The Chronicles of Pern: First Fall by Anne McCaffrey

My review is broken into pieces following each individual story in the order I read them in. I read all the stories from this anthology. You may clap.

“The Survey: P.E.R.N.”: I enjoyed it. Actually kind of interesting to see an off-planet team evaluation of Pern.

“The Dolphin’s Bell”: Really nice to get some idea as to what “Dolphineering” was like in the beginning of Pern’s occupation. I was not expecting the Dunkirk reference. I’m honestly not sure what I was expecting, but this was a nice story following The Crossing’s water route.

“The Ford of Red Hanrahan”: Liked it well enough. Felt like it got a little too into the details of moving from Fort to the new holding. I was pleasantly surprised at which holding this turned out to be, so I won’t spoil it.

“The Second Weyr”: Teared up a bit when the Weyr was named, even though I knew it was coming. The rest of the story was just a lot of “ah yes, these things need to happen” but it was entertaining enough.

“Rescue Run”: Honestly, really weird to be thrown back into the hardcore Sci-Fi part of the the Pern universe after being out of it for a bit. I hate Kimmer. I think it was ultimately irresponsible of Benden and his crew to not do some more investigating of the Northern Continent, but, ya know, Pern can just exist outside of the broader human empire or whatever.

Dragonsblood by Todd McCaffrey

Dragonsblood is a beautiful first outing for Todd McCaffrey. It truly feels completely connected to the rest of the Pern novels. Not only that, but the triumphant ending had me in tears. The overall story line is a little complicated and there are a lot of characters to keep track of, but it really makes the world feel lived-in.

I quite like Lorana as a character. She does kind of seem like an overly-cheerful type, but that's balanced by all the suffering the poor girl went through and goes through in this book. I feel, like her multi-dragon-hearing predecessors, Lorana would, and I guess does, make a good Weyrwoman. I am glad we get to know her some before she Impresses Arith.

Wind Blossom was nice to get to know outside of the small bits in Dragonsdawn. I feel for her. Generational trauma combined with the Watch-Wher stuff could not have been easy for her. Not to mention trying to break herself of similarly traumatizing Emorra. It must have also been heart-wrenching for a healer like her to be faced with the decline in technology, as she was. I can't imagine having to go from having genetic manipulation capabilities to not even being able to synthesize antibiotics.

I honestly found the parts with D'gan extremely annoying, though they do eventually pan out plot-wise. I despise characters who are just so caught up in their own crap to the detriment of others, especially if they're supposed to be leading them. Like, sir, you're not even listening to your DRAGON when he tells you he's unwell. What. The. Fuck. Ugh. Thanks for being a despicable plot-point, though, I guess.

I'm also not going to lie, my eyes glazed over when the intricacies of Pernese DNA/PNA was discussed. That felt a little too in the weeds, but I also understand how it was necessary to explain just how different they are from the humans we're used to dealing with. Just got a little to hard Sci-Fi for my little brain to handle for a moment there. That said, the entire disease story line definitely hit different in 2024 than I imagine it did on my first read. COVID and all that. And worse, as it's the dragons affected and the human characters have little to nothing they can even do about it.

Dragonsblood is definitely a fantastic entry into the Pern lexicon.

Favorite Line

"A atarved stomach needs to learn to eat all over again." - K'tan

Welsh Fairies by Mhara Starling

I really enjoyed learning more about Welsh fairies and their stories. I read this basically on the heels of finishing Kelley Armstrong's Cainsville series, which meant that Gwyn ap Nudd and Arawn were rather fresh in my mind. Reading bits of their actual mythology was honestly really satisfying... as was actually learning how to say their names correctly. I think I referred to the Glossary more than I ever have before, just to solidify the Welsh pronunciations in my head.

Welsh Fairies is definitely a jumping-off-point book. There are some stories included in the text, but this is mostly a discussion of those stories rather than a compendium of them. It's really well written and engaging all the way through.

Dragonsdawn by Anne McCaffrey

This marks the beginning my first full reread of the Pern series. This time, I'm reading in the chronological order recommended by the Pern Fandom Wiki. So far, this reread has been interesting. I think I was more fully invested this time, than my last time reading. Sallah, Sean, and Sorka, being the main touchstones. Sean and Sorka, in my honest opinion, just fell into that category of "you know we're going to grow up together and end up married just because" thing... which is fine. I didn't really need this to be a sweeping romance.

Dragonsdawn did exactly what it needed to do, in terms of telling the story of how Pern was first settled. It didn't feel like a check-list, either, which tends to happen with some prequels. Having read it, and a good chunk of the Pern series before, I really feel like this did a good job. Dragonsdawn is also told in such a way that is can definitely serve as the first book of the series proper, as well. There are definitely bits that are kind of Easter Eggs for those reading the series in publication order (or however you're reading it where this isn't the first book), but it's not overburdened by them.

I found the Avril Bitra storyline rather "meh." Her plan just seemed really silly to me. Doable, apparently, according to the story, but very silly. Add Nabol, a name that tends to produce antagonistic characters in the Pern series, and I was just checked out of the whole thing. Greedy humans will greedy human their way to death and that's fine. Honestly, it's interesting that the names Bitra and Nabol long outlasted their namesakes, especially as Bitra, at least, didn't have any descendants.

I found myself incredibly enraged at Ted Tubberman as he stubbornly lobbied for calling for help. He reminded me a lot of certain Right Wing people who just refuse to listen to reason... or even the majority. I vaguely remember some mention of felines being hunted on the Southern Continent later in the series, but I don't know that I was interested enough to really care about where they came from. Good to know, I guess.

I love the dragons. I had honestly been expecting Sean and Sorka to Impress first, so it was surprising when they didn't. I really enjoyed the Dragonriders figuring out how the Dragons worked, mostly on their own. That part of the book kind of flew by in a 1980's-style montage, even if it was satisfying. The ending, despite knowing full well the Dragons would be fully functional, made me cry.

So yeah, Dragonsdawn is a very good prequel and a very good beginning. I've been looking forward to this reread and continue to do so.

Theory by Sienna Tristen

I am honestly at a loss as to how to review this. Normally, there’s something for me to talk about — and I probably could, if I were discussing The Heretic's Guide to Homecoming, Book One: Theory with someone else — but as I’m doing a review, that is daunting. Theory is very good, first and foremost. It’s philosophical and a way I’m certain I haven’t really encountered up to this point in my life of reading. I also felt very seen at some points. Ronoah reminds me of myself.

Reilin/Özrek gives me Doctor (from Doctor Who) vibes. He’s definitely not human. Turns out, also isn’t shalledra and probably not a god. Just god-like, at times. He’s… hard to describe, really. But really gave me Doctor vibes.

I also quite enjoyed the world-building. Both the wider stuff and the smaller things. The discussions of how different races and sections of humanity worked were fun. The tales interspersed throughout were an interesting addition and not something I’ve seen utilized the way they were here.

But yeah, not really sure what else to say. I highly recommend giving Theory a read.

Favorite Lines

“Truth is picky about her friends,” the man continued, with a smile like he and Truth had discussed this over tea a couple years back. “She does not yield herself so easily. Can’t have everyone knowing how the whole of everything works, can you, that’s asking for trouble and it takes away the fun besides—so she sets up stumbling blocks, dresses up decoys, fashions false dichotomies galore, and even then, does she wait patient at the end of her obstacle course?” He swept the air clean with a dismissive flick of the hand. “Of course not. If you want to truly know anything, you are obliged to run the gauntlet and you must be prepared to come out the other end only to discover that Truth is not sitting pretty at the finish line as you presumed, she’s up and moved again, and there’s a whole new cast of challenges lined up as punishment for your slowness or perhaps, if you’re unlucky, for your cleverness, your overconfidence.” - Reilin/Özrek

“It is the unexpected things that impact us the most.” - Reilin/Özrek

"Change is reciprocal. Change is symbiotic. And change is work." - Reilin/Özrek

"Know this: the most interesting people are interested people. The ones who sink their teeth into everything. The ones who ask what no one else is mad enough to ask. The ones who know you need to drown in something before you can understand it." - Reilin/Özrek

"We are all bigger than ourselves. We all contain multitudes." - Reilin/Özrek

 

“When two great shards of the planet scrape up against each other in a collision so forceful it squeezes the molten blood out of the earth, it behooves one to take notice.” - Reilin/Özrek

 

"It’s a delightful paradox, that the more stable a kingdom is forced to be, the more likely it is to fall apart—if you’re aiming for longevity, you need to give the thing a little space to breathe." - Reilin/Özrek

In Other News

The Heretic's Guide to Homecoming, Book One: Theory marks my 110th book this year, meaning I have smashed my reading goal for this year again. My new goal is 116, which is how many books I read last year. Here's hoping I get my GoodReads confetti for it next time.

Poison Tree by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes

Honestly, I'm not entirely sure how I feel about Poison Tree. I read it once before but have zero memory of doing so. I mean, I remembered some after I started reading, but otherwise... much meh. I think it's the amount of characters all set up enough to be interesting, but none really given time to really develop that's my issue.

The pace is quite quick and the story ultimately enjoyable. It also fleshes out some of the issues at play at SingleEarth, especially when they don't dig into the past of their employees as well as they should.

I really, really would have liked a more insular story around Sarik, since that's essentially where the main conflict ends up. But again, she's fleshed out enough to be interesting, but not enough for me to really connect with her on the level I think would have made her shine.

All Just Glass by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes - Reread

This is a short, mostly spoiler-free reread review. You can, and honestly probably should, read my last reread review of All Just Glass as it will inform on this one. You can find that HERE.

This time around, I really don't feel as annoyed at the sudden influx of characters. There are still a lot of them in play at any one moment, but it doesn't feel as overwhelming. I also feel like I paid more attention this time, despite reading it in about 24 hrs. Dominique's past was a bit more fleshed out than I thought originally, but it's still only completely revealed in the Epilogue, so it does feel somewhat tacked on.

I liked the whole bit where Nikolas took Sarah hunting for the first time. It was really well done and well explained. Other than this, I feel like Sarah's part of the story took more of a backseat to her "siblings," which I think annoyed me on the last reads. After all, Shattered Mirror was so focused on Sarah. It felt like All Just Glass should have, as well, but I see how that would have not worked as well.

I actually like Zachary a bit more, this time. His motivations make more sense to me, though they really do hammer home how much therapy these Hunters need. Zachary's story was another big nail in the coffin of the "Vida Perfection" thing all the Vidas cling to and ultimately don't hold to.

Favorite Lines

"And you've never said anything in a moment of anger that you couldn't follow through with?" - Kristopher Ravena

"The one thing I know for certain is that after you are gone, you lost any power to decide what other people do. Will they kill for you? Will they die for you? Will they fight to avenge you? That is never your choice." - Nikolas Ravena