Dragonheart (2008)

This is another Pern book about the time of the second Interval and the third Thread fall. If that sentence did not make sense to you, then you haven't been reading the Pern series of books. This is probably not the place to start, but it is a fine place to continue visiting that world.

I was a bit concerned that I had read some of these books out of order. I need not have worried -- Several of these newer books are happening at basically the same time-period, following the arc of different characters in different Holds and Weyrs. The same characters show up - Kindan, Nuella, and the Weyr leaders, as supporting characters.

This follows the fortunes of Fiona, the 13-year-old daughter of the Lord Holder of Fort Hold, who impresses a gold queen dragon hatchling at Fort Weyr. The story is good, but at 500+ pages, did not need to be quite so long. It is a "slice of life" story, but perhaps it could have been edited down a bit. Important things do happen that are related to the other books in this series, which is cool. But at times I wanted the story to just get going. ( )

I refuse to actually read it. It's the same damn book as Dragon's Blood, which I just read 3 books ago...Seriously, same time, same problem, same people.

I'm done, Done, DONE with the Pern author's habit of rewriting the same story from another point of view and calling it a new book! Todd learned well from his mother...

This is one of those times I regret my impulsive behavior in buying the rest of the books online after reading the first few. Wah Wah Wahhhhh. ( )

This is another story from the early days of Pern. Fiona, who is the Lord Holder's only surviving child after plague ravaged the population, impresses a queen dragon Talenth and her life changes. Now she is the youngest of three weyrwomen at Fort Weyr. While she spent her life in the Holds, now she has to change her thinking. Luckily, the skills she learned as a Lord Holder's daughter translate nicely to that of a weyrwoman who cares for the needs of the dragons, dragonriders and other people of the weyr.

Fiona love her bond with Talenth and loves being able to care for her. Those around her notice that she and the others who impressed dragons at the latest hatching are different. They seem overly sleepy and dreamy. No one is quite sure why.

Thread is soon to begin falling in its 50 year cycle and dragons are getting sick. Everyone is rushing to try to find old records to see if there are any clues to what might be ailing them and what can be done to cure them. Between injuries from threadfall and the illness that is killing dragons, the dragonriders are quickly seeing that something has to be done or Pern will be lost.

Fiona, Talenth, the weyrlings, and the wounded dragonriders are led back some years into the past by a mysterious woman riding a queen dragon. This will give the injured a chance to heal and the wyrlings and Fiona a chance to grow so that they can be ready to fight thread when they return. They will be spending three years in the past but will return only three days after they left.

What was most interesting to me was the way Fiona comes into her own as a strong leader. I also liked how she met and worked with people she knew in the present. I liked the way she forged a new relationship with the traders who travel Pern.

While I'm not usually a big fan of stories involving time travel, and I have some questions about this one, I think it worked pretty well. ( )

I ( )

I'm giving this a chance. I'm truly disturbed by the amount of editing errors I'm finding though. Did this not go through a thorough editing process??

I ended up reading this rather quickly. I think in part because I hoped that some action would occur. The detail were interesting and getting more past history was cool, just could have happened faster possibly.

There's definitely a follow-up book in the future. ( )