303 pages
English language
Published Jan. 6, 1979 by Ballantine Books.
At a time when the number of Dragonriders has fallen too low for safety and only one Weyr trains the dragons and their riders, the Red Star approaches Pern, threatening it with disaster.
Okay I liked this book, it's alright science fantasy, heavy on the fantasy...
But god the relationship between the main characters is awful and doesn't even really matter to the story. The story isn't improved in anyway by its marginal inclusion, it's just baffling. Why why why it's so gross
This book was my introduction to pern. Honestly, it didn't do that good of a job; I doubt I will ever be back. The story wasn't captivating, the characters[return]were poorly developed, the dragons were developed even less, and the whole thing couldn't decide what sort of atmosphere it wanted to settle on. I'm guessing[return]the author intended the dragons to be wonderful and loyal companions, but for me they held a near constant air of vaguely creepy mind-controlling symbiosis.[return]Needless to say, this broke the story for me. If what you're looking for is strong and well done companion characters, I recommend Mercedes Lacky highly[return]to you; she may not have been first, but she knows what to do with characters and how to develop feeling in the reader.
