Book Review: Dragonflight by Anne McCaffrey

Dragonflight by Anne McCaffrey
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I wish Goodreads supported half-stars in its rating system. For me, this book wasn't quite a four but still slightly more than a three. Oh, well.

More than a decade has passed since I last read this novel, and I have the sneaking suspicion that I did so in Finnish. (I only started being picky about translations sometime after HP 5 came out. Read that in English, have endeavoured to do so ever since — when the original is in English, obviously.) Thus, my memories of the story were vague at best.

What struck me most was how very unlikeable Lessa is for much of the book. She has her reasons, certainly, and many of the entirely frustrating things she does are, in the end, quite understandable. Nevertheless, this realisation threw me off balance for a while. It's a bit discomfiting when you find yourself unable to like the main character. Then again, that is probably one of the strengths of this novel; McCaffrey manages to make the reader sympathise with someone whom, for a good stretch, you feel like throttling.

Honestly, I'm much more fond of F'lar and F'nor.

The lore discovered throughout the story is revealed at a good pace, not too slow and not too fast. No awkward infodumps here! Also absent are overly detailed character descriptions. Clothing and appearances are described, yes, but those parts feel much more organic than they often do. It's a skill many writers should spend time honing.

I'm glad I reacquainted myself with this series, and quite look forward to reading more of it.

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