Dragonquest by Anne McCaffrey

2025 Reread Review

Dragonquest is one of those sequels that expertly expands the world in which it takes place. It's also one where a lot happens. I'd forgotten just how much, really. I think it's all done quite well, with nothing feeling out of place or there just for the sake of being there. The groundwork is well laid for each event well before it happens.

There is a time-jump between Dragonflight and Dragonquest, which I think is handled quite nicely. Mostly done through characters expositing at each other, but not in a jarring, info-dump-y way.

In addition to story beats, I feel the character work here is really well done. We get to know several characters very well and add to our knowledge of others. Of note, there's Kylara, Lord Meron, and Brekke. Kylara is truly the worst. She was set up in Dragonflight as a promising Queen rider, which she is, though it is very clear Prideth is the only creature she truly cares about outside of herself. Even then, it does feel like a bit of a stretch and therefore not really surprising when she neglects her poor dragon. Lord Meron, connected to Kylara, is definitely the worst among the Lord Holders. He's greedy and gross. Brekke, we get to know the best, I think. She's attached to F'nor and quite sweet and capable as a Weyrwoman. I would expound upon her story here, but I do think that would venture into the spoiler territory I'm trying to stay out of. Suffice to say, the poor woman suffers the worst trauma any dragonrider could and seems to come out alright on the other side... eventually.

I also absolutely loved getting more with Masterharper Robinton and Mastersmith Fandarel. Robinton is a delight, as always. Fandarel is actually my favorite new character. I just love him to bits. He's definitely of a single mind and funny to boot, even though I'm sure he doesn't always mean to be. He's just a big teddy bear at heart.

F'lar and F'nor get a lot of character work here as well. F'lar's care for the entire planet of Pern is shown in great detail. F'nor is shown to be incredibly caring in his relationship with Brekke.

There's also a good deal with Lord Jaxom, the kiddo Lessa "allowed" to take over Ruatha when she left for Bendon Weyr. He's a sweet kid. His Impression of Ruth had me in tears this time around. Not the only moment to make me cry, but definitely a notable one.

I honestly love Dragonquest. It moves Pern's story forward in understandable leaps, just given the stuff left behind by the "ancients" and rediscovered over the course of the book. I think it's all integrated well with Pern's current tech level. I also think saying much more is going to catapult my review into spoiler territory, so I'm gonna stop here.

Favorite Lines

"It's easier to flatter a man than fight him." - F'lar

"Is age a prerequisite for a loving heart? Does maturity always bring compassion?" - Brekke

Musical Recommendation

I meant to add this at the end of my Dragonflight review, but forgot.😅

I'm not sure how common this knowledge is, but some of the music of Pern has actually been recorded. The music is collected in two albums: The Masterharper of Pern and Sunset's Gold. This reread I decided to go ahead and purchase both albums and am very happy with that purchase. They remind me a lot of the music one might hear at a Renaissance Festival, which makes sense given the general time period-ish of Pern... at least musically speaking. They were produced by Tania Opland and Mike Freeman in collaboration with Anne McCaffrey.

The Masterharper of Pern is mostly comprised of songs from the actual series. The little song/poetry snippets at the beginning of chapters in Dragonflight. I actually found it really neat to be able to listen to how McCaffrey intended the songs to sound. Apparently supposed to be the work of Robinton.

Sunset's Gold seems to be more general Pernese music, but is still really nice to listen to. According to the Dragonriders of Pern Wikipedia page, these songs were "pertaining mainly to the work another Pernese harper, Menolly."

I highly recommend giving both albums a listen. If you don't want to (or can't) buy them, some fans have the music uploaded to YouTube. I think they really help bring Pern more to life than simply reading the books.