Rate this book

Dragon's Time (2011)

by Anne McCaffrey(Favorite Author)

3.88 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

1423346998 (ISBN13: 9781423346999)

languge

English

genre

Fantasy

publisher

Brilliance Corporation

series

Pern (Publication Order)

review 1: Overall I love the dragons of Pern. This book however seemed more like fan fic than a true crafted piece. I'm reading this sequence in the wrong order, as I come across them, but found some aspects of this instalment irritating. When else on Pern have people used the terms validation and affirmation? We also get the word meltdown introduced, but with an explanation, like a melting pot on the fire. The word despondent is used in place of depressed, which would seem too much like our parlance. So why not find some way to rephrase the validation and affirmation?There are too many main characters which we are expected to follow - like a soap opera. Despite having read Dragon's Kin, Dragon's Blood and Dragon's Fire, I would have liked some good physical description of these peo... moreple at the start and a way to tell them apart, because aside from anyone who rattles off trader aphorisms they all sound the same. Todd must have kept a plot outline while writing to keep track of all the cast and their movements in place and time, their many pregnancies and adoptions. Well, we don't have the outline and we can lose interest. Despite being told that there is a shortage of dragonriders, for most of the book we meet many of these people, from midway we meet dragons and a couple of healers and harpers, and no Holders, drudges, runners or other classes. There aren't even any fire lizards so it's quite samey. I kept seeing the name Terin occur every now and then, and took this to be a man. Turned out it wasn't, but as this was not a major character I kept forgetting and every time Terin turned up again I visualised a man again until I was told she picked something up. Todd could have kept to the point and put together a great story of transporting the young dragonets back in time to grow strong while their riders trained. But he blended it with an obvious attempt to copy The Time Traveller's Wife. Every person who has a dragon is buzzing around through time, meeting themselves coming and going, meeting a peculiar trader who announces that he's going to die, with one man rather creepily following his partner around even after he is dead to make sure that she can't take another partner. Wonderful love story, or is it. I'm not surprised time travel was banned in other eras.Not to mention that if someone has gone fifty years into the future, why would she go home as soon as she is told, without looking around first? In fifty years, Pern might have developed paddle steamers, watch-wher powered mills, pottery kilns and the Arkwright weaving loom. Since it doesn't matter how long she spends there, it's only human nature to look around the future.Tell me again, how do the Threads not multiply on remote islands which have never been patrolled by dragons? If I remember correctly, the Southern Continent had grubs which had adapted to eat fungal Thread. No explanation is given in this case, and grubs could not have crossed the ocean. I'd already read Sky Dragons so I knew about the gold and green eggs. Yes, good for the greens. There are certainly good concepts and dilemmas in this book. Maybe when I've read the earlier one it'll all become clear to me and I'll care a bit more about these cloned characters. I'm in no hurry though, which seems a shame.
review 2: I give this book more of a 3 1/2 stars. While I'm thrilled that Pern hasn't ended with Anne, I'm not thoroughly sold on Todd. Yes, his writing has improved tremendously over the course of the last several books, but I felt this storyline was too drawn out and at times, repeated. The first two books (the titles completely escape me right now) took the same event through two character perspectives, the third barely moved forward and so did this one. What Anne did best in the Pern novels was to give humorous personalities to the dragons that humanized them rather than make them monsters of flaming destruction as in other books. I felt that has been sorely lacking in Todd's view of Pern. There were a couple things that bothered me. Why did Jeila fall off the ledge? H'nez had been injured, but he seemed well enough to race to where she fell. Tullea seemed awfully lopsided in her depiction. Sorrowful for being hateful to Lorana when she jumped into the future, angry most of the time with only the brief period of calm and serenity when she held the baby. Despite all the negative in this review, I did enjoy this book and read it as fast as I have Anne's. When readily applied, Todd can create an emotional link between reader and character. I just hope he expands this to just more than one character in the future books. less

Download links for: Dragon's Time

Advertising