Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read.

Start by marking “The White Dragon (Pern, #3)” as Want to Read:

Other editions

Enlarge cover

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Open Preview

The White Dragon

(Pern #5)

Anne McCaffrey

4.18 · Rating details · 43,382 ratings · 858 reviews

Jaxom, a rebellious young aristocrat, and Ruth, his white dragon, fly into another time to retrieve the queen's stolen egg, thereby averting a dragonrider war, and find their planet threatened once again by a Threadfall. ...more

Get A Copy

Mass Market Paperback, 468 pages

Published July 1986 by Del Rey/Ballantine Books (first published June 1978)

More Details... Edit Details

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Reader Q&A

To ask other readers questions about The White Dragon, please sign up.

Be the first to ask a question about The White Dragon

Lists with This Book

The Hobbit, or There and Back Again by J.R.R. Tolkien

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling

Dragons

1,402 books — 2,395 voters

Best Science Fiction & Fantasy Books

7,141 books — 21,926 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

Showing 1-30

Average rating 4.18 ·

Rating details

· 43,382 ratings · 858 reviews

More filters

Sort order

Start your review of The White Dragon (Pern, #3)

Dec 26, 2013 Emily rated it liked it

Shelves: sci-fi-fantasy

OKAY. In 2013, I stated that Jaxom gets worse and worse with each passing year. I recant. I recant, I say!! Jaxom actually gets EXPONENTIALLY worse with each passing year. Rereading the Pern series in 2020 is both (1) exceptionally fun and (2) extremely surprising. The series has such imaginative sweep and narrative power, but that's paired with some of the most unlikeable characters I've ever read in fiction, along with very uncomfortable sexual politics. It took me almost two weeks to muddle t OKAY. In 2013, I stated that Jaxom gets worse and worse with each passing year. I recant. I recant, I say!! Jaxom actually gets EXPONENTIALLY worse with each passing year. Rereading the Pern series in 2020 is both (1) exceptionally fun and (2) extremely surprising. The series has such imaginative sweep and narrative power, but that's paired with some of the most unlikeable characters I've ever read in fiction, along with very uncomfortable sexual politics. It took me almost two weeks to muddle through the reread of this book because I simply did not want to spend any more time with Jaxom. I have spent the last few days thinking about my major issues with Jaxom, and they all boil down to this: Jaxom is an entitled frat boy who has absolutely every single advantage in life, and we're somehow supposed to root for him! It's worse than Harry Potter turning out to be a hot jock cop! At least Harry Potter didn't spend the majority of his time trying to use game theory to determine which girls to bang!

Jaxom's narrative arc through this book: (view spoiler)[
- "I want to be Lord Holder of Ruatha Hold. Actually, you know what, BORING. What about ..."
- "I DEMAND to fight Thread as a dragonrider, since I am the only dragonrider who lives outside a weyr. Actually, I went to weyrling practice once, and it sucked, so ..."
- "I will convalesce and then flirt with the women in Spring Break Hold, Southern Continent, until I am provoked to finally getting the Titled One to marry me."

In between all of this, Jaxom routinely visits Corana as an excuse, has a ton of sex with her, is ultimately icked out by how willing she is to have sex with him (!!), describes her as a simple Hold girl, and then goes for the titled sister of a Lord Holder. Jaxom is so deeply in love with Sharra that at one point, he solemnly shakes his head, thinks, "If she doesn't give in soon, I'll have to go back to Corana for some relief!" and then goes about his business. It's not the behavior I have a problem with - though obviously I do - it's the sheen of nobility that he tries to add to his actions.

I find it incredibly funny that Jaxom has three major turning points in this book that we as readers are supposed to think of as character development. The first is standing up to Dorse, who is a penniless bully who lives at Ruatha and ends up having to go to the Southern Continent to hack out his own way. In this scenario, the issue is that Jaxom is a special and titled aristocrat who holds absolutely all the power and is only held back by basic courtesy. The second is standing up to the weyrleaders, who don't want Ruth and Jaxom to fly Thread. Jaxom prevails by sneaking behind his guardian's back and trying to fight Thread on his own. The issue with this scenario is that Jaxom grows so quickly bored with the weyrling practice (fighting Thread a total of twice??) that it's clear that he does not actually care about duty, but more about his perceived status (again, insane as he is the only titled aristocrat on Pern with a dragon, giving him the ability to go anywhere at anytime across the entire globe). The third is standing up to F'nor when he berates Jaxom for not being in the hold to fight Thread at the right time. In this scenario, Jaxom is showing that he is an adult, but the intrinsic problem is that Jaxom is absolutely not an adult, as he has spent the past few weeks carousing around the Southern Continent without returning home a total of one (1) time. Again, he has a dragon that allows him to transport between time and space to go anywhere he wants. The fourth confrontation, which I will not dignify, is Toric telling Jaxom that he sucks for exactly this reason (extended carousing without visiting Ruatha at all), and then Jaxom using this perceived insult to create a climax for the book. It turns out that actually, Toric is wrong and Jaxom is right! I am not sure how, but I think Jaxom's stats are so maxed out that it doesn't matter.

It is also amusing that Jaxom's only real claim to decency throughout this book is that he keeps the story of the queen egg rescue to himself. At the end of the book, he gets to deliver the news to every important person in Pern that not only did he pull off the impossible, he also was a model of discretion while doing so! Very unfair.

I think McCaffrey wants to make Pern a meritocracy - hence the Piemur and Menolly characters - but in order to do so, she has to really beat you over the head with the scrappiness, or the nine fire lizards and once-in-a-generation talent, and then move those characters seamlessly into the elite without anyone else noticing. There is no meritocracy where Jaxom is concerned. This character is hilarious. (hide spoiler)]

Other thoughts:

- I think the worst thing about this book is that Jaxom, who receives every single other character's unfettered goodwill, is pretty nasty about the other main characters who show up. Piemur has a bad showing in Cove Hold because he won't stop talking about how hard it is to walk all over the Southern Continent. I'm not sure if Jaxom remembers, but Piemur is only a quasi-Harper with no family who has spent months tramping through the wilderness alone, so of course he reacts this way to the southern intrusion.

- Mirrim's character is assassinated for absolutely no reason at all. Everyone finds her annoying. Guess what! Mirrim is an orphan and the first woman to ride a green dragon in decades or whatever. Incredible that everyone prioritizes Jaxom's feelings over Mirrim.

- The Menolly and Robinton scene on the boat going south (view spoiler)!

- F'lar's main function in any Pern book is a climactic knife fight, and I'm not mad about it ... though you would think that, at this point, Fandarel would outfit him with some kind of super-weapon.

The Harper Hall trilogy is the best part of the Pern series, no question. The White Dragon is where things start to go haywire. I am moving on to All the Weyrs of Pern simply so I can summarize the plot to Matt over dinner. ...more

flag 26 likes · Like · see review

Jan 24, 2009 notyourmonkey rated it liked it

Shelves: genre-fantasy, belongsto-me, 2009, meta-childhood-reread

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Okay, wow, I had forgotten how unpleasant I find Jaxom about half the time. He's a sympathetic character in that he gets to do all this cool stuff, but the internal monologue and motivations McCaffrey gives him are kind of tool-y. His distress over having no one real place where he fits is deeply appealing, but the way he whines about it is not.

Also, hi dodgy gender issues, how I didn't miss you! They're prevalent enough in the Lessa books and the Menolly books, almost negligible in Piemur's bo Okay, wow, I had forgotten how unpleasant I find Jaxom about half the time. He's a sympathetic character in that he gets to do all this cool stuff, but the internal monologue and motivations McCaffrey gives him are kind of tool-y. His distress over having no one real place where he fits is deeply appealing, but the way he whines about it is not.

Also, hi dodgy gender issues, how I didn't miss you! They're prevalent enough in the Lessa books and the Menolly books, almost negligible in Piemur's book, but here, where you're deeply wedged into Jaxom's brain, they're even worse. His treatment of Corana, the holder girl he first takes up with in order to have a cover for training Ruth to chew firestone, is abysmal. First he almost-forces her when he's caught up in the mating tensions of the green at Fort (which is brushed away when Ruth says but she liked it), then Jaxom is glad to have his attachment to Sharra as an acceptable excuse for ditching her, except for when Sharra doesn't immediately succumb to his charms(?), he considers seeking out Corana "for a little relief", if only in idle contemplation. I suppose that's some of the class wonkiness in these books coming out, too (Sharra is not for 'relief' because she's Toric's sister, but Corana's father is beholden to Jaxom, so that's okay!), but the whole thing is deeply unpleasant.

And don't even get me started on the whole Jaxom-Menolly thing, or Jaxom and Piemur snitting over Sharra, or poor freakin' Mirrim, who has a careless tongue but has had just as rough a deal as Jaxom but is comstantly slagged on in all these books.

Still, though. Still. Like with all these books, above and beyond some of the crappy characters and weird class structure and hopefully-outdated views on women, they are so bloody compelling. Like Pern, like Valdemar, I suppose. There remains something inherently attractive about a magical being choosing you and you alone to be their special friend.

I do love the mixing and merging of Craft and Hold and Weyr in this book, as the culmination of the whole trilogy. Or, really, what I consider the six original Pern books - the Dragonrider and Dragonsinger trilogies. I'm glad there's All the Weyrs of Pern that comes after it, but really this is the close of the heart of Pernese canon for me. ...more

flag 23 likes · Like · see review

Apr 20, 2013 Amita rated it it was ok

Shelves: reviewed, genre_sci-fi-fantasy

No extra points in the rating for the awesome dragons and unique world this time around. The shine of Pern has worn off, and all that's left is the author's writing. In that regard, this book was pretty lackluster.

I had a lot of hope for Jaxom and Ruth after Dragonquest. I was pretty much completely disappointed. Jaxom is a whiny, bratty kid that I had absolutely no investment in. In fact, I actively want him to fail. Characters that are special and wonderful at everything just for the sake of i No extra points in the rating for the awesome dragons and unique world this time around. The shine of Pern has worn off, and all that's left is the author's writing. In that regard, this book was pretty lackluster.

I had a lot of hope for Jaxom and Ruth after Dragonquest. I was pretty much completely disappointed. Jaxom is a whiny, bratty kid that I had absolutely no investment in. In fact, I actively want him to fail. Characters that are special and wonderful at everything just for the sake of it annoy me, and McCaffrey seems to be frequently guilty of this. Jaxom is a Lord Holder AND a dragon rider AND super smart and daring and skilled and blah blah. How was all this getting developed since most of his established history as a youth is him being coddled by the overbearing Lytol? His character development was less development than abrupt change. He starts off rather meek, unwilling to assert himself and letting his caretakers fuss over him and his peers tease him. Then one day he throws a hissy fit, and suddenly everyone realizes he's actually a ~man~ and ready for all sorts of responsibilities that they pile on. Because hissy fits are totally the adult way to handle things. He's now ready to fly his dragon, and learn about Hold affairs, and train in all the Craft halls, and also have time to secretly train his dragon and take it upon himself to save the day. He constantly does stupid and reckless things, but instead of being told off, he's praised for being so adventurous and doted on by everyone as he recovers.

His love interests are completely undeveloped and actually rather insulting. First he only wants girl A to use as an alibi, then he kind of likes girl A because she strokes his ego (and more than his ego, if you know what I mean) so he uses her for more than just an alibi, then he completely ignores girl A and doesn't bother to talk to her again (seriously, he casually mentions her a few times, but no actual interactions or attempts at communication for the rest of the book) at all after months away and a near-death experience because suddenly he's in love with girl B for no reason except her voice is pretty. ??? Sure. Even better, when he can't manage to get girl B alone, he contemplates using girl A again. Real Romeo, there.

Ruth is completely uneventful too - apparently the only unique thing about being the only white dragon ever is that fire lizards adore him, and he isn't interested in mating. Hardly worth all the build up of him being so special. We never even learn WHY he's white, or if there's any precedent for him. Unsatisfying follow through here.

A few saving graces character-wise in this book: Master Robinton and Menolly. As I understand it, they are the main characters of the Harper Hall trilogy, so maybe those books will be more interesting for me - but then I was excited about Jaxom until McCaffrey actually wrote him as a main character. Regardless, Robinton seems to be the only rational person on Pern (except when it comes to his health), and Menolly is rather clever and funny. The glimpses of Brekke were also great, and I wish she could have been developed more. She had a lot of untapped potential, both in her ability to communicate with all dragons and how she dealt with the loss of her own.

Plot-wise, this book has a lot of the same problems that the first two did, in that there doesn't seem to be a solid issue building up to any sort of climax, and no resolution. I was more willing to ignore it in the first two books, but this is the last in a trilogy, so I expected a little more oomph. Mostly the trilogy seems to be about discovering things about dragons or the planet that they mostly had forgotten in the passing of time. Which is fine, but could have included a little more plot structure to keep the reader entertained. Instead it just comes off like a bunch of set up for the next generation to deal with. Like, well now we've got the grubs, and all the Southern continent to explore and we know Thread comes from the Red Star - you guys take it from here! I know these are just three books in a huge collection, but a little payoff would be nice. ...more

flag 21 likes · Like · see review

Jun 12, 2012 Jerry rated it really liked it

The White Dragon wraps up the Dragonriders of Pern trilogy quite neatly; however, pretty much everyone knows that it isn't the end for Pern. Although the series got off to a slightly rough start, it actually got much better as it went on. If you're a fan of science fiction, and you've never read anything by Anne McCaffrey, what are you waiting for? Give her books a chance! ...more

flag 20 likes · Like · see review

Jan 26, 2016 Jessica rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: dragons, all-timefavorites, own

Oh, my gosh. I read this over and over in sixth grade, giggling naughtily all the while. Good grief, Jaxom and that buxom farmer's sister!

I think I read this before any of the other Pern books, though I had read DRAGONSINGER. I loved Ruth, and the idea of a dragon who was just big enough to ride, but small enough to be kept at home. ...more

flag 12 likes · Like · see review

Oct 09, 2009 Mike (the Paladin) rated it really liked it

Sometimes the runt is more important than anyone thought.

flag 12 likes · Like · see review

Aug 10, 2015 Susan Kennedy rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

Another great story of Pern. This one focuses on Jaxom, the Lord Holder of Ruatha and his white dragon, Ruth.

You learn a lot more of Jaxom and those he interacts with. You learn of his friendships and how he struggles with becoming Lord. His relationship with his dragon is wonderful and they make a great team. They take on some interesting endeavors that have you cheering them on. He is a great character and he interacts with other characters that I have grown to love through this series, like ...more

flag 9 likes · Like · see review

Feb 10, 2013 Cathy rated it it was amazing

I my memory this is my favourite Pern book, closely followed by the Haperhall books. There is a lot more going on than I remembered. Or that I thought of happening in another book of the series. This is definitely a worthwhile refresher.

We finally get to read more about my favourite dragon Ruth and about a ton of fire-lizards. Plus there is adventure, a conspiracy and plenty of exploring of the Southern continent and the past. Jaxom has to come to terms with his double role of Lord Holder and Dr ...more

flag 7 likes · Like · see review

Aug 09, 2010 Starling rated it really liked it

Shelves: fiction, paranormal, science-fiction, romance

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 that is more ...more

flag 7 likes · Like · see review

Oct 15, 2014 Vivian rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

10/2014 Reread. The continuing adventure with Don to rediscover Pern.

I love Ruth. I love Jaxom.
They are pleased to see us in the air together. Ramoth and Mnementh are very happy to see you on my back at last. I am very happy. Are you happier now?
And fire lizards!

I forgot how jam-packed the Pern stories were. Ruth and Jaxom's maturation is only a small portion of what happens as the politics expand, problems inflate and then are resolved, but really the bond between the two is what drove th ...more

flag 7 likes · Like · see review

Jun 11, 2008 Jon rated it it was amazing

Shelves: science-fiction, my-favorites, hugo-nominee, fantasy, fiction, read-in-my-teens

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

flag 7 likes · Like · see review

Dec 14, 2011 Laura Lemay rated it it was ok

Shelves: 2011

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).

I 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).

I reread all three books in the first Pern trilogy because I was curious to see if they held up to my very fond memories of them. Sadly the answer was no. Sometimes its best to let your fond childhood memories remain memories. :(

(I've duplicated this review across all three books).

Dragonflight: The earliest of the Pern books and the most problematic. It's a fast read and an OK story, but...ugh. My memories of the book were that it was one of the few SF books at the time that revolved around a strong female lead, one that I could identify and aspire to when I was 13. I was appalled to discover on reread that the gender politics are solidly prefeminist and really, really icky. And the writing is terrible -- terrible characters, terrible descriptions, too many similar confusing names, to many shift of POV. I was ashamed for my younger self for liking this book so much.

Dragonquest: Similar gender issues in this book to the previous, but better writing and a really compelling plot. I ripped through the book in a few hours. Not great art, but good storytelling. The best of the three.

The White Dragon: I didn't realize that the entire Harper Hall trilogy is supposed to take place in between Dragonquest and TWD, and I should have read those before starting this one. I didn't think much of this book; it felt much more leisurely than the fast-paced plotting of Dragonquest, with many more characters and threads (heh) and not a lot of narrative tensions. Jaxom as a character didn't much appeal to me, and it was just as gross to see the wierd gender politics of Pern from the male point of view. The big reveal as to the origins of Pern seems a sort of deus ex machina letdown (although the extended prologues always explained this, it was never a big part of the plot). It just didn't feel like a satisfying conclusion to me, and after reading this book I just felt all dragonned out.

Also as a side note, everyone is always striding in these books. F'lar strode in to the room! F'nor strode out of the weyr! I mentioned it to my husband about 2/3rds through TWD and then I couldn't help laughing about it every time the word showed up after that. You could make a drinking game out of it and get truly pissed indeed.
...more

flag 6 likes · Like · see review

Oct 07, 2013 William Richards rated it it was amazing

The old saying goes, "You can't judge a book by its cover." I can still remember that summer day when I spotted the Michael Whelan cover on "The White Dragon" and how it caught my eye. I remember picking it up, reading the blurb on the back cover and deciding I wanted to read it. I was fourteen-years old and I liked that the protagonist was around my age. It was the last book of the Dragonriders of Pern series that introduced me to McCaffrey's world.

But it was the story inside that cover that ab ...more

flag 6 likes · Like · see review

Aug 13, 2015 Jessie Potts rated it it was amazing

Shelves: audio

Oh Pern!!!

flag 6 likes · Like · see review

Apr 13, 2015 Jason rated it it was ok

Jesus - has McCaffrey never heard of a plot? I mean, what is she waiting for, her grand finale? Forget the characterization of Jaxom that everyone's complaining about (he's barely sketched in enough to even be called a character) and this strange fetish she has for men who force themselves on women - let's just stick to the basic level of narrative, of plot mechanics, of conflict and a focused through line. The biggest problem with this book is that, for hundreds of pages, basically NOTHING HAPP Jesus - has McCaffrey never heard of a plot? I mean, what is she waiting for, her grand finale? Forget the characterization of Jaxom that everyone's complaining about (he's barely sketched in enough to even be called a character) and this strange fetish she has for men who force themselves on women - let's just stick to the basic level of narrative, of plot mechanics, of conflict and a focused through line. The biggest problem with this book is that, for hundreds of pages, basically NOTHING HAPPENS. There is no plot. There is no guiding thread, no overarching conflict. Some stuff happens, of no particular consequence, and then, after a few pages or chapters of needless and empty dialogue between flat and interchangeable characters, something else happens, unrelated to the first happening, and the pattern repeats. How is this a book? How is this a trilogy? It doesn't even have a story. You know the old play 6 Characters in Search of an Author? This is A Well-Realized World in Search of a Story.

McCaffrey has clearly invented a compelling idea for a world. Weyrs and Holds and Dragonriders and a mysterious continent to the South peopled by disgruntled warriors from the past...random mindless attacks from an orbiting red planet...Fire Lizards with their dreams and visions from collective species memory....strange tools and technologies left behind by the original settlers, now only being rediscovered....sounds fascinating, doesn't it? Sounds like a real epic reading experience.

But what the hell? This is the strangest damn read of my life. Never before have I seen such a surreal discrepancy between heights of imagination and depths of ineptitude in the construction of fiction. Bits and pieces of world-building are sprinkled throughout an otherwise interminable series of unconnected and unimportant events, given no shape or texture or life. The writing is incredibly mediocre, and inexplicably devoid of incident. It's just so damn talky. And the talk is petty and casual and expositional. How did this ever invite such passionate devotion from readers? How did this ever get nominated for Hugo Awards? More to the point, how did this ever get published?

I'm done with Pern. People who love this, I am willing to bet, discovered these books when they were teenagers. Fair enough. Kids love things for different reasons than adults do. But I just read them now, and I am not a teenager, and I can tell you this: skip them. I've struggled through 3 books now, and I kept telling myself there were enough hints of great things to continue, but there really weren't. Now, that is all that I am left with - hints of it. These books are sometimes involving for, like, 10 or 15 pages in a row, and you say, "Hey, it's finally coming to life!" and then it doesn't, and nothing happens, and you get disappointed like this again and again and again. That, I think, is the great tragedy of these books, and probably McCaffrey's career. She had a wonderful imagination, there is no question about that, but she had insufficient narrative skill to properly utilize it, and simply not enough ideas for STORY.

This makes me sad, because the world-building, the sketch for this place, is undeniably memorable and worthwhile. But this, unfortunately, is a story about dragons that never takes flight. ...more

flag 5 likes · Like · see review

May 06, 2011 Bev rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, science-fiction, mount-tbr-2013

I have said this before and I still think it's true, there are some books that are meant to be read at certain times. And if you miss that particular time, then they just won't do it for you the way they might have. I suspect that The White Dragon is just such a book. I have found, and it seems to be more often the case with science fiction/fantasy novels, that I seem to have missed the (space) boat with McCaffrey's novel. Back in the 80s, when I was in the midst of my science fiction binge, my I have said this before and I still think it's true, there are some books that are meant to be read at certain times. And if you miss that particular time, then they just won't do it for you the way they might have. I suspect that The White Dragon is just such a book. I have found, and it seems to be more often the case with science fiction/fantasy novels, that I seem to have missed the (space) boat with McCaffrey's novel. Back in the 80s, when I was in the midst of my science fiction binge, my best friend got me Dragonflight, the first in the Pern series, and I loved it. I immediately grabbed up the next Pern book I could find (this one) and put it on the shelf....and got distracted and never read it--till now.

Which leads me to my first question. If I read Dragonflight now, would I discover that it too has no real storyline? Because as far as I can tell, The White Dragon doesn't. We have young Lord Jaxom, last of the Ruatha Hold bloodline, who whines and carries on about how nobody treats him like a Lord and yet he's not allowed to be a real dragonrider even though he's got a dragon--albeit an unusual, under-sized one. And he goes off and teaches his dragon to fly and destroy the deadly Threads in secret. And he has sex along the way. And, oh---this is a good one, his dragon participates in the sex too (No, NOT physically, but he loves right along with Jaxom and his lady-friends....say what? A dragon peeping tom.). And he flits here and he flits there and he saves a dragon egg and finds where the ancient men used to be and....well, it's all this major jumble. And there's no real struggle, no real plot points, and no real resolution. It all just kind of rambles to a close.

Granted, I didn't read every word on every page--mainly because I was not interested and also because when I did I couldn't see that it mattered a whole heaping bunch. And maybe you've noticed that my review style has changed here and my writing isn't exactly full of coherent thoughts? Yeah, we'll blame that on side-effects.

The best part (and what makes this a two-star book instead of a one-star book) is the relationship between Jaxom and his white dragon Ruth--with most of the points going to Ruth. Ruth has a very well-defined personality and I like the way he calms Jaxom down when he (Jaxom) gets off on his "why are they treating me this way?!" jags. I would have enjoyed this book a lot more if there had been more focus on Jaxom and Ruth.

This was first posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting. Thanks. ...more

flag 5 likes · Like · see review

Jun 18, 2010 Cass rated it it was amazing

Shelves: sci-fi, fantasy, 2011, 2007-and-earlier

Okay this is the final book I have read in my recent Pern binge. Definetly one of the best books in the series, though it may be a bit confusing as a first read as it requires a knowledge of the personalities of the major players on Pern.

Anne McCaffrey has written some great scenes into the story. I particular love reading as Jaxom develops from a boy into a man and into his role as Lord of Ruatha.

flag 5 likes · Like · see review

Apr 18, 2017 Karen’s Library rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, sci-fi

I think The White Dragon is my favorite of The Dragonriders of Pern trilogy. In this story. Jaxom, Lord Holder of Ruatha, has impressed Ruth, the only white dragon in existence. Ruth is smaller than a typical dragon, but demonstrates special abilities and more intelligence than a normal dragon.

In The White Dragon, more is discovered about the original colonists of Pern. And I'm off to continue my binge re-read of the Pern books! I do this every time! ...more

flag 5 likes · Like · see review

Oct 28, 2017 Joan rated it it was amazing

Shelves: disabled-interests, sci-fi, ya-books, animals, fiction, fantasy

This is one of my favorites of the series. Ruth and his rider are just plain nice people. Both are disabled in their own way. Ruth is the only white dragon on the planet Pern and Jaxom was born early from a mother who died at the time of his birth, and whose father died a short time later, making him the lord of Ruatha as an infant. Both will have to prove themselves to the humans of Pern. The dragons accept them as they are.

flag 5 likes · Like · see review

Jun 23, 2017 BAM Endlessly Booked rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy, own, series-have-read

Summer Fantasy Fest read #25

I think many of the ya audience would find the Ruth the white dragon dynamic fitting. He's just not into it. And that's ok. He's absolutely lovely. ...more

flag 5 likes · Like · see review

Feb 03, 2018 Tinnean rated it really liked it

This was my favorite of the first three Pern books. I loved Jaxom and Ruth, and the scene where the dragons keep Robinton from leaving always has me in tears. It was a fun way to spend the day.

flag 5 likes · Like · see review

Dec 07, 2017 Sotiris Karaiskos rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

As in the previous book (in chronological order) of this series - Dragondrums - this book supposed to be the last of a trilogy but is actually more a stand-alone novel. Also like the previous book the protagonist is an angry teen thirsty for adult admission and hungry for sex, as most teenagers I think. Of course, this teen is not an ordinary one as he is having many important responsibilities, to which he adds even more as he tends to get involved where he does not have to. With his ally the wh ...more

flag 4 likes · Like · see review

Aug 06, 2011 Punk rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: dragons, ebook, fantasy

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're out of 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're out of luck; men will not find you appealing.

Our hero this time is Jaxom, rider of the white dragon Ruth. Jaxom manages to have sex with women several times without characterizing it as rape. For this series, this is progress. However, it could be argued that Jaxom isn't a real man by the rules of his society because he's not a full dragonrider (no apostrophe, like a girl) and his dragon is immature which means he'll never be driven to have sex with another rider; several characters alluded as much, including the dragon girl no one likes. So he's not capable of rape because he's not a real man. Look, I don't make the rules! It's just what the book could be saying! It's not like it's been all that responsible about gender or sexual politics so far.

The plot in this one has a big hole after the first chapter. The second chapter's like, A YEAR LATER AFTER THE HARPER RETURNS FROM HIS DISASTROUS SEA VOYAGE THAT NO ONE TOLD YOU ABOUT BUT DON'T WORRY HE'S RECOVERED FROM THIS VAGUE REFERENCE TO AN ILLNESS. So that's dumb. Also there's a big lull in the middle where Jaxom is sick and then recuperating. The pacing's not great. At some point I lost track of what the point even was. For a while I was looking forward to learning the mystery behind the White Dragon; surely with the way the fire lizards treated him, he must be some amazing genetic throwback, but let's say I was disappointed on that front.

Three stars. I liked Ruth and Jaxom and watching them grow up, and I liked exploring the southern continent, but the pacing was just weird. I think I'm done with Pern for now, unless anyone has a favorite book from the other passes.

eBook: So much better than the previous two in this series by the same publisher. It still had errors, but not nearly as many. No cover. ...more

flag 4 likes · Like · see review

Mar 26, 2011 Paradoxical rated it it was ok

Shelves: 2011-reading-list, books-otherwise

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. (view spoiler) ...more

flag 4 likes · Like · see review

Dec 30, 2013 CatBookMom rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: finished-2014, audio-audible, sff-scifi, audio-heard

As much of an Anne McCaffrey fan as I am, it's sad that I bought this over 5 years ago and just got around to listening to it. But, as good a job as Dick Hill did in narrating the book, I can't say that it made the book any better than it was during my years'-long love of reading and re-reading this, the 3rd of the Pern books. Maybe it's just that the story can't get any better than it is, whether read or heard.

Fans of Pern and her dragons and dragonriders waited 7 long years from book #2,Drago ...more

flag 4 likes · Like · see review

Jul 08, 2014 Valerie rated it liked it

Shelves: fantasy, sci-fi

Sometimes, you read a book when you're thirteen, and you're all, "Yeah, Jaxom! No one understands what it's like to be stuck in between so many things except you and me! I get this! I want a dragon!" Then you read that same book again when you're 32, and you're all, "Jaxom, you are an arrogant little snot."

Anne McCaffrey took the Dragonriders series down the coming-of-age trope storyline with the third installment. She really does a marvelous job building that sense of self-conscious egocentris ...more

flag 4 likes · Like · see review

Nov 06, 2017 Badseedgirl rated it really liked it

Shelves: read-in-2017

With this book, I have completed the original 3-book "Dragon Riders of Pern" series. This was definitely not what I thought is was going to be. I will go on and read other series someday, but what I will say is, if you like stories about dragons this is the series for you. ...more

flag 4 likes · Like · see review

Jul 20, 2019 Phillip Murrell rated it liked it

Shelves: read-in-2019

Jaxom and Ruth are the most interesting characters in this book (along with Brekke and Robiton), but they couldn't create any new interest in the story than the previous two books did. The adventure is bland in a fascinating and dynamic world. I gave the series a good chance, but I'll leave it now to find bigger and better. I'm sure the legions of fans already make it okay with the McCaffrey family. ...more

flag 3 likes · Like · see review

Aug 05, 2019 David Sarkies rated it it was ok

Shelves: sci-fi

So Much Potential, So Little Direction
5 August 2019

A part of me was thinking that maybe I am getting a little too old to be able to focus on books, or that maybe the fact that I have a lot of other things to do meant that I really couldn’t get into this book as I could other books. Well, maybe it is the case that I probably shouldn’t be actually blaming myself because the book is, well, boring. I guess I probably should stick to that last bit because I know that if I like a book then I really g So Much Potential, So Little Direction
5 August 2019

A part of me was thinking that maybe I am getting a little too old to be able to focus on books, or that maybe the fact that I have a lot of other things to do meant that I really couldn’t get into this book as I could other books. Well, maybe it is the case that I probably shouldn’t be actually blaming myself because the book is, well, boring. I guess I probably should stick to that last bit because I know that if I like a book then I really get sucked into it, and what to read it until the end, and then you have this one.

Yeah, it really felt like that basically nothing happened. In fact, the book really didn’t seem to be going anywhere and the ending was so, well, bland, that I couldn’t believe that I had spent the time that I had actually reading it. Okay, it isn’t that the writing’s bad, it is just that it really felt as if this story had no plot whatsoever, beyond that of some kid who happens to have a white dragon (the only one in existence), and they had decided that they would go and explore the Southern Continent.

Okay, there is some lover’s twist in this story, but I really don’t get all that caught up with them. Then again, I do have this appreciation for stories where the protagonists are uncovering their past, and learning new things about their culture, and their history. This is sort of the case here, and at times, such as the stars that basically hung in the sky and didn’t move (view spoiler), did grab me, but it honestly it didn’t really keep me interested for all that long before I started drifting off with boredom again, especially since numerous other times I had basically almost lost interest (and a part of me still insists on finishing every book that I read).

I guess the problem with this book is that there is just so much potential, but that potential, well, seems to go absolutely nowhere. Yeah, a part of me was hoping that this book turned out to be better than what it was, namely because there is so much hype about McCaffrey, and her dragons. However, it turns out that, well, that the books are basically that – overrated. It is a bit of a shame, at least in my opion, because as I mentioned, this book, and the concepts, did have a lot of potential, it is just that they, in the end, went nowhere. ...more

flag 3 likes · Like · see review

May 24, 2013 Annie rated it really liked it

Shelves: 8th-4th-quarter-books

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. When I was very little I read all of the Pern books. Now I remember little snippets and pieces so that the books have stopped being books and started being just one long and glorious plot line. Now that I am rereading the books I have found that I actually remember whole quotes and can read one page and quote the beginning of the next page. That is a little bit freaky.

The plot is one of my favorites, however I strongly dislike Jaxom. I was reading other people's reviews earlier and my view is wi ...more

flag 3 likes · Like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

topics	posts	views	last activity
Fantasy Buddy Reads: The White Dragon [Nov 15, 2019]	1	5	Jul 24, 2019 10:31PM
A Million More Pages: 3 - The White Dragon (Pern): Aug 1	5	12	Oct 05, 2015 05:58AM
Madison Mega-Mara...: #110 - The White Dragon	1	3	Jul 02, 2015 12:29PM
Good Book, but...	10	151	Feb 24, 2014 05:32PM

Readers also enjoyed

See similar books…

Genres

Fantasy

2,593 users

Science Fiction

781 users

Fantasy > Dragons

494 users

Fiction

378 users

Science Fiction Fantasy

223 users

Young Adult

63 users

Fantasy > High Fantasy

41 users

Adult

39 users

Speculative Fiction

36 users

Adventure

33 users

See top shelves…

About Anne McCaffrey

Anne McCaffrey

6,454 followers

Anne McCaffrey was born on April 1st, 1926, in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Her parents were George Herbert McCaffrey, BA, MA PhD (Harvard), Colonel USA Army (retired), and Anne Dorothy McElroy McCaffrey, estate agent. She had two brothers: Hugh McCaffrey (deceased 1988), Major US Army, and Kevin Richard McCaffrey, still living.

Anne was educated at Stuart Hall in Staunton Virginia, Montclair High Scho ...more

Other books in the series

Pern (1 - 10 of 25 books)

Books by Anne McCaffrey

More…

12 Fictional Book Things on Readers' Christmas Wish List

Santa Claus has his work cut out for him this year. We asked on Facebook and Twitter: What fictional book thing do you want for Christmas? Here...

Trivia About The White Dragon ...

4 trivia questions

More quizzes & trivia...

Quotes from The White Dragon

“Exchange information, learn to speak sensibly about any subject, learn to express your thoughts, accept new ones, examine them, analyze. Think objectively. Think toward the future.” — 21 likes

More quotes…