Flights of Fantasy

The Classic books that burn our souls Are nothing more than words. Yet when we read our hearts will cry To share the flight of birds.

Name:
Location: New England, United States

I love reading. I love watching funny movies. Its sad, but that sums up a lot. But I quite enjoy it. :P

Monday, March 26, 2007

Dragonsdawn, By Anne McCaffrey

I would like to give a brief introduction to this series before I start on the specific review for this book. I think that would be slightly helpful for those of you who have no prior experience with the Dragonriders of Pern. For so the series is called. Anne McCaffrey originally wrote a trilogy of books, Dragonflight, Dragonquest, and the White Dragon. The world is named Pern, and the Dragonriders and their dragons protect Pern from the deadly Thread that falls from the Red Star. If the Thread were to fall unchallenged onto the ground, all organic matter would be consumed and humans would have no chance of survival. From this original trilogy many books have expanded in either directions, chronologically speaking. Dragonsdawn is a book that occurs a couple thousand years before the trilogy, and is the story of humans landing on Pern, and discovering the menace and disaster of Thread. Even though it was written after the original trilogy, I’m slightly obsessive with reading books in chronological order: not necessarily in the order they were written.

Earth has long been colonizing other planets, and along the way has come across some very unfriendly alien species as well as some friendly ones. But three spaceships full of colonists are leaving occupied space for the planet Pern, in hopes of finding some peace and a place to forget tragedies. This is a strictly one way trip: the ships do not have the fuel to make it back to Earth. But the colonists are hardy types with good strong leaders whom everyone trusts to lead them through difficult times. Or I should say, most everyone. There are some who do not plan on staying on Pern forever, but the authorities know who they are and are keeping a strict eye on them. Life proceeds fairly well for eight years after landing, until disaster strikes. What looks like a harmless rain squall turns out to be a deadly thread-like spore that devours all organic material it touches. Many lives are lost and many are badly injured in this first Threadfall, but the colonists refuse to lay down and die. The colony asks Kit Ping—a talented geneticist—to redesign Pern’s native dragonets into full size fighting flaming dragons. They would be a renewable resource to combat Thread and protect the inhabitants of Pern. But it takes time for Kit Ping to design the proper DNA, and it takes time for the species to grow. Everyone wonders whether it will take too much time, and whether there will eventually be anything left to protect.

Okay, that was a really long summary. It could have been longer, especially if I got into all the different characters that weave in and out of Dragonsdawn. I didn’t. But I’d like to mention the names of my favorites, because I feel like it would be an injustice to the books not to. I love Admiral Benden and Emily Boll, the colony leaders. All they really want is to retire in peace and quiet and forget the trials they endured, but duty calls when the colony is threatened and they rise to answer. Sorka and Sean are just priceless. We get to see them grow up and I always love that. (as a funny note, when I first read this I didn’t know that the name Sean was pronounced Shawn instead of Seen. It took me a bit to get used to calling him a nearly different name) They’re the first people to discover the dragonets (or fire-lizards) and I love the fact that they’re Irish. I just like imagining accents.

This hasn’t really been much of a review so far, just mostly information spewed at you. Succinctly I’d just like to say that this is not the best of the Pern books. I like it because it tells the beginning of the story, but it is not the most interesting or the best written. In all seriousness, there are many places you can come into this series without having read the previous books. Some of them are nearly stand alones that don’t require previous knowledge. Some of them belong to a continuous set, but you can jump in almost anytime. The way I got started in my Pern kick, was when I read The White Dragon. That book happens to be the third in a trilogy inside the larger Pern series. But I read it, liked it, and understood it enough to want to know more about Pern. I’ll be review the entire Pern series, mostly, and if one book doesn’t appeal to you, wait to see if another will. You can jump in then and ignore the rest.

Sunday, March 18, 2007

Master of the Five Magics, By Lyndon Hardy

I find it very shocking that no one has ever pointed this book out to me before. The only reason I ever read it was because I was looking through my Dad’s capacious book pile and it looked interesting enough to read. So I have and I am shocked that I haven’t heard about it anywhere else. It’s an interesting read, making use of many classic ideas but in many different ways: my favorite.

Alodar is a journeyman Thaumaturge, trapped in the castle of Iron Fist. The castle is under siege by the Baron Bandor who rebelled against the Queen Vandora, the fairest lady in the land. All in the castle try to outdo themselves in acts of intelligence and bravery to win her hand, and no less does Alodar. But although she is beautiful beyond belief, Alodar wishes for her hand only to regain his family name and honor, and to be recognized for his full worth. As only a journeyman in his looked-down-upon craft, his dream seems impossible. But using his small knowledge he enables the Queen to escape from Iron Fist as it is overrun, but another man gains the credit for it, as well as the reward of being named her suitor. Alodar is despondent, but hopes anew to raise his chances for her hand. His search will lead him through the five disciplines of magic (thaumaturgy, alchemy, magic, sorcery, and wizardry), and each time he almost succeeds another man takes his place. But Alodar will not give up, for he has the heart and will that is unmatched by any man alive, and he will succeed where others fail.

I find it very sad that no one has ever heard of this book. It’s well written, the characters are great, and I can see the world take shape around me as I read. Alodar is such a great character: he is truly stubborn even in the face of defeat. Few men are like him in real life, but he is very believable. He’s got a bit of an ego, and every time someone does not recognize his worth it just spurs him on to greater deeds. But that is so real. Alodar also shows some growth by the end of the book: at the beginning he’s so touchy and angry. By the end he’s learned a bit of steadiness and patience and how to bide his time.

But the book isn’t perfect. Sometimes Alodar makes a leap in judgment or emotion, and you’re left wondering where that came from. Hardy does this once in a while, and I wish he could have corrected that. There’s also some gaps in the story that I wish were filled, but that’s just me as the greedy reader speaking. I would have loved to see a bit more training with Cedric the warmaster, but that’s probably because I love to see people learning how to fight. It happens often enough in fantasy books, but I don’t really tire of it. But really, more people need to read this book. They’ll be in for a good time in a great world. The divisions in magic are really great, harking back to antiquity when people believed in alchemy etc. A world where all of it is true and where it never fell into disuse. I don’t quite know where you’ll find it, you can check your libraries, but I really advise that you do. I give good marks to Master of the Five Magics.

Friday, March 16, 2007

Freedom’s Ransom, By Anne McCaffrey

The Eosi are dead, and Botany, Earth, and all other human colonized planets are free to do what they will. But there is one hitch: the merchants of Barevi refuse to bring back all the stolen goods to Earth. All these items are vital to get Earth back up and running, but the Barevian merchants are notoriously tightfisted. So the colonists of Botany take it upon themselves to ransom back Earth’s property using judicious amounts of their own property. Zainal, Kris, and a few others set out to Barevi with gold, copper, coffee, and a dentist. But more problems will arise than they expect: most notably, the peacekeeper of the Barevian marketplace is an old enemy of Zainal’s, possibly even the Catteni who allowed him to be shipped to Botany. He will stop at nothing to discredit, bankrupt, and humiliate Zainal and the ones closest to him.

Have we switched genres again when I wasn’t looking? Because I could swear we started out as an adventure novel. Then we switched to Space epic. And now we’ve switched again to, I believe, well, I don’t really know what to call it. An epilogue, really. Most stories like to end when the supreme evil man/people are defeated and the universe is all wonderful again. For some reason we have been brought back for an encore. Don’t get me wrong, this is a good book, but I just wish McCaffrey could make up her mind. It’s a great storyline, but it has no real bearing on anything. It’s not that exciting. You can’t make a thriller out of a shopping trip, it just doesn’t work. Maybe if there was another story mixed up with it: then it would work. We’ve been to Barevi to buy things before, and that was okay. It was interesting, brief, and just dandy. I don’t think it was a good idea to write a whole book about it, though.

We do get to see Earth, in its declined and impoverished state. That’s fun, especially driving around, getting coffee, and seeing Africa. But it’s just not enough. Freedom’s Ransom is really a corollary novel; just an epilogue. As much as it’s not bad to read and handles itself well…that doesn’t make up for the lack of excitement and energy that was part of the series before. I really don’t know what McCaffrey was thinking.

Tuesday, March 13, 2007

Freedom’s Challenge, By Anne McCaffrey

Botany has finally been visited by the Farmers, and the Farmers are protecting Botany from the Eosi. But with all their power, they do not condone species injury, and they will not destroy the Eosi themselves. But their impervious Bubble surrounds Botany, protecting it while the colonists make their next moves. For they will not tolerate the Eosi any longer. Not only have they destroyed planets, but they have started to destroy the minds of the people of Earth as well. Renowned scientists, politicians, newscasters—all mind-wiped by the Eosi and rescued to Botany. But the Eosi have a weakness, and Botany will find it. It is only a matter of time, but time is a precious thing.

Apart from my really cliché last sentence, this is a decently accurate summary of the book. Of course, I forgot to mention the Catteni resistance, and the friends that Zainal brings to Botany. Oops. I mentioned it. But that’s kind of fun too. I didn’t really get very attached to them: it’s hard to get attached to people who only show up for one book in which we already have loved and well established characters. Especially when they don’t do or say very much. There was also a second visit to Catten, and a rescuing of Zainal’s two sons. They had been mistreated by their relatives because of Zainal’s defection, but no more. They now live on Botany. But within the second trip to Catten is a slightly amusing, slightly annoying thing that McCaffrey did. Kris gets pretty drunk trying to cope with the doubled gravity, and Chuck also gets massively drunk by another Catteni trying to get him to give away trading secrets. It’s an amusing scene when Chuck gets back to the KDL. What happens next I won’t really say, some of you can probably guess it. But I will say that you probably won’t guess what McCaffrey does pull: that makes it almost bearable. But not quite.

I do enjoy reading these books. They’ve got some great plot, interesting people, and the first one was really good. I’ve got a thing with finishing series even if the later books aren’t that great. You should hear me talk about Jordan. The main reason I like these books is because I like Freedom’s Landing, and then I had to finish the series. I don’t like how Kris turns out in the later books, and the quality has definitely gone downhill. But I have to complete the story. Even if it’s bad, I have to know what happens next. I guess it’s the eternal hope that what comes next is not as bad as what went before. Call me the optimist, but I do love reading series. Even slightly bad ones.

Monday, March 12, 2007

Freedom’s Choice, By Anne McCaffrey

Much has happened on the planet of Botany since the first unwilling colonists were dropped. There is the makings of a true civilization, as well as resistance to their true enemies, the Eosi. But the ever present question of the Farmers (as they are so dubbed) troubles the colonists. Who are these absent landlords? How complex is their technological skill if they can run an entire planet entirely by machine? Are they friendly to their new tenants, or will they be hostile? But this is pushed to the back of the colonist’s minds as other problems come to the fore. The Catteni are speeding up drops, increasing the population rapidly. Apparently Earth is putting up quite a resistance. But Zainal’s presence on Botany attracts the attentions of some High Emassi, who apparently want him for some duty that he is now anxious to avoid. But all this confusion can be put the colonist’s advantage, for with a higher technology level they can aspire to capturing some Catteni ships, and perhaps eventually win freedom for them all.

Despite all the changes to the scene on Botany, we still get to deal with our familiar friends and characters. Zainal is still at the fore, along with Kris, Mitford, and others. Mere subsistence is not enough, and when you dream big, who knows what will happen? But there are some large differences to the storyline. No longer is it just an adventure story—that phase is over. That saddens me, because that is what made the first book so much fun to read. It’s almost like she’s changing the type of series that it was, from a sci/fi adventure, to a sci/fi epic/drama. Very different in both the way characters are presented, and the story. I find myself not liking Kris as much as I did. In Freedom’s Landing she was a pretty self-reliant person who occasionally annoyed me with her personality, but now she’s worse than ever. Ever since she really got involved with Zainal her whole personality is different. She’s more worrisome, more jealous, more touchy. I just don’t like the direction Anne McCaffrey took with her.

I don’t think that Freedom’s Choice was as good as Freedom’s Landing. Maybe it’s the way some of the characters have changed, or the way the story has changed, but it is very different than the first book. It’s not bad, but it feels like a nasty switch to pull on a reader. I enjoy reading about the ingenuity of the colonists, and their exploits on and offworld, etc. But I wish…ah, well. I’m just grateful it’s a good book and a fun read, still.

Freedom’s Landing, By Anne McCaffrey

Earth has been conquered by the space-faring race Catteni. One day without warning the Catteni swooped down on earth, destroyed any resistance, and took away most of the population in 10 major cities. Kris Bjornsen was captured in Denver as she was going to classes, and taken to the spaceport/slave trading planet of Barevi where she is sold. Not one to wait around with futile wishes of freedom, Kris manages to steal a flitter and escape to the jungle where searchers would never find her. One day she sees another flitter crash in the jungle, it’s occupant jumping out right before it goes up in flames. Hoping to help rescue another slave from under Catteni noses, Kris investigates the survivor. Her shock is very great when she discovers that the crash landed man is, in fact, no ‘man’ at all. He is a Catteni, hunted by his own race for killing a patrol leader. If he survives until the next day, he is free. But before that day is over, both he and Kris are caught up in a riot in the city, gassed, and taken to an unsettled planet where they are dropped with only rudimentary supplies. This disparate group of aliens and humans must now work together to survive this strange world, and from the looks of things, that will not be easy. For who would trust a Catteni, even if he’d been dropped with the rest of them?

This is pretty much a clear cut adventure story. Add a dangerous/unknown world, few known supplies, different sorts of people, and it all equals an entertaining read. Kris is a strong character with her own ideas about how she should, and can, live. Mitford, an ex-sergeant, takes control of the dropped group of people and gets them to work together to survive. He’s great fun, and a great guy. We all wish that the government was run by people like him: it never is, except here in fiction. But he’s the type of guy that gets things done, can give good orders, and is not afraid of stepping down if no one wants him in charge anymore. But a real piece of work is Zainal, the Catteni. He doesn’t know much English at the beginning, so communicating is a bit difficult. His main usefulness is the bits of information he can remember about the planet they are on. Most people just want to kill him ‘cause he’s a Catteni, but Mitford sees the benefit in keeping him alive.

I love adventure. You’ve probably figured that out about me. It doesn’t really matter whether it’s science fiction or fantasy, or even some of the classics like Swiss Family Robinson, or The Mysterious Island. Science fiction can just give you your basic adventure with prettier trimmings. Freedom’s Landing is a strong book with good plot and well written characters. It’s a good read, and like most McCaffrey books can be understood and enjoyed by young adults as well as adults. My only cautionary about it is the sex. The idea pops up a lot, but there is definitely one mildly graphic scene. It’s easy enough to skip over when you know it’s there, but I’m warning you that it is there. Basically the book is written so that many ages of people can understand it, but only those of certain maturities should read it. In my humble opinion. But if what you’ve just read about it tickles your fancy, find it and pick it up! You’re in for a fun read.

Friday, March 02, 2007

Polgara the Sorceress, By David and Leigh Eddings

Polgara the Sorceress is what can be termed the companion novel to Belgarath the Socerer, and belongs in the same universe as the Belgariad and the Mallorean. Belgarath the Sorcerer told the story of Belgarath’s life up until Garion’s birth. Written from Belgarath’s pov, it focuses on some parts of the story more than others, and some parts of the millennia it leaves out entirely. This is because Belgarath could not be everywhere at once, and sometimes even he did not know the whole story. So this is Polgara’s version of what happened oh so long ago, and many countries away.

Polgara was basically nagged until she wrote her perspective on what happened, and it shows in the beginning of the book. She was a very reluctant author…until she read her father’s version and the blatant gaps convinced her that something had to be done. So she started writing her version, filled with many snipes at her father for things he had done wrong/mistakenly. Ah, daughterly love. In my opinion Pol’s story is almost more fascinating than Belgarath’s, because throughout the Belgariad and Mallorean we hear a lot of the story from his point of view already. All we know about Pol is that she agreed to shepard the Rivan line until the appointed time. So most of this is new news.

Surprisingly, Poledra plays a bigger role in history than we thought. She never really left, as is shown by her frequent chats with Pol. We get to see a bit more of Beldaran, Pol’s sister, but sadly not too much more. She’s really not a very interesting character, aside from being idiotically in love with Riva. Now that’s a funny scene. But she never does anything interesting, and the real tragedy would have been to force her to participate in the rest of the story. Aside from that, we see life from Pol’s point of view. The many years keeping Arendia from flying apart, the formation of the modern nation of Sendaria, the keeping of the Rivan line, and a very interesting visit to Yar Nadrak. So much fun. And it’s pretty much all new stuff, because she’s never told her story before. Even Belgarath never touched on it too much.

Thankfully Polgara the Sorceress is very different from most of Eddings’ books. I mean, it’s all about the same time period, but it’s all new. We’re not repeating everything again in the same way that we have been for 11 books. Not that there aren’t small inconsistencies in the story, but…it’s a good read despite them. I give high marks for Polgara the Sorceress, and label it one of his better reads.