Product Description

HOW CAN ONE GIRL SAVE AN ENTIRE WORLD?

To the nobles who live in Benden Weyr, Lessa is nothing but a ragged kitchen girl. For most of her life she has survived by serving those who betrayed her father and took over his lands. Now the time has come for Lessa to shed her disguise—and take back her stolen birthright.

But everything changes when she meets a queen dragon. The bond they share will be deep and last forever. It will protect them when, for the first time in centuries, Lessa’s world is threatened by Thread, an evil substance that falls like rain and destroys everything it touches. Dragons and their Riders once protected the planet from Thread, but there are very few of them left these days. Now brave Lessa must risk her life, and the life of her beloved dragon, to save her beautiful world. . . .


From the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #265251 in Books
• Published on: 2005-07-26
• Released on: 2005-07-26
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

From Library Journal
The planet Pern has been colonized for centuries by humans. When humans first settled on this world, they did not take notice of its sister planet, which had an indigenous life form that attempted to land on Pern when it came within reach. These silver "threads" fell in a destructive wave on the temperate lands of Pern once every 200 years, destroying all life they encountered. To combat this menace, the inhabitants of Pern developed a species of dragon that could burn these threads out of the sky before they touched down. Now, centuries have passed between threadfalls, and the danger of thread is considered a myth. However, a dragon rider named F'lar knows that the riders are once again needed. This fine production is recommended wherever McCaffrey ( Moreta: Dragonlady of Pern , Audio Reviews, LJ 9/15/93) is popular.
- Roxanna Herrick, Washington Univ. Lib., St. Louis
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Download Description

After ten long Turns, Lessa was ready to come out of hiding, to reclaimher birthright and to impress the young dragon queen and becomeWeyrwoman of Benden.

Suddenly, the deadly silver Thread once again threatened all Pern withdestruction. But the mighty telepathic dragons that for centuries haddefended Pern were now few in number, not nearly enough to protect theplanet in its hour of greatest peril. So Lessa hatched a daring anddangerous scheme: Rally support from people who had long ago ceased toexist.

From the Publisher
There are dragons all over Anne McCaffrey's house. Some she's bought, but many have been made for her by adoring fans and given to her as gifts. I don't make dragons, of course. But whenever circumstances allow, I do try to bring her American bacon, something she can't get easily in Ireland, and something which she has taught all her friends there to love, as well! I remember the first time I went to visit her, when she was still living in her old, much smaller but very homey, house. My husband and I arrived at the doorstep, and she immediately began bustling about, frying up some of the bacon we'd brought and sharing a lovely late breakfast with us before sending us off to the hotel for a nap. She made us dinner that night, too--the one and only time in my life that I've actually liked shrimp cocktail. Maybe that's because if you squint your eyes and look sideways, shrimp are kind of dragonlike, and I was eating them in the right company!
                        --Shelly Shapiro, Executive Editor

Customer Reviews

Poor plot twist
I can't review this without a minor spoiler, so here it is...
I don't like time travel as a plot development. First of all, I find the concept unbelievable, but beyond that you always end up with the same concepts (ooh, look, we have a paradox here). I liked the story at the beginning and think that the ideas of dragons that need to fight interstellar 'threads' was pretty original, but it just gets bogged down with the jumping between times. Also, I didn't find most of the characters very likeable. Maybe I would have liked it a bit more if I had read it closer to when it was written.

It had some interesting ideas, but the story was not that enjoyable.
I wished it would be over. A lot of names were used, almost too many. It was a little stressful trying to keep track of so many different characters, names and places. The author's writing style was wordy making some events hard to follow. I've been spoiled by the writing styles and creativity of J.K. Rowling and Stephenie Meyer, which this book did not have.

Story Brief: Fax fought and took over the Ruath lands and killed all of the ruling family except Lessa who disguised herself as an old dirty woman for about ten years. F'lar comes searching for a woman who could be the Wehrwoman (female ruler). He senses Lessa's power, finds her and brings her to the wehr (home of dragons). When the new queen dragon egg hatches (Ramoth), the dragon chooses Lessa as its partner. F'lar's dragon Mnementh mates with the dragon Ramoth which makes F'lar the new male ruler. Threads are spores which come from another planet about 200 years apart and eat all vegetation on the planet. The dragons kill off the threads. Currently, they are short on dragons. Lessa comes up with a solution.

Sexual language: none. Number of sex scenes: none. Setting: unknown time on the planet Pern. Copyright: 1968. Genre: fantasy and time travel fiction.

Great start to a beloved series
It's been 400 years since the world of Pern has had to deal with deadly Threads falling from the sky to destroy whatever organic life they come into contact with. Many no longer believe that the threat exists any more and the dragon riders responsible for destroying the threads before they hit the ground have fallen into ill repute. Enter F'lar, the new leader of dragon riders, and Lessa, who bonds with the newborn queen dragon. They struggle to get ready so that humanity can survive when the Threads begin to fall again.

Lessa and F'lar are the main characters in Dragonflight but there is a large supporting cast and nearly all are well portrayed. Lessa's and F'lar's romantic relationship definitely has an adolescent tone to it, but it still makes for an enjoyable read. This is not a long book (less than 300 pages) and the pace moves along smartly as a result. The stakes are high and the story compelling.

I read this book roughly 25 years ago and enjoyed it at the time but wasn't sure that my slightly older self would find it as engaging. I must say that it was a pleasant surprise how well Dragonflight has held up and it was a very enjoyable read. I fully recommend it to established fantasy fans as well as newcomers to the genre.