All the Weyrs of Pern by Anne McCaffrey

All the Weyrs of Pern was first of all, very good. Secondly, it displays McCaffrey's writing prowess perfectly. I don't know that there are many writers (at least in my admittedly shallow experience) that could make the shift from what is essentially medieval fantasy to science fiction to smoothly. Mind you, All the Weyrs of Pern doesn't pivot super hard into hard sci-fi, but the pivot is there and is very, very well done. Technically, especially given I'm reading the Pern series in chronological order, this is a shift back to science fiction, but it doesn't really feel that way. The reader is drip-fed what "modern" concepts are required, right alongside Jaxom and the others.

There's also a big element here of the "scary new-fangled" ideas encroaching on the more "traditional" ideas. While the series main characters embrace Aivas and the "new" concepts he espouses, there is definitely a contingent of people on Pern who dislike, distrust, and reject everything Aivas stands for. This comes to a head a couple of times in the book, lending some action and urgency to the otherwise meandering plot (I'll discuss that a bit later). This rejection of Aivas honestly lands really close to home right now. There are a good chunk of real life people who are rejecting even basic scientific concepts based on lack of understanding, which I would argue is what people like Master Norist decide to do in reaction of Aivas.

So, I mentioned a meandering plot despite also heaping praise onto how well done All the Weyrs of Pern is. Yes, the plot does meander, but a lot of that meandering is needed to advance said plot in a realistic manner. We've got Aivas' plan to rid Pern of Thread that takes leaps and bounds in knowledge. We've got F'lessan rediscovering Honshu, which was a nice little diversion. We've got the bits involving the running of Pern well outside of Landing, where outside views on Aivas were expounded upon. It's all very well meshed together as to be engaging the whole way through. All that meandering also made Pern feel much more lived in than it ever has before. We get more than just the main characters' perspectives and a glimpse as to what everyone else on Pern is doing outside of Landing.

I do have a couple small gripes, a few of which are probably due to the time between writing The Renegades of Pern and All the Weyrs of Pern. Eastern Weyr is just suddenly established and not a one of the characters acts as though it didn't exist in previous books. Not super disconcerting, just suddenly: Eastern! Jancis and Piemur's relationship is much more established than it was at the end of The Renegades of Pern despite All the Weyrs picking up right where Renegades left off. The big one, which got a good paragraph of ranting in my notes, was the discovery of apparently perfectly viable fuel at Honshu. It broke my SOD very hard, even knowing it probably was so fuel we haven't even conceived of in our current Earth timeframe... fuel also tends to break my SOD in things like The Walking Dead so... yeah.

All the Weyrs of Pern really makes me glad I pushed through both initial read and reread of The White Dragon. Jaxom and Ruth are such important characters. The establishment of Cove Hold and all the characters surrounding it were very important as well. You could probably read All the Weyrs without having read the previous books, but I wouldn't recommend it.

Favorite Lines/Excerpts

"Learning is not limited to the young, Master Robinton," Aivas said.

"The parochially minded tend to flog petty issues to a nubbin. The worried assume their problems are uniquely threatening, or that you are omniscient enough to solve any problem put to you." - Master Robinton 

"Ah, but interference was a major factor in Terran politics," Lytol replied. "Spurred by territorial imperatives and, all too often, sheer greed."

"We are altering the fabric of their lives. That frightens people. It always has; it always will." - Sebell

"When a harper is silence, all men should listen harder," Sebell said.

     "You wonder sometimes, don't you, Asegnar," Larad said sadly as they turned to reenter the warm, comfortable room, "why people can be so ornery."

     "I think it has to do with a resistance to being done good to." - Lords Larad & Asegnar

 

     "We're not dealing with fools."

     "No, we're dealing with fearful men, and they're more dangerous." - D'ram & Sebell

"... for when speech is restricted, all men suffer, not just I." - Master Robinton

"People will hear what they wish to hear, and believe what they want to." - Brand