Dragonflight: Volume I in The Dragonriders of Pern

As a fantasy reader, I was told by my local bookstore owner that I simply MUST read Anne McCaffrey as she is often called the "mother of fantasy". I had never heard of her, so when Dragonflight won the popular vote for my book club's monthly read, I was excited to dive into the world of Pern.

My immediate reaction to this book was that it reminded me of How to Train Your Dragon. An adult version, of course, but now I can't help but wonder if HTTYD was inspired by McCaffrey's Dragonriders of Pern. The hive mentality of dragons, the riders, and even the--what seemed to me--Scottish names and inspirations. The world is truly captivating and I loved spending time in Pern.

The plot is a political one, and with this book originally published in 1968, it surprised me at how much it would fit in with today's fantasy plots. The strong female character coming from scum to rise amid royalty (Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard); the almost Hunger Games-esqe arena to compete amid the Holds and bond with dragons; and of course an epic show of political cunning. I can easily see why McCaffrey is referred to as the "mother of fantasy"; many of today's greatest plots are pieces from her Dragonriders.

The reason I docked a star is that the romance is arguably unhealthy. I had to remind myself that this book was written in 1968, because this certainly would not fly in today's culture. F'lar often shook Lessa when he was upset with her and even slapped her in one scene. His lack of self-control when he was angry made him an unstable love interest and even though he and Lessa learn to work things out and it doesn't happen again in the latter half of the book, I didn't see the character growth that reflected that he actually thought that was wrong. Again, context is everything and this book being written in the 60s shows how normalized this behavior was, especially in the bedroom, and how even admirable men were not expected to control their tempers. So, I liked F'lar. I liked Lessa. But I do wish F'lar wouldn't have been portrayed as a temperamental man without the growth to reflect that he was apologetic for his brash reactions to Lessa's headstrong nature. As it is, he just looks like an unstable boy, rather than the mature man that he was supposed to portray.

Overall, I enjoyed Dragonflight. I don't know if I'll be up for reading the rest of the series, but it was a good book!

Content ratings according to Literature Approved:

Romance: 3--the romance gets kind of strange with the dragon bonds, but there's almost no detail other than using words like "desire". So I'm not really sure where the content falls in between a 3 and a 4... Gore: 2. Cursing: 1.