The Renegades of Pern

This story is unique in that its timeline runs parallel with several other novels in the Pern series. It has a two-fold purpose. One is to tell a new story of the trader Jayge trying to protect Aramina, the girl who hears dragons. Interwoven through their story are glimpses of important historical events taking place in Pern society which were seen in other novels, but retold this time through new eyes.

At the beginning section of the novel, I was unsure how McCaffrey was going to tie in the many different character she introduces in the prologue where she quickly jumps through brief mini-stories, giving us glimpses of different characters. Like a ribbon on a present, she neatly ties all the loose ends together, giving us a wonderful gift showing off her story-telling talent.

I recommend reading this book after you have completed the two collections: The Dragonriders of Pern and the Harper Trilogy. Renegades takes place during the same time and sets you up for the BIG conclusion which comes in the novel All the Weyrs of Pern. I know, there are still more Pern books beyond that, but All the Weyrs of Pern addresses the BIG issues that all the previous books have been hinting at.

The rating is for both the digital condition (on Kindle) of the novel and the novel itself.
The text was full of typo’s, random strings of numbers and missing words. I would give the Kindle version a 2 star rating. I have only had a digital reader for 6 months and I am totally unimpressed with the quality of the books in this format.
I was a fan of the Pern books for years, and just started to re-visit the series and to fill in the ones I missed at publication time. This is one I don’t have in print. I don’t think I missed much.
The book starts with a series of vignettes, about how people become homeless on Pern as Thread fist begins to fall again after the long Pass. The people mentioned are going to have a role to play later, motivated by their own back story, but characterization is so brief, that it is hard to remember or care who most of these people are or why they are behaving this way, by the time they appear again.
The most compelling stories were about Jayge and the Lilcamp traveling traders and how they survived the first completely unexpected and devastating Thread fall, and Thella, the willful and thwarted Lord Holder’s daughter. Both back stories could have been detailed and fleshed out more, with the supporting character having their stories integrated briefly (or not at all) as they appeared later, to much better effect.
The whole book seemed like a writer’s notes polished up to set the stage for Jayge’s and Thella secondary story line in All the Weyr’s of Pern.
Which is a shame, because it was a good opportunity to expand on the citizens of Pern who were not in the administrative power structure of the Lord Holders, Master Craftsmen and Weyr Leaders/Dragonriders and get their point of view. I give the story 3 1/2 stars, mostly for Jayge and the traders.

The Dragonriders Of Pern is one of the most fun reading fantasy series I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading. I accidentally discovered the 1st book when I was a young sailing on a ship overseas in the early 80s and have been enthralled since. They’re not literature, they’re just exciting and fun to read. The only drawback is the writing can be slightly sloppy at times, name changes h as T’ton becoming T’ron, is Ruatha or Southern Boll the second northern hold established, and Lytol’s green dragon suddenly becomes a brown. Things of that nature. Also, Ms. McCaffrey expressed homophobic tendencies in many of her disrespectful descriptions and portrayals of (male) green dragonriders. But I more or less overlook that as a product of her times.

How do you rate the classics? If you have never read the Pern series from Anne McCaffrey you are really missing out on an incredible adventure. I have read most of these books when they were first published, now, reading them again is like visiting some of your very favorite relatives. Ones you haven’t seen in a very long time and have missed terribly. Well, I would write more, but I would much rather get back to reading. Just trust me on this…the Pern series is well worth the read. The Renegades of Pern is a bit darker, but the characters run true to their nature so the heroes are just as thrilling as the villains. I will leave it up to you to decide which is which.

I am writing this to update the previous feedback that I gave; unfortunately, when I tried to remove the feedback and update my comments, the ‘remove’ option wasn’t working.

This seller has excellent customer service skills. I received immediate attention to an issue and I am thoroughly satisfied with the resolution. I would buy from this seller again, they understand what excellent customer service relations entail in the business world.

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