The White Dragon

Regarding Perm and its holds, weyrs, dragons, lords, craftmasters and fire lizards I tried to follow canon by reading the Harper Hall Collection first. This trilogy, even though the writing seemed to be leaning too much on the young side of young adults, was actually a pleasurable experience, with a proper fleshing out of the characters Menolly, Piemur and their various music teachers. Imagine something like a Fame series on another planet. Fun!

The White dragon? Not so much. This is a novel where, literally, nothing really important happens until page 350 of a 400 pages book and when that something important finally happens, it is buried under an avalanche of winks, smiles, smirks, sneers and laughter by every major and minor character.

I understand that authors have tropes, but this constant winking is enough to drive a reader mad. Add to these a character coming of age clumsily, the unexploited idea at the end of the novel and the very tired entourage of Masterharper Robinton et al and all you have is a story with an one trick pony.

This pony happens to be a dragon: Dragon Ruth whose curt one-liners save this book from a 1-star rating.

The original books in the Dragonriders of Pern series by Anne McCaffrey, of which The White Dragon is one, are enjoyable trips to an interesting other world with likable characters, interesting issues and conflicts, and good storytelling. At the time the Dragonriders tales were first introduced, the Pern stories were a refreshing change from the typical sword and sorceress tales that were being published. Later volumes, co-authored with her son before her death and then after her death written under her son’s name, lost the freshness and read like formula novels.
The White Dragon, one of the first, is a good ride.

The runt, white dragon Ruth, being raised by Jaxom at Ruatha Hold, surpasses the expectations of the all by surviving. Jaxom ready to take over leadership of his Hold must wait because of the uncertainties of the time. Old time dragon riders are unable to adapt to the societal changes, which have occurred during the four hundred years since the last pass. Tension increases between current population and old timers. Jaxom is finally allowed to begin training Ruth to fight thread, but can’t do it where ground crews might see him. When a queen egg is stolen from Benden Weyr, it appears that dragons might fight the old timers dragons. Jaxom secretly returns the queen dragon to prevent this from occurring. One of Anne McCaffery’s best books in the Dragonrider series. Many twists of plot and surprising discoveries.

I’ve read most of the Pern novels since they first came out, along with a number of McCaffrey’s other series. Love her work, which is a cross between sci-for and fantasy. Her world building is very realistic and based on natural scientific ideas with a magical/supernatural twist. Love that her dragons are a natural defense against the invasive spores that periodically bombard the planet of Pern, destroying all life they touch. The relationships between the dragons and their riders are wonderful and deep, and the greatest dangers they face together during Threadfall (the spores) stem as much from centuries of lost lore as the actual Threads themselves. Ruth, the White Dragon, becomes a pivotal champion is this tale, despite being considered by the other dragons and their riders as a freak. I highly recommend the entire series for anyone who likes sci-go, fantasy and especially dragons.

I really enjoyed the story of the teen Jaxom and his unique white dragon Ruth as Jaxom came to terms with his status of one day being the Lord of Rutha hold, a dragon rider but not in the same capacity of other dragon riders. Jaxom pushes against the confining restrictions others have put upon him and Ruth, saves Benden and the other northern weyrs fighting dragon against dragon with the southern weyr. Jaxom after a serious illness which could have killed him traps him on the Southern part of Pern, he helps to discover interesting things about Perns past and discovers Sharra, the woman he loves.

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