I really loved The Skies of Pern. It was the prefect blend of action and politics and, ya know, general Pern-ness. I did the rest of my review in parts, like the book, so enjoy. Oh, and slight spoilers toward the end.
Part 1
Okay so… this is really hitting close to home, as I have found several of the Pern books to do. Of course there would be a faction of people on Pern who don’t like how quickly tech is advancing. Of course they would form coalitions to try and stop it. Of course this parallels what had happened and continues to happen here on Earth. There’s even spread of disinformation happening! All very real and very close to home these days. I’m honestly crossing my fingers Pern never gets the internet.
I do quite like F’lessan and Tai. F’lessan’s been around in other Pern books, but there hasn’t really been time to get to know him as an adult until now. I like Tai, though she does suffer from orphan-itis. Dead parents and an independent streak a mile long.
Part 2
Probably the most nerve-wracking bit of writing I’ve come across in a while. Riveting, as well. Nothing like a natural disaster to get the blood pumping. I felt every moment of those emergency evacuations. Kind of wish we had dragons here for that sort of thing.
I honestly got choked up a couple times during this section. If that doesn’t tell you how well it’s written, I dunno what will.
Part 3
Rebuilding, thwarting Abominator plans, and creating a dragon rider-centric Crafthall.
Tai’s experience with F’lessan was interesting, if only to highlight how traumatizing, actually, it would be to be a dragon rider during mating flights. I really like the F’lessan/Tai relationship. F’lessan does his very, very best to get consent from Tai during that mating flight and it’s pretty damn cool, considering how consent during mating flights has been previously portrayed.
The thwarting of the Abominators at the Printer Crafthall was kind of fun. Gotta love a bit of helpful skullduggery.
Part 4
I do think it’s kind of funny that “we’ve” discovered dragon telekinesis after Aivas wanted to use it on the engines (or whatever his plan was) in All the Weyrs of Pern.
There we go again, friggin’ dragons making me cry. I love Pernese dragons so, so much. The Monaco riders showing up to help Golly fly again was also a tear-jerking moment.
The demise of the “villain” of the piece was anti-climactic. Not that I was expecting something drawn out, but… yeah. Oh well. I should probably be disappointed that (unless Todd McCaffrey decides to continues into the “present” Pern) it doesn’t seem like we’ll get an ending to the Abominators completely, buy… I’m really not. This sort of thing probably wouldn’t go away completely anyway, if the current Neo-Nazi movement is any indication. I do sort of wish Toric got his ultimate comeuppance, but I’m happy to see the back of his character.
Favorite Lines
"And those are happy to believe easy lies rather than complicated truths," - Lord Jaxom
"Since when has the middle of the night been free of trouble!" - Master Idarolan
"The written word has a power all its own, that rumor can never replace. So you publish truth. The Abominators circulate rumor. A person can reread words and reestablish truth. Rumor can't be caught, can't be traced. It may be more fun to pass along but a book, a sheet of printed paper, that's tangible and the sense of it doesn't change when it's passed from hand to hand." - Pinch
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