Dragonflight (Dragonriders of Pern, #1) in Around the Year in 52 Books

Jan 08, 2017 Marta rated it really liked it

Shelves: female-author, fantasy, own-print

Fun, well-written, action-driven story, the first about friendly dragons and their unique bond with their riders. Good characters, too, although I found the women's role dated. Still, they come through as kick-ass, even if they have to defy males all along. ...more

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Jul 12, 2024 Ana rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasia, português, emprestado, not-own, recomendações, estados-unidos-américa, 2024, ana-aty-2024

3,5*

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Oct 29, 2012 Jacqie rated it it was amazing

I just re-read this for book club, and I think that it's impossible for me to be objective about the Dragon books by Anne McCaffrey. I read this book first when I was a teenager, uncritical, and long enough ago that many ideas about inclusiveness and gender equality were either new or non-existent. So I'm a bit of an apologist for the lack of those things in this book, I guess.

What I remember sticking with me from my younger years: Lessa as a strong female protagonist. She's not especially nice I just re-read this for book club, and I think that it's impossible for me to be objective about the Dragon books by Anne McCaffrey. I read this book first when I was a teenager, uncritical, and long enough ago that many ideas about inclusiveness and gender equality were either new or non-existent. So I'm a bit of an apologist for the lack of those things in this book, I guess.

What I remember sticking with me from my younger years: Lessa as a strong female protagonist. She's not especially nice or scrupulous, but she knows her own mind and isn't afraid to speak out against the established way of doing things. The dragons- who wouldn't want a dragon? I think this was my first exposure to the idea of people bonding with animals/aliens, and I loved it. Science fiction disguised as fantasy: I liked the feel of the low-tech fantasy world with the underpinnings of settlement on an alien planet which is periodically invaded by yet more alien lifeforms from yet another planet. This was the first time I'd read anything like that too. It was incredibly original.

I never really liked F'lar much, and that didn't really change upon re-reading this book. He's very alpha male, very arrogant. More politically astute than I remembered, though.

The dragon sex scene- I was totally inexperienced when I read it and really had nothing to compare it to, no good frame of reference. Any romance I would read at the time also often had that flavor of rape, so I guess I didn't consider it anything unusual, compared to the other stuff I was reading.

I'm kind of sucker for the medieval fantasy-feeling world too. I guess when I look at this book I see what it was like to be exposed to all of these concepts for the first time- the idea of a woman who could be a hero ( or even anti-hero), the juxtaposition of science fiction and fantasy, the Ancients who had been the planet's settlers, and of course the dragons. I think a ton of future speculative fiction was influenced by this novel. This might be my favorite book by McCaffrey. ...more

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Mar 01, 2012 Bea rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I love fantasy. Why I got away from reading it, is beyond my understanding. In the world of fantasy, there is right and wrong - so clear cut, so unlike our real world. Fantasy provides an escape with solutions that we often do not find in our daily lives. In Dragonflight the reader engages with bravery, devotion, right and wrong in a way that leaves the reader wanting a better world. Loved this book!

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