Dragonflight by Anne McCaffrey

I've always been a huge fan of dragons and dragon stories. There's something about these incredible beasts that just captures the imagination like no other. So many authors have entranced our minds with tales of dragons or included dragons in their stories and they've all added their own spin on dragon-lore. You might call Anne McCaffrey the queen of Dragon literature. She's written more than just a series...it's more of a saga...it's called Pern. And it's fantastic. The first trilogy that she wrote is The Dragonriders of Pern and the first book is Dragonflight.

It would be hard for me to give a synopsis of this story. There is so much involved in this story even though it's not all that long. It's a traditional fantasy set in the world of Pern. Dragonriders look after the world, protecting it from destructive threads that fall from the atmosphere as a red star passes. In return, the cities of the world support the dragons, their riders, and their Weyr (the caves in which they live). However, it's been so long since the red star has passed that the cities no longer believe that it is a threat and will not pay their tithes. Meanwhile, the dragon queen is dying and has laid a new queen egg and the dragonriders are on a search to find a new Weyrwoman, a companion to the queen who will soon be hatched. They find her in Lessa, a young girl from the town of Ruatha. Lessa is an amazingly strong character with a very determined mind that frustrates her mate and the Weyrleader, F'lar to no end. But she will prove to be an assett to the cause. She has gifts that have not been seen in Pern in a long time. The dragons that McCaffrey has created are simply amazing. Ramoth, Lessa's queen is simply beautiful (from what I pictured). She goes into such vivid detail when describing her dragons and we as readers share the same bonds that the humans share with their dragons. And when we witness the first hatching, we can't help but hold our breath and then feel warm and excited. Truly breathtaking stuff here! If you're into fantasy and haven't read these yet, I'd consider it a must read. It's most certainly a staple of fantasy literature and the defining series of dragon literature. And she's still publishing these Pern books! In fact, if I'm right, I think her son has even tried his hand at a Pern book or two. I'll most certainly be returning to the other two books in this series and I'm sure I'll continue on from there. I know this is one of Deslily's favorite series and you can read her review of this one here and she gives such a better review than I ever could!