Dragonseye, By Anne McCaffrey

Moving on in Pernese history, we have come to the time right before the second Pass of the Red Star. Man and Dragon-kind are busy preparing for this second incursion, grateful for the forethought of their ancestors. Holds are being made ready and holders are being trained for groundcrews all over Pern, except for in Bitra. Lord Holder Chalkin refuses to believe that Thread will fall again: moreover he refuses to spend good marks on training his people, or even preparing his hold for Thread. The other Lord Holders and even the dragonriders cannot convince him of the necessity for preparation, and meanwhile he is mistreating his people abominably. There is talk of impeachment, but there must be a unanimous vote of all the Lord Holders, and depriving a hold of it’s leader is not to be done lightly in the best of times. But this is not the best of times, and as Threadfall approaches, Chalkin’s own holders become more and more desperate for protection, and he becomes more and more unwilling to supply it.

That’s really not the whole story. There’s a lot of little sub-plots and stories running around. I like them a lot, but I think they detract from the overall story. My problem is that there is no real climax: rather there are several. As soon as one ends, another won’t be far behind in ending, so that there seem to be at least three or four endings in this book. It would have been a truly amazing book if they had all coincided, but the tension is wasted as it is bled off little by little.

I love the story about Iantine and Debera, though. Iantine just seems so real, and that is his greatest asset as a character. I wish more of the book could have been about him, although he was in there quite a lot already. He was just more interesting than many others, and it’s a poor author that doesn’t take advantage of that. Dragonseye is also great for those of us who have already read most of the Pern books. It is a bridge between the early technological years, and the later Pernese culture that is so distinctive and interesting. We see some traditions as they begin, and others as they advance further. The beginning of teaching ballads, for one, as well as the finger and eye stones to alert the planet to a Pass.

But what are also the strengths of the book are its weaknesses, as I mentioned before. The multiplicity of the plot, as well as the many different characters both added and subtracted to the story as a whole. All connected very well together, but it is a mistake for an author to divide their attention too much when writing. Readers like only a few central characters to watch avidly, with some peripheries to flesh things out. Dragonseye is satisfactory in its dealings with characters and storylines, but lacking the direction that could have made it great.