This is the sequel to Dragonflight, the first of Anne McCaffrey's books about the world of Pern. I don't like this one as much. If Dragonflight is Lessa's story, then this is F'lar's story - her Weyrmate (as close as dragonriders get to husbands). The thing is, rather than building to a climax, it is more a series of problems, discoveries, and solutions. It is a good escape to the world and lives of dragonriders in Pern, where bad guys consist of mindless organizms that fall from the sky, and petty sour ornery people who need a time out. There is one knife duel, and a couple of dragons fight to the death, but that's about it for physical conflict. The rest is more political and interpersonal drama.This book also reminded me of what I don't like about these books - dragonriders are telepathically linked to animals, which gets a little weird when it comes time for the animals to mate. The result is that dragonriders don't have the same constraints about their sex lives, and there's more discussed and portrayed than I'm comfortable with in this book. No, you're not going to get your kicks off of it, but I wouldn't want my kids reading it until they're mature, and even then I wouldn't recommend it. Sorry to say that I give this one a thumbs down.
