Medieval Dragons in a Science Fiction World

As I sit down to write this week’s Book Blurt, I realize how long it has been since I’ve written one. It was almost a month ago that I wrote about Skipping Christmas by John Grisham, and I realize that the only book I’ve read since then is Dragonflight by Anne McCaffrey. This kind of makes me laugh, because I’ve had more time to read this last month than I normally do. As I mentioned last Friday, I was on my back for a good week recovering from my jaw surgery, but for some reason I still didn’t find much time to read. Once again, you make time for the things that are important to you, so I will be making time to read more books because knowing and being able to suggest books is very important.

A few years ago, I read through Eragon by Christopher Paolini, and was immediately hooked on the Inheritance Cycle. I started talking about the book with my Dad, and he mentioned how similar the dragonriding idea was to a book he had read as a young adult. Later that year, he found Dragonflight, the first book in the Dragonriders of Pern series that he had enjoyed as a young man. Once he found Dragonflight, he began devouring the books once again. He’s been asking me to read through the books as well, and while I healed from the surgery, I couldn’t resist the well-crafted medieval sci-fi world of the dragonmen.

The book begins with a momentous political shift in the wings. The former Weyrwoman, Jora, has just passed between, and a new Weyrwoman, the human rider of the dragon queen, needs to be found. F’Lar, a rider of one of the gigantic bronze dragons, is in charge of searching the high reaches. He was infuriated by the former Weyrwoman’s handling of dragonkind, the dragonmen who are their riders, and the planet of Pern where they live. He seeks to renew the traditions that have fallen by the wayside and warn the inhabitants of Pern that the dreaded Thread, the age old enemy of Pern, is once again looming on the horizon. Little does he know that Lessa, a young woman with a powerful bloodline, might be just the person he is looking for to help forge a better future for Pern.

Regarded as a great science fiction writer, Anne McCaffrey definitely writes an intriguing and interesting world. McCaffrey is a very gifted author who keeps you interested in the story, the characters, and the world that she has created. While dragons are normally associated with fantasy, McCaffrey writes them into a medieval world where time travel is possible, and although they aren’t aware of it, technology is very much in their past and will greatly change their future. Although this mixing of science fiction and fantasy is only alluded to in this first installment, it becomes increasingly important as the series progresses. Dragonflight is only the first in a long running series of adventure, discovery, action, political intrigue, and I had a great time reading it.