Rockhurst Sentinel

Issue date: 10/16/06 Section: Entertainment

Welcome back for a second session of Fantasy 101- Introduction to Fantasy. Cameron and I have given our recommendations for well-written, yet fun to read, novels in epic fantasy. But this is only the tip of the iceberg; fantasy is much more than this. For instance, take dragons!

Dragons have been a standard feature in fantasy fiction. Harry Potter steals the egg from a Hungarian Horntail in The Goblet of Fire, Bilbo meets Smaug in The Hobbit, and Jane and Melanchthon are an item in The Iron Dragon's Daughter. These are great stories with dragons, but for someone who wants just dragons without all the foo-foo I suggest Dragonflight by Anne McCaffrey.

In this novel, McCaffrey removes many of the standard fantasy trappings of magical powers, evil sorcerers, sacred artifacts, mystical quests, and offers an in-depth and somewhat realistic look at a society based around the domestication and use of dragons. For many, this novel provides a nice blend of science fiction and fantasy.

In Dragonflight's two-page prologue one learns that the men and women living on Pern are descendants of a colony ship that landed long ago. Over time the colony reverts to a more agrarian society with certain customs and practices. The downside is that much of the technology and the reasons behind certain customs are lost. One crucial belief, now considered legendary, is the fall of Thread.

What it is and how the dragons come to be are also explained in the prologue. The problem posed in the novel is that so much time has passed that no records exist outside of apparently outdated customs and songs explaining what to do. If no one believes in Thread, then there's no need for dragons or the privileges and rights associated with the dragonriders. This is the period in which Dragonflight takes place.

McCaffrey's dragons are intelligent, sentient creatures coming in five colors, Blue, Green, Brown, Bronze, and Gold. Only the gold are female and, much like bees or ants lay the eggs. The bonding of each rider to his or her dragon is cool. McCaffrey calls it 'Impression,' and the bonding begins even before the dragonet is hatched. Once a dragon has 'impressed' itself upon a human rider, the bond becomes symbiotic-the dragon and its rider sharing thoughts and moods like telepathy. The bond is only dissolved when either the dragon or its rider dies. There is one very poignant description of a dragon mourning the loss of its rider.

Continued...

Page 1 of 2 next >

Article Tools