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Dragonflight
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Dragonflight
Unavailable
Dragonflight
Audiobook9 hours

Dragonflight

Written by Anne McCaffrey

Narrated by Dick Hill

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

4.5/5

()

Currently unavailable

Currently unavailable

About this audiobook

On the beautiful planet Pern, colonized for centuries, Land Holders and Craftsmen have traditionally tithed food and supplies to the dragonweyrs to which they are bound. In times past, the mighty telepathic dragons and their riders were the only protection from the dreaded, life-threatening Thread.

But it has been over 400 years since the last Threadfall, and some people have come to doubt that the menace will every strike again. But F'lar, rider of Pern's greatest bronze dragon, has no such illusions. The Red Star is near; Thread will fall soon.

Editor's Note

Pern paved the way…

McCaffrey paved the way for women writers in speculative fiction with her award-winning “Dragonriders of Pern” series, which blends science fiction and fantasy to create a world full of telepathic dragons.

LanguageEnglish
Release dateSep 25, 2005
ISBN9781597379496
Unavailable
Dragonflight
Author

Anne McCaffrey

Anne McCaffrey, a multiple Hugo and Nebula Award winner, was one of the world's most beloved and bestselling science fiction and fantasy writers. She is known for her hugely successful Dragonriders of Pern books, as well as the fantasy series that she cowrote with Elizabeth A. Scarborough that began with Acorna: The Unicorn Girl.

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Reviews for Dragonflight

Rating: 4.427350427350428 out of 5 stars
4.5/5

234 ratings50 reviews

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  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    An oldie but a goodie for fans of fantasy! McCaffrey is worth reading even now.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    It was a good read. Slow at times. Has some dated themes for sure, but nothing surprising given other mid-century sci-fi and fantasy.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    The Pern series of books begins with this one and takes you into a wonderful world of craft, music, loyalty and dragons. Anne wrote many books, but this is one I'd like to live in.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    Couldn’t get past the hugely toxic main romance. Not a good example for young people.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Great story! I had some trouble after downloading the audio book because it would omit entire passages. Finally I removed the download and played it streaming without issue. The issue must have been with my iphone app. I love the series and this is one book that has me both crying in sadness and in joy. Highly recommend!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I love these books. They bring dragons to life in a most positive way.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I read tons of books, including sci-fi and fantasy. There were fantastic reviews of this one so I thought I'd like it but it was super slow. Reminded me of Oedipus with how much talking and how little action there was. It was hard to maintain focus and I frequently found myself not knowing what was happening.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Exciting tale of a world colonized long ago by people from Earth who didn't realize the deadly differences between Pern and Earth until it was too late...
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I can not count how many times I read that book. Since I own a copy, I read it a lot. Probably ten or more. And I loved it every time. What would I give for my own dragon! :)
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I loved this first book. I thought the relationship between Lessa and F'lar, while it happened rather quickly and was kind of predictable, was interesting and I loved it a lot. I also had a huge soft spot for F'nor.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I borrowed this book from my oldest sister when I was young. How amazingly lucky that my first taste of fantasy should be Anne McCaffrey. She created so many strong female characters (Lessa of the Dragonriders of Pern series, and Killashandra of the Crystal Singer series are my two favorites).
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This is one of those books that I can still remember where it was shelved in the library (which has been torn down), what that corner of the adult fiction section was like and the odd rocket+planet sticker the library inexplicably put on all the books I liked. The author died today, and that triggered these memories.

    I remember Daddy letting me loose in the adult fiction section at some point, when the preteen section was growing thin. Could this have been one of the first books I grabbed? Maybe; the M's were near the back, so I probably found Asimov first, but, maybe. Certianly one of the early ones.

    I remember figuring out that this was science fiction, and learning to appreciate how the SFnal view permiated the fantasy story.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I expected a lot out of this book. I’ve heard a lot of good reviews for Anne McCaffery and this book has been in my invisible off and on book watching list for years and years. Perhaps because I was expecting a lot, I got let down even more. Long story short, I didn’t particularly like the book. It was okay but I found I didn’t like the characters all that much, particularly in the way they were narrated in the audio book I listened to. But I think even if I had physically read the book I would not have liked Lessa and F’lar. The book was fairly fast-paced but at the same time, it dragged. The conflict didn’t interest me very much. I like anything to do with time-travel but even that wasn’t as fleshed out as I thought it could have been. I think in the sixties, when this book was written it was probably an innovative book and wonderful. But in today’s society I’ve read many other dragon based books that I found I liked more than McCaffery’s dragons. I don’t think I’ll be reading much more of hers; maybe her later books. But again, I’ve heard and seen hundreds of reviews that rave about the book, so if you’re interested I’d say go ahead and give it a shot to see for yourself. It’s only around three hundred pages.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I still enjoyed the beginning of this series almost as much as I had the first time but I spent a lot of time trying to remember all the strings of story and how it all ends up and comes together. I had forgotten how Lessa and F’Lar did not get along at all in the beginning not even during Ramoth’s first mating flight. This is one of those books where you wish you could experience it for the 1st time again, I really tried to just enjoy the story then they would mention a name like Jaxom and all I could think about was how much I loved Ruth and hey maybe I should read that next and oh wait what did he just say rewind, rewind. I’ve always thought of these books (as a whole)as very female-centric so having a male narrator was a little off-putting for me and that could be because I have read these before and had certain voices in my head. Dick Hill does a pretty good job at the different voices but when he turned up the echo for the dragons to speak it kind of sounded cheesy, I liked his narration but I really wanted these narrated by a woman so I think I will do my re-read in print with the voices I created in my head when I read these back in 2006.I will continue my re-read but I will read them in print.I would now give this 1st book 4 Stars.the 5 star rating is from my first time reading them so i will leave that as my rating.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I certainly liked this novel well enough and I certainly plan to continue reading the series, I guess I was just expecting more from an author so popular in the science fiction genre. Dragonflight is the story of Lessa, a young woman impressed with a queen dragon at a time when the Dragonriders of Pern have fallen into disarray and considered irrelevant by the people they protect. However, the approach of the ominous Red Star and the Threads that accompany it reveal the importance of the dragonriders and strain their few resources. Lessa and F'lar, however, work together on a new possibility that may save the dragonriders, Pern, and discover abilities they did not realize existed. A good novel, with the only reason I am giving this one 3 instead of 4 stars because of the high expectations I had for the book.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I really believe that Anne McCaffrey's best works were the first couple of series she wrote, the Dragonriders of Pern and the Harper Hall of Pern.This book was the first in the first series, and a well-written book it is, with good character development. I especially love how McCaffrey wrote Robinton, the Master Harper, and Fandarel, the Master Smith. I find myself grinning as I read, enjoying the back and forth of the lesser characters.The plot: the last Weyr of Pern has experienced the death of the last female dragonrider, and her dragon is dying as well, but not before she has laid one last clutch of eggs, including a queen egg that only needs a strong woman to bond with once it hatches.A search is conducted, looking for the right person to help bring the Weyr back to respectability, and to increase the strength of the dragons and their riders, who are the only defense against an upcoming attack by another planet's spore, aka "Thread".Good plot, good story, believable, enjoyable. What more could one wish? A sequel? ;)And thus was an entire universe created, and a legacy for book lovers.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I've tried to get into this classic series, and I confess I don't understand the fuss. I think the plot is slow, very few characters are engaging, and the interminable politics just kill the whole thing for me. There are a LOT of names and affiliations you have to keep track of to understand the politics, and frankly its not worth it. I've tried two books, and I'm done.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    The ending of this was the best part--which may be the case with many books, but it was thrilling figuring everything out and watching it come together. I found the descriptions somewhat lacking, but when McCaffrey did go into detail, it was marvelous!
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    Here's a book I loved as a teen that I really choked on this time through. What was I thinking? Misogynist crap, this. Stock characters, standard romance plot plus dragons. To make it even worse, the narrator was lame.

    I suppose I just need a big rugged man to grab me by the shoulders and shake some sense into me and then kiss me so hard my lips bruise. *grumble*

    2 stars because of the fond memories.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    So the story in this book was interesting, as were a lot of the ideas. As a librarian, I of course enjoyed the problems of information storage and dissemination. However, the gender politics and chauvinistic attitudes are just icky, and I didn't find any characters to like or cheer for. Even as the main characters' attitudes towards one another changed over time, I didn't get to know them any better or care about their codependent, borderline-abusive relationship. I'm curious about how the culture handles their looming environmental crisis and how the arrival of the new cast of characters changes their technology, but not enough to continue on with the series any time soon.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I'm still surprised I hadn't read these yet! Seems just the thing for me to have picked up when I was younger, but I'm glad I've started the series at last. Turns out I had read the short story this first book was based on, so it was a bit confusing.

    I got a bit tired of the main character's attitude--what's up with people not being able to just talk to each other? Or being stubborn and contrary when it's obviously just the absolute stupidest thing to do? These very things bother me in the real world anyway, so it probably bugged me more than it should have. This was also written quite a while ago, and attitudes have certainly change since then (well, mostly).
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    When something mentions fantasy/sci-fi and dragons the first thing that comes to most peoples minds is Pern. Even if they haven't read it. I've been hearing about the Pern books for as long as I've been reading those genres. I can remember looking at the books in the library as a kid and picking them up from shelves in bookstores but for some reason I never read a single one.

    With this year being about challenging my reading habits and having to choose something for fantasy I thought it high time I actually read a Pern book. And there's nowhere better to start than the beginning.

    Originally conceived as a couple short stories that went on to win awards McCaffrey pulled 3 short stories together plus a bit of writing between the gaps and Dragonflight was born. So far the Pern books have continued on for another 22 novels and a couple short story collections.

    But after reading Dragonflight I just think really? I really liked the concept. A strange planet where people and dragons fight this mysterious infestation that only occurs every 200 years (sometimes longer) and lasts around 60 years each time. But the execution was lacking. I think Lessa could have been a much better character. She started out as a strong, intelligent woman but by the end of the book was treated as a stupid, unthinking girl. She has to be controlled by the male Weyrleader. For a book written by the first woman to ever win a major sci-fi/fantasy award she doesn't really treat the female characters that well. Lessa was a virgin who was practically raped (the male character even says it was pretty much that) yet she never mentions it at all. There are at this point only 3 other female characters who have any lines. One dies at the start, one is the wise woman in charge of the stores of the Weyr (cliche much?) and the other is a slut.

    The ending was frustrating. Cliffhanger of course. After a very long setup the last part of the book, the bit you've been waiting for, just ends without getting to the good parts. After the way the book went I honestly don't think I want to keep reading the Pern books. Disappointing for a book so many people seem to love but it just goes to show again there's no accounting for taste.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The first novel in Anne McCaffrey's Dragonriders of Pern series. A very enjoyable sci fi/fantasy. The world of Pern is wonderfully imagined and the story had a lot of unique elements. I have to say I've never read a book with time traveling dragons before.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I read a few Pern books in my teen, I thought they were readable but at the time I was not all that taken with them. At that age I was not too discerning, I cared nothing for characterization, dialogue or prose. I read only for fun and escapism, not for the artistry of the works. Well, I am way out of my teen now, and I have cultivated an appreciation finesse to compensate for my own deficiency in that department.Since her recent passing tributes have been pouring in for Anne McCaffrey from numerous quarters, including major sf/f writers including Neil Gaiman, David Brin, Lev Grossman, and Vonda McIntyre. These tributes reminded that I never really gave Anne McCaffrey's books a fair chance. Now is as good a time as any to start exploring them in earnest.When I first heard about this series decades ago the idea of fighting threads did not fill me with enthusiasm, I mean fighting threads? May as well fight balls of yarn! I thought. Ah, but then there are threads and there are Threads, these things are more menacing than I ever gave them any credit for. They are basically mindless, true, but so are zombies and the threads are even more deadly. They burn and they burrow and they are of course relentlessThis is not a YA book, it is not action packed, those looking for heart pounding scenes of dragon conflagration are not likely to be satisfied. The major strength and enduring popularity of this book - and I imagine the entire series - is the immersiveness of Pern. The slower chapters depicting day to life on Pern is what makes the world realistic, after all life is not full of nonstop action on a daily basis. The author wants you to live with her characters not go on missions with them. That said she really makes you wait for the threads to make an appearance though!This is also not a fantasy book, not in the sense that Lord of the Rings or The Wheel of Time are. Anne herself has always been adamant that she is a science fiction author, no disrespect to the wonderful fantasy genre of course, but she deliberately backed the Pern fantasy tropes of dragons and medieval life with science. Pern is a planet, the dragons are genetically engineered and the lack of technology is due to some event that caused a fall of technological civilization. So no magic, no elves, no unicorns and no Dark Lord with a funny name (thank gawd!). The author's meticulous attention to details is awe inspiring.Anne's prose style is - as her legions of fans would attest - is beautiful, clean, clear, concise and literary. The main characters are skillfully fleshed out, unfortunately my one complaint is that the protagonist Lessa is unrelentingly ill-tempered and willful to the point of being a pain in the posterior. I am looking forward to many more visits to Pern."That was well flown, I say. Well flown".RIP Anne.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This is the first book in a hugely popular fantasy series by Anne McCaffrey, and I couldn't get into the story. The language is a little more formal than I'm used to though that may have made more sense when it was first released back in 1968. The literary appeal of dragon riding might seem overdone in today's culture of Eragon, How To Train Your Dragon and Avatar, but I suspect the concept was more original almost 50 years ago. The world building and plot are quite clever, but I'm unsure at this point whether or not to continue with the series.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    Lessa is a young girl who bonds with a queen dragon and joins the dragonriders to fight the Threads, a vague enemy which sounds more like a natural disaster than anything. I’ve read a lot of fantasy in my day, but this was my first visit to Pern, and I spent much of the time wondering how in the world so many books managed to be written in this series. The characters are shallow and not especially likable, the names are all spelled with apostrophes (ugh!), the writing was awkward and flowery, and the paradoxes brought on by time travel were frankly tiresome. I guess if I had some kind of existing affinity for dragons I would have been more drawn in, but I don’t. I sincerely doubt I’ll be reading anything else set in Pern.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I read this book the first time when I was about thirteen years old. Loved it then and love it now. Last year, my twelve year old son took my advice and read it. Then, he asked for the audio. So yes, I do have my old paperback, a lovely first edition hardback (that my spouse does not know how much I paid for) and the Audible audio edition.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Her early Pern books were so good--I have read them many times!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The first book in the very long series couldn't be better. The author did a really good job with her opening book. The only thing I didn't like is the pace of the book was too fast. Never had that happened to me. It's just kind of wierd when in talks about a certain thing and time and the next place they are talking about something else that who knows how much time has passed. I guess that's just a writing style. 
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This book has been a bit of a battle for me. On the one hand it's nicely written, kept my attention, and had characters that I've adored. On the other hand, it's had every feminist bone in my body (and I'm not much of a feminist, so there aren't that many) on edge. While the key character in the novel is female, and a strong character, she annoys the hell out of me. She does stupid things (that fortunately turn out for the best). And while she is quite a hero and hugely important she is, to some extent, just a sex object. It's hard to explain without giving away spoilers, which I don't want to do. It's not like she's some Xena wearing skimpy armour - she's not a sex object in that sense - but her character is necessary because females are needed to procreate, and procreation is crucial in this book.Despite this, I really did like the book. I loved some of the characters (although I could have done with more characterisation and less jumping between times and missing out character growth). The plot is simple, and the enemy unusual, and in so many ways this shouldn't work as a book. But somehow it does. I wonder how the other novels (of which there are a lot) can take this further, as this book seems to sum up the lifecycle of the whole of Pern. I'm interested to read more, however, so will probably be ordering the next book on my kindle.