Wednesday, April 30, 2003
Dragonflight
by Anne McCaffrey
I've been meaning to reread Dragonflight for a few months now, to see if it's suitable to pass on to my 10-year old. (It isn't.) I picked up a copy at the Friends of the Library sale and was impressed as to how good a book this was. (Maybe it was the book that set me off on my fantasy kick in my late-teens. But I digress...) Dragonflight is a tale of Pern, a distant planet which every 200 years or so is invaded by extraterrestrial spores that the natives call "Threads". Pern is protected by the Dragonriders, men and women who control large, winged, fire-breathing beasts. They burn the Threads in mid-air, preventing them from reaching and destroying the planet's vegetation. As the story opens, Pern has been Thread-free for almost 400 years, the Dragonriders have dwindled in numbers and are no longer held in high respect by most of the people. Few pay attention to the old ballads which recount the threat of the Threads and the valiant deeds of Pern's protectors. Even the Dragonriders themselves have gotten lax in respecting the old traditions and their advice and warnings. The dragonman F'lar, however, still believes the old tales and is out on a quest to find a rider for the dragon queen that's about to hatch. He finds Lessa of Ruatha, a lass of royal blood who is hiding from the man who slaughtered her family and conquered their lands. Together the two struggle to restore Pern to some semblance of its former self as the Red Star, which heralds the coming of the Threads, draws ever nearer. How that all works out, of course, is wonderfully written. The characters are interesting and the world and history of Pern is richly developed. (It only makes sense that it has supported a number of sequels.) Oddly enough, however, what struck me most when I started rereading it was parallels to the Christian church in America. Like the dragonriders, the church once held an honored position in the society, but is now seen by many as an anachronism. But the church, too, exists to struggle against a very real threat and has sadly contributed to its own decline. Anyway, the stories soon diverge, and the ending of Dragonflight is far from Biblical. Be that as it may, it is a great read and it's going on my shelf. After all, eventually my girls will be old enough to read it.
Labels: AnneMcCaffrey, OnMyShelf, Pern
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