Original review by Jane Jinn:
I was intrigued, but disappointed. I had been a fan of Anne McCaffrey's for several years and have read, re-read, and analysed her books while waiting for each new one to come out, but this is where I gave up and stopped reading. Robinton is just too perfect! Does anyone else know the phrases Mary Sue or Gary Stu? They denote characters who are perfect, beautiful, special in some way, beloved by literally everybody, and always end up saving the day because the universe revolves around them and nothing in the story can be resolved without their expert help. Robinton falls neatly into this category. He is just too good to be true. Despite being neglected by his father, Robinton is of course a musical genius, makes friends easily, and can even speak with dragons. He spends much time in the the Weyr and knows all the dragons and their riders. Then he's in the Hold where he meets Fax and can already smell that the man is trouble. And at the end of the story, when he is disguised as a drudge in Ruatha during the events that were already told in "Dragonflight", Robinton suddenly takes charge, sending Fax's men on their way, telling F'nor to send for Lord Holder Bargen from High Reaches, and ordering them to find a wet-nurse for baby Jaxom. The reader is left with the impression that, at the very least, Jaxom would have starved to death if not for Robinton's presence there.
I also found that this book just didn't fit in with what I'd led myself to expect by reading Anne McCaffrey's other books. Why, for instance, is Robinton so surprised when Mnementh speaks to him for the first time in "Dragonquest", if he's practically grown up speaking to dragons, as shown here? Why does R'gul repeatedly tell Lessa that queens don't fly in Dragonflight, when he's obviously old enough to remember Carola and Feyrith flying around Benden Weyr? Why does Petiron not disabuse Menolly of her notion that women can't be harpers and what is the problem about sending her to the Harper Hall in Dragonsong, if Petiron's own wife Merelan is called MasterSinger, and girls such as Halanna or Maizella are welcomed at the Hall?
And speaking of Petiron, he was the biggest disappointment of all. I was horrified to see how he was portrayed here. In "Dragonsong", he was shown as a patient, generous, loving old man, one who genuinely regretted the fact that Menolly could not be a Harper because she was a girl, but who did his utmost best to teach her everything he could, and who was so excited about her original creations of songs that he sent them to the Masterharper. Here, Petiron is shown as being petty and jealous, so possessive of his wife that he doesn't want to acknowledge his own son, and downright irritated by Robinton's presence, instead of delighting in the boy's musical ability. I just can't reconcile these two portrayals of the same character. I'm not convinced that Merelan's death could have softened Petiron so much. By the depth of his possessiveness, I would have guessed that he would become bitter, certainly even more irritated by things in general. I also did not like the way the entire Harper Hall connived to keep Robinton away from Petiron's attention as much as possible, teaching him in secret, letting him compose in secret, just to 'save' him from his father's perfectionism. Then Merelan tells Petiron that nobody has been hiding Robinton from him, that he simply did not hear and did not see. Huh?
Sebell is introduced in this book at a point in the story that shows he's actually older than Lessa, which would make him about thirty five by the time of "Dragonsinger". Yet in that story, he's only a journeyman, one who's only just walked the tables from apprenticeship. I can't believe he's such a bad musician that it would take that long to promote him. His presence in this book doesn't seem to serve a purpose, so why has he been forced in? Just to show that he's the son Robinton never had?
It also seemed to me that the estrangement between Weyr and Hold had been gradual, over the course of generations, not happening in a mere thirty-forty years. For instance, in the original books, there's no mention of letting the public watch dragons hatching until Ramoth's first clutch hatches, and then F'lar breaks a "longstanding" tradition when he sends for the fathers of the Candidates so that they can watch. How long is "longstanding"? It seems that Robinton was there when F'lar himself Impressed, a mere twenty or twenty five Turns before that. Also, many of the events in this book that deal with the political situations and the estrangement seem rushed, squeezed in between leisurely scenes about Robinton's personal life. If he's not actually present, the events are skimmed over, merely reported; told, not shown. But it's amazing that Robinton manages to be almost everywhere on Pern at just the right moment to see what's going on.
I found this particular rendering of Pern too different from her original books. It just didn't ring true in my ears. Pern has changed. At first, it was a small group of people who had faith and almost no evidence, that Threadfall would return. They were fighting against a very large group of people who were convinced otherwise because of centuries of tradition. Now it seems that almost everybody who matters on Pern is enlightened, but they have to fight against the few who aren't. I almost think the situation is the reverse of what we were shown in "Dragonflight," and it's made me lose a lot of interest. There's no longer an underdog to root for. There's no suspense, nothing to worry the reader. It's obvious that the good guys will win, because they are enlightened and the bad guys aren't, and they do win, so easily that the threat never really seems real somehow.
We already know the story of Lessa, F'lar, and Fax from "Dragonflight," where it was told in a much better and less rushed way. Having Robinton witness it all while disguised as a drudge seems contrived and just plain pointless.
All in all, this book left me feeling disappointed, almost cheated. I wished I'd had the chance to check it out from a library first and read it, then I probably wouldn't have bought it.
I was intrigued, but disappointed. I had been a fan of Anne McCaffrey's for several years and have read, re-read, and analysed her books while waiting for each new one to come out, but this is where I gave up and stopped reading. Robinton is just too perfect! Does anyone else know the phrases Mary Sue or Gary Stu? They denote characters who are perfect, beautiful, special in some way, beloved by literally everybody, and always end up saving the day because the universe revolves around them and nothing in the story can be resolved without their expert help. Robinton falls neatly into this category. He is just too good to be true. Despite being neglected by his father, Robinton is of course a musical genius, makes friends easily, and can even speak with dragons. He spends much time in the the Weyr and knows all the dragons and their riders. Then he's in the Hold where he meets Fax and can already smell that the man is trouble. And at the end of the story, when he is disguised as a drudge in Ruatha during the events that were already told in "Dragonflight", Robinton suddenly takes charge, sending Fax's men on their way, telling F'nor to send for Lord Holder Bargen from High Reaches, and ordering them to find a wet-nurse for baby Jaxom. The reader is left with the impression that, at the very least, Jaxom would have starved to death if not for Robinton's presence there.
I also found that this book just didn't fit in with what I'd led myself to expect by reading Anne McCaffrey's other books. Why, for instance, is Robinton so surprised when Mnementh speaks to him for the first time in "Dragonquest", if he's practically grown up speaking to dragons, as shown here? Why does R'gul repeatedly tell Lessa that queens don't fly in Dragonflight, when he's obviously old enough to remember Carola and Feyrith flying around Benden Weyr? Why does Petiron not disabuse Menolly of her notion that women can't be harpers and what is the problem about sending her to the Harper Hall in Dragonsong, if Petiron's own wife Merelan is called MasterSinger, and girls such as Halanna or Maizella are welcomed at the Hall?
And speaking of Petiron, he was the biggest disappointment of all. I was horrified to see how he was portrayed here. In "Dragonsong", he was shown as a patient, generous, loving old man, one who genuinely regretted the fact that Menolly could not be a Harper because she was a girl, but who did his utmost best to teach her everything he could, and who was so excited about her original creations of songs that he sent them to the Masterharper. Here, Petiron is shown as being petty and jealous, so possessive of his wife that he doesn't want to acknowledge his own son, and downright irritated by Robinton's presence, instead of delighting in the boy's musical ability. I just can't reconcile these two portrayals of the same character. I'm not convinced that Merelan's death could have softened Petiron so much. By the depth of his possessiveness, I would have guessed that he would become bitter, certainly even more irritated by things in general. I also did not like the way the entire Harper Hall connived to keep Robinton away from Petiron's attention as much as possible, teaching him in secret, letting him compose in secret, just to 'save' him from his father's perfectionism. Then Merelan tells Petiron that nobody has been hiding Robinton from him, that he simply did not hear and did not see. Huh?
Sebell is introduced in this book at a point in the story that shows he's actually older than Lessa, which would make him about thirty five by the time of "Dragonsinger". Yet in that story, he's only a journeyman, one who's only just walked the tables from apprenticeship. I can't believe he's such a bad musician that it would take that long to promote him. His presence in this book doesn't seem to serve a purpose, so why has he been forced in? Just to show that he's the son Robinton never had?
It also seemed to me that the estrangement between Weyr and Hold had been gradual, over the course of generations, not happening in a mere thirty-forty years. For instance, in the original books, there's no mention of letting the public watch dragons hatching until Ramoth's first clutch hatches, and then F'lar breaks a "longstanding" tradition when he sends for the fathers of the Candidates so that they can watch. How long is "longstanding"? It seems that Robinton was there when F'lar himself Impressed, a mere twenty or twenty five Turns before that. Also, many of the events in this book that deal with the political situations and the estrangement seem rushed, squeezed in between leisurely scenes about Robinton's personal life. If he's not actually present, the events are skimmed over, merely reported; told, not shown. But it's amazing that Robinton manages to be almost everywhere on Pern at just the right moment to see what's going on.
I found this particular rendering of Pern too different from her original books. It just didn't ring true in my ears. Pern has changed. At first, it was a small group of people who had faith and almost no evidence, that Threadfall would return. They were fighting against a very large group of people who were convinced otherwise because of centuries of tradition. Now it seems that almost everybody who matters on Pern is enlightened, but they have to fight against the few who aren't. I almost think the situation is the reverse of what we were shown in "Dragonflight," and it's made me lose a lot of interest. There's no longer an underdog to root for. There's no suspense, nothing to worry the reader. It's obvious that the good guys will win, because they are enlightened and the bad guys aren't, and they do win, so easily that the threat never really seems real somehow.
We already know the story of Lessa, F'lar, and Fax from "Dragonflight," where it was told in a much better and less rushed way. Having Robinton witness it all while disguised as a drudge seems contrived and just plain pointless.
All in all, this book left me feeling disappointed, almost cheated. I wished I'd had the chance to check it out from a library first and read it, then I probably wouldn't have bought it.
