Reviews for Dragonflight (Dragonriders of Pern Series #1)

The average rating for Dragonflight (Dragonriders of Pern Series #1) based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2020-02-29 00:00:00 Brian Kelly (I'm sorry in advance to everyone who grew up loving this book. I promise you, I really tried to love it too) What I liked: - our mc started out great. She was strong, scrappy, sure she was impulsive and rude at times, but it all made sense for where she came from. - fast paced and easy to read plot - generally fairly interesting ideas What I REALLY didn't like: - most of the characters are very shallow and really not well developed or layered at all. - the execution of the plot was also really shallow. Sure, it was fast paced and easy to read, but also NOTHING WENT WRONG! They regularly put themselves in dangerous situations but nothing ever went even slightly wrong. Tension? This author doesn't know her. - set up of the story. (removing this part because a couple people have mentioned that more time had passed between the attacks than I had thought. I apologize for my mistake) (now lets get to what moved this from a low three star all the way down to a one) - the romance. So due the way this world is set up ("dragon sex makes me horny" is what it narrows down to), our mc is boarderline raped. The man who does it even admits to it. "He had not thought to control his dragon-incided emotions, and Lessa's first sexual experience had been violent... He had been a considerate and gentle bedmate ever since, but... he would coax her into responding wholeheartedly to his lovemaking eventually" (page 104) So basically, she's taken away from her home, forced into the experience, sexually assaulted, and then ends up in this really abusive relationship (and it's not just abusive because of the sexual assault) - the love interest. Not only does he sexually assault her, but he also verbally abuses her, and physically assaults her. He constantly degrades and insults her, SHAKES her regularly, and slaps her! What a great guy. - our mc's arc. Lessa's love interest really breaks a lot of her spirit in this book and she generally fears disappointing him because she knows he'll continue assaulting her. Here's some more fun quotes, "Oh, F'lar will be so angry with me. He will shake me and shake me, He always shakes me when I disobey him." "He'll shake me," Lessa cried, like a little girl." (and there's a lot more lines like this). I hear her character grows to be incredibly strong throughout the series. I'm glad to hear that because she deserves it. - MORE ROMANCE MADNESS! Don't worry guys. She grows to love her abuser. So it's romantic. I know a lot of people grew up loving this book. And I think if I had read it at a much younger age, I would have had a great time reading the fast and easy plot. And a lot of this other stuff would have gone over my head. But man, this is a book I'm not passing on to my kids to read. Edit: Obviously this review made a few people mad. it's a well loved story so I get being defensive of it. And I really don't mind people having differing opinions than I do. But keep in mind that just because the book was written in 1968 doesn't mean it's depiction of a romantic relationship can't be viewed with a critical eye.

Review # 2 was written on 2012-11-25 00:00:00 Robert Miller I understand that this book (and series) has a lot of haters. Their complaints are valid, but I still regard this as one of the best sci-fi fantasies I've ever read. I started reading this series really young, and got so caught up in the whole "OMG DRAGONS" part of it that I didn't even realize until later that this book had sci-fi elements, namely, that we are on a different freaking planet here. It's a mishmash of several genres that worked surprisingly well. From the other reviews of the book I've read, the main complaints about the book seems to be the fact that the leading male character is kind of an asshole, of the Jericho-fucking-Barrons sort. Let me tell you that I hate Jericho-fucking-Barrons (come ON, I have a fucking shelf named after him, for Christ's sake). Yes, this book can be conveyed as being misogynistic, but I don't think that's fair to the main characters. F'lar is an asshole at times, but he needs to be tough and a leader. I'm not using that as an excuse, I'm just saying that his character was not over the top, and he is not an asshole for the sake of being an asshole, unlike Jericho-fucking-Barrons. Keep in mind also that this book was published a long time ago (1968!). You have to make reasonable accomodations for that; and this book was pretty well advanced for its days. Lessa, the main female character, may be a bitch at times, but taking into consideration her very difficult background, her behavior is perfectly fitting with her character. However dated it is, this book still has one of the most well-thought out setting I've ever read in fantasy and sci-fi. The dragons and how they came about, the societal structure, the culture, everything was well-written and believable. No, this book is not perfect, but I adored this book and this series. Read this review and more @ The Book Eaters