leah
rated it:
I don't specifically remember this book but I did enjoy Anne McCaffrey for a little while. I think a lot of her ideas affected fantasy after her and that she should be acknowledged for that. I also feel that the world became more forced as time went on and that there didn't seem to be an end for it. I think all things like TV Shows and book series need to have an end and there's just no finality for this series. I started roleplaying online to Pern games and there is no end of people wanting a
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Aug 31, 2011
Derrick
rated it:
<spoiler>a young holder lord impresses a runt dragon. The southern continent is shown to be HUGE and the northerners want it opened up for their landless children. F'lar wants the best of the continent for dragonmen so they won't be beholden to the holds once threadfall passes. Everything works out and it is discovered that man is not indigenous to Pern.</spoiler>
This was a good wrap up to the original trilogy, BUT, McCaffrey rushes forward so quickly that you can see the More...
This was a good wrap up to the original trilogy, BUT, McCaffrey rushes forward so quickly that you can see the More...
Dec 02, 2011
Desira
rated it:
This book is really enjoyable after reading the first two. McCaffrey has shifted the focus of the series to a 3rd character, which works out beautifully, as we can see both Lessa and F'lar interact with Jaxom, and, without being directly told their thoughts, we understand them well through the previous two books, which adds a lot more depth to this third in the series.
I really enjoy the relationships and personalities in these stories, and as a person who has always had an intereste More...
I really enjoy the relationships and personalities in these stories, and as a person who has always had an intereste More...
Oct 29, 2011
Kathleen
rated it:
Towards the end of Dragonquest, young Jaxom Impresses a little White Dragon. This is 'wrong' on all sorts of levels. 1) Jaxom wasn't among the group of boys selected for the Hatching, 2) Jaxom is going to be the Lord Holder of Ruatha, and Lords of Holds aren't Dragonriders, 3) Jaxom's guardian was once a Dragonrider, but his dragon died, and that is a lifelong grief that nobody would wish onto anybody, and of course with Jaxom having a dragon that must make it worse, and 4) dragons are never w
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Jan 20, 2010
Anne
rated it:
I loved Anne McCaffrey's Crystal Line when I was a teen. McCaffrey's worlds are absorbing and imaginatively stimulating. My mom had the dragon books, and though I tried to read them as a child, I always got bored. I couldn't remember why I hadn't read them, so I started reading the series again. I enjoyed the first dragon book in the series, though it lagged after the opening conflict. With its dragon mating, it was daring in comparison to the next two books, which smacks of self-censorship or a
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Feb 15, 2009
Charlotte
rated it:
I liked this book ok, but I think I am done with this series. There were a couple of instances where I felt like the characters did something quite out of character, and it seemed like the author was having the characters act a certain way in order to get the plot to move in the way she wanted it to go. It felt a little forced to me. It also took me longer to get through this one, because it just couldn't seem to hold my interest as much as the other two I read in this series. I know Anne Mc
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Sep 05, 2011
brian
rated it:
Well, I just reread the book. I read it quickly and with some interest so I guess it has stood the test of time. I guess I would rate it 5 stars as a teen and three or four stars as an adult.
Some things that bothered me in this reading.
1) Wine. I remember this series and the Lord of the Rings series making me think wine was magical. In this book, reread in my forties, I now wonder if MasterHarper Robinton was an alcoholic. The man was constantly drinking. As an adult, More...
Some things that bothered me in this reading.
1) Wine. I remember this series and the Lord of the Rings series making me think wine was magical. In this book, reread in my forties, I now wonder if MasterHarper Robinton was an alcoholic. The man was constantly drinking. As an adult, More...
Nov 28, 2008
Shari Mulluane
rated it:
This is a coming of age story, not only for Jaxom and Ruth, but also for Pern. As events play out, you will learn some tantalizing clues as to the fate of the original settlers of Pern. You will watch as Jaxom becomes a man and worthy of the responsibilities of governing a Hold. You will watch Ruth become the darling of the planet. This story has suspense, drama, angst, tragedy, romance, friendship, and love.
Full Review Here:
Dragons, Heroes and Wizards More...
Full Review Here:
Dragons, Heroes and Wizards More...
Dec 23, 2008
Célia
rated it:
"O Dragão Branco" é o terceiro livro da principal trilogia da série Dragonriders of Pern, da escritora Anne McCaffrey, e foi publicado pela primeira vez há 30 anos atrás. A história, decorrida algumas Rotações (anos) depois do final do segundo livro, centra-se no jovem Jaxom e no seu peculiar dragão branco, Ruth. Não fiquei especialmente cativada com o Cavaleiro, mas o dragão é simplesmente amoroso! Ganha vida a cada descrição e a cada aventura que nos é relatada. Para além disso, reen
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Dec 21, 2011
Erinn
rated it:
The first time I read this book must have been around 1990 or 1991. I'm not sure where my original copy ran off to, but when I heard about Anne McCaffrey passing away I decided that it was high time to dust off these well loved books and get to know my old friends. It's interesting what I take a way from these books at the age of 36 verses 15 or 16. One thing that is nice, is that they are still engaging and wonderful stories, and I'm still finding myself staying up late to keep reading more.
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Sep 23, 2011
Sean
rated it:
The third entry in the Dragon Riders of Pern series is The White Dragon. As usual Anne McCaffrey delivers an action packed plot and a wealth of interesting characters. This entry follows the young Lord Jaxom who pretty much illegally 'impressed' (bonded with) a dragon that was supposed to die, Ruth. This book follows their adventures together and they discover who their ancestors were before coming to the planet Pern. An interesting mix of Sci-fi and fantasy, I bestow this book with a four, out
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Oct 02, 2010
Judy
rated it:
Science fiction inspires me to think outside the box. How does the author weave such a web in one book and then continue in a series? I have missed reading sci-fi! This was a fast read and quite enjoyable.
I skipped the second book in the series but that did not matter; the prelude gives a complete summary of the history of Pern. Jumping from place to place and from time to time physically with Dragons reminds me of the wormhole concepts in our world. I especially enjoy the abili More...
I skipped the second book in the series but that did not matter; the prelude gives a complete summary of the history of Pern. Jumping from place to place and from time to time physically with Dragons reminds me of the wormhole concepts in our world. I especially enjoy the abili More...
