mass market paperback
Published May 12, 1978 by Del Rey.
HOW CAN ONE GIRL SAVE AN ENTIRE WORLD?To the nobles who live in Benden Weyr, Lessa is nothing but a ragged kitchen girl. For most of her life she has survived by serving those who betrayed her father and took over his lands. Now the time has come for Lessa to shed her disguise--and take back her stolen birthright. But everything changes when she meets a queen dragon. The bond they share will be deep and last forever. It will protect them when, for the first time in centuries, Lessa's world is threatened by Thread, an evil substance that falls like rain and destroys everything it touches. Dragons and their Riders once protected the planet from Thread, but there are very few of them left these days. Now brave Lessa must risk her life, and the life of her beloved dragon, to save her beautiful world. . . .From the …
HOW CAN ONE GIRL SAVE AN ENTIRE WORLD?To the nobles who live in Benden Weyr, Lessa is nothing but a ragged kitchen girl. For most of her life she has survived by serving those who betrayed her father and took over his lands. Now the time has come for Lessa to shed her disguise--and take back her stolen birthright. But everything changes when she meets a queen dragon. The bond they share will be deep and last forever. It will protect them when, for the first time in centuries, Lessa's world is threatened by Thread, an evil substance that falls like rain and destroys everything it touches. Dragons and their Riders once protected the planet from Thread, but there are very few of them left these days. Now brave Lessa must risk her life, and the life of her beloved dragon, to save her beautiful world. . . .From the Paperback edition.
Okay I liked this book, it's alright science fantasy, heavy on the fantasy...
But god the relationship between the main characters is awful and doesn't even really matter to the story. The story isn't improved in anyway by its marginal inclusion, it's just baffling. Why why why it's so gross
The good: it's an interesting world with interesting characters, it's reasonably paced & well written. The audiobook read by Dick Hill is terrific, he's a very good actor.
The neutral: it's kind of an odd idea to justify a high fantasy world with a science fiction premise. (Ursula K. Le Guin also did this with the early Hainish novels, particularly the first one, Rocannon's World.) The SF elements do enter more into the story as the book progresses, leading to a somewhat bizarre, but satisfying conclusion.
The bad: First of all I find it difficult to relate to nobility, which is unfortunate because nearly all the named characters in this story are some variety of noble. The whole plot of the book serves to justify the Dragonmen's rule over the Holds (themselves feudal). It's made obvious that (literal) draconic protection is necessary, but it surely could be achieved without Draconic …
The good: it's an interesting world with interesting characters, it's reasonably paced & well written. The audiobook read by Dick Hill is terrific, he's a very good actor.
The neutral: it's kind of an odd idea to justify a high fantasy world with a science fiction premise. (Ursula K. Le Guin also did this with the early Hainish novels, particularly the first one, Rocannon's World.) The SF elements do enter more into the story as the book progresses, leading to a somewhat bizarre, but satisfying conclusion.
The bad: First of all I find it difficult to relate to nobility, which is unfortunate because nearly all the named characters in this story are some variety of noble. The whole plot of the book serves to justify the Dragonmen's rule over the Holds (themselves feudal). It's made obvious that (literal) draconic protection is necessary, but it surely could be achieved without Draconic leadership. But monarchy is, to some degree, in nearly every high fantasy novel, & I can't fault it too much for this.
& second of all, the issue I alluded to in the title of this review—Lessa and F'lar's relationship. They are said to have romantic feelings for each other by the end, but in my view F'lar is coercive & abusive just as much then as he is in the beginning. Lessa is afraid to anger him for fear of being violently shaken & yelled at. It's pretty gross & not a healthy relationship at all (though it is perhaps realistic to how royal partnerships were in real life). It's really a shame that it's like this because otherwise the book is pretty enjoyable. I don't know if I'll read more of these novels—I don't think I can if they continue to be Like This.
