BR Dragonsdawn - Anne McCaffrey: August 2014

[Freya, Dragon Rider]

Hi guys, I am setting up a buddy read for Dragonsdawn as I nominated it a few times for BotM and I am getting an itch to reread it again!

Chris will be joining me for it and anyone else is welcome to read along too :) As I've just finished Way of Kings part 2, I will likely be starting Dragonsdawn this weekend at some point as assignment relief!

Please remember to bear in mind those who have not read this book before and use spoilers where necessary :)

Happy reading!

[Christopher]

Yes a great place for people to start as well for anyone who has not ready any! :D

[Freya, Dragon Rider]

I'd say the best starting points are either Dragonsdawn or Dragonflight as Dragonflight is set in the main timeline of Pern (the ninth pass, if my memory serves rightly!)

Though I have known others to start the 'Harperhall trilogy' with Dragonsong as it's short and friendly :)

[Christopher]

Yes indeed great points to start for sure and Dragonsong does introduce a lot the basics and a number of characters featured in later books! :D

[Paul, A wanderer in unknown realms]

Shocked to be in an Irish bookshop today with not a single Anne McCaffrey on the shelves in the fantasy section. This thread had put it into my head to have a look .

[Freya, Dragon Rider]

Did you try the sci-fi section, as it's actually sci-fi? :) Shocking if it was not in the shop at all though! :O

[Paul, A wanderer in unknown realms]

Sorry I meant Fantasy /Scifi section. Its one of those shops that mix them. i'll be heading to a better shop on Monday.

[Freya, Dragon Rider]

Ahh fair enough :) fingers crossed!

[Freya, Dragon Rider]

Chapters 1-3

So more some general comments on the book and why I love Pern/McCaffrey/this book...

Pern is often seen as a fantasy book, dragons = fantasy (duh!), but with Dragonsdawn she is clearly planting her flag in the sci-fi camp which is great as it takes dragons out of their 'usual' genre.

I think what is wonderful is that with just a few short sentences you already care about the characters and can really understand their desire to escape the aftermath of the Nathi war and the greed of corporations. This coupled with the length of the voyage and the fact that it is slow for everyone to get down to the planet, makes you feel their waiting and anticipation, it feels more real, not a case of suddenly being there in five seconds flat!

I also like the detail that has gone into thinking about what kind of supplies would be needed for a voyage like this, and in what order people will get down to the planet, she has obviously thought this through, and it shows.

I think my only criticism at this point is that Avril feels a little too obviously bad at this point, the line has definitely been draw there.

Any thoughts? :)

[Roger, Knight Radiant]

Man, you are really making me want to read this, but I've currently in the process of reading five different books with four being checked out of the library and two more on hold.

[Freya, Dragon Rider]

Well in all honesty, I am likely to do a Pern series re-read, though the rest of my Pern books are not with me at present and I can't get my mitts on them until the end of August, so there will be plenty of time to join in, as I'll be weaving them in and out of BotMs and whatever else is on my shelves :)

[Mpauli, Bitten by a radioactive book]

Honestly, this is a chance to get into this world that's almost too good to pass up.
Having people here who already know the series and others starting out. I guess I'm going to pick this up as well, when I'm done with Ack-Ack Macaque for my sf reading slot. As a first time reader, would the chronological order be okay to start, or would you recommend the publishing order?

[Roger, Knight Radiant]

I would recommend against chronological order and start with Dragonflight or Dragonsong

here's a helpful link...
http://pern.srellim.org/readorder.htm

[Freya, Dragon Rider]

I tend to go for a mix really, personally I really like Dragonsdawn, and even though it was written later it explains Pern and the dragons and how it all came to be.

However as a first time reader of Pern, I would recommend you start with Dragonflight too, and that reading order is a good one to follow :) (thanks Roger)

Just a note to mention about that reading order, the book called Dragoneye is the US name, the UK name for it is Red Star Rising :)

[Freya, Dragon Rider]

Another handy Pern link :) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_...

[Freya, Dragon Rider]

Hmm... so much for my buddy read! I couldn't help myself and devoured it!

Here is my review, I think it shouldn't spoil anything for anyone new to the series :)

Feel free to pick up and add thoughts if anyone does decide to pick up Dragonsdawn! I will quite happily chat away about Pern to anyone who remains to listen :P

I will likely re-read another Pern book in September when I have access to my collection, so I'll advertise that nearer the time :)