Dragonflight

I took this review from a 5-star to a 4-star in my rereading. It's Dragonflight still an excellent book? Yes. But perhaps I read now with more of a critical eye than I did almost 20 years ago.

The Chronicles of Pern contain some of the most believable and relatable dragons in fantasy, and they're truly the mold from which other dragons in the genre are cut. However, I find my issues now revolve around the human characters in the story.

Lessa and F'lar, specifically, seem pulled from a YA novel of today. This isn't really meant to be a YA book, of course. But Lessa's incessant need to prove herself (and to whom, exactly? She was chosen) and F'lar's incessant need to... well, shake Lessa, grew tiresome (and even became a point of humor towards the end of the book, so many this was intended).

It's a book very much of it's time. It can also err on the side of the cheesy:

Mother of us all, he was glad that now, of all times conceivable, he, F'lar, rider of bronze Mnementh, was a dragonman of Pern!

The best part of the book, in my opinion, is the way McCaffrey deals with time travel. It's never an easy topic to deal with, but the entire setup comes together perfectly at the end of the tale.