The White Dragon

He's just an overgrown fire lizard!

He'll never be a real dragon!

The white dragon Ruth was never supposed to survive. Small for his size and stuck in his egg, Lord Jaxom saved his life. Now the young boy who isn't quite a Lord Holder, and the dragon who never should have lived have a life time bond. While Ruth pays no mind to the insults thrown his way, Jaxom is determined to prove his friend is just as good as the great bronzes.

The first half of this novel I have to admit dragged on. It mostly focused on Jaxom and Ruth exploring their capabilities as dragon and rider, which was entertaining, but there wasn't a huge amount of conflict. A few political spats from the Lord Holders and the familiar threat of thread, but aside from that not much happens until the exiled Southern Riders decide to meddle in the affairs of the North.

The Southern riders are old and dying. We've known this since book two. Exiled due to their greed and treatment of Pern, they have been a long overdue thorn that has decided to burrow in deeper. The hot headed and egotistical T'ron chooses to commit a heinous crime that nearly sets dragon upon dragon. This is the first conflict we see, where Jaxom and Ruth begin to prove themselves and is a turning point for the plot.

The Northern riders begin expansion into the Southern Continent, far away from the Southern Weyr so as to avoid further conflict and in search of a lost rider. Jaxom and Ruth soon stumble upon fire lizards who can give the riders clues to their mysterious ancestors and a curious ability only Ruth can use. As the Northerners begin to dig into the past that surrounds them, the bits and pieces they uncover start to unravel the mysteries surrounding the ancestors. I do wish the two stories, that of Jaxom and Ruth's realization of their self worth and the expansion of the Southern Continent had been split into separate books. I don't feel like Jaxom and Ruth went through enough trials to become who they are by the end of the book. It was more like they overcame school yard bullying than anything else, which in itself should be rewarding, but it fell flat.

I am also not one to enjoy politics, even if they are fictional. The plot structure could have also used work, as it sometimes jumped to a person's POV that was summing up what happened in the previous novels and the current one. None of this summary was needed and interrupted the storyline.

I'm not willing to give up on Pern just yet. I do want to know more about the ancestors and if the current inhabitants of Pern can deconstruct and figure out all that has been left behind. I also know there are a few books that take place during the original trilogy and I would be interested to know what has been happening in the other Weyrs.

Sometimes, you read a book when you're thirteen, and you're all, “Yeah, Jaxom! No one understands what it's like to be stuck in between so many things except you and me! I get this! I want a dragon!” Then you read that same book again when you're 32, and you're all, “Jaxom, you are an arrogant little snot.”

Anne McCaffrey took the Dragonriders series down the coming-of-age trope storyline with the third installment. She really does a marvelous job building that sense of self-conscious egocentrism that plague kids at this stage of life. She then mirrors that with the very idea of Ruth who is truly one of a kind and will never be like everyone else, a fact we all end up facing at one point or another. It's a good story, but somewhat marred by my adult skepticism. I can't look past the way Jaxom treats Mirrim and Corana anymore and his actions now seem a bit more reckless than precocious concerning his adventures. It's all in character as far as Jaxom is concerned, but it's no longer the kind of character I look for.

Still, I like the ending especially closing with Lessa and the fireplace and the discoveries that point to how much of Pern is left to explore. It doesn't speak to me as fiercely as it did my first go around, but it will always have a place in my heart.

This book just continues the inexorable downward trend.

We DO find out that Mirrim (a woman!) ended up Impressing a green dragon after all, so that's pretty cool. I was hoping for this loose end to be tied up, since the idea was kind of shot down in Dragonquest.

There's this weird scene, where Robinton somehow becomes a creepy old man who... has always been in love with Menolly (and she with him)? EW.

Her face, now blotchy from crying, was suddenly so vulnerable that Robinton felt his heart give a startling thump. He smiled tenderly at her, stroked tendrils of her hair back from her face. Tilting her chin up, he kissed her cheek. He felt her hand tighten convulsively on his arm, felt her lean into his kiss with an appeal that set both fire-lizards humming. Perhaps it was that response from their friends, or the fact that he was so startled that caused him to stiffen, but Menolly swiveled away from him. “I'm sorry,” she said, her head bent, her shoulders sagging. “So, my dear Menolly, am I,” the Harper said as gently as he could. In that instant, he regretted his age, her youth, how much he loved her—the fact that he never could—and the weakness that caused him to admit so much. She turned back to him, her eyes intense with her emotion. He held up his hand, saw the quick pain in her eyes, as the merest shake of his fingers forestalled all she wanted to say. He sighed, closing his eyes against the pain in her loving eyes. Abruptly he was exhausted by an exchange of understanding that had taken so few moments. As few as at Impression, he thought, and as lasting. He supposed he had always known the dangerous ambivalence of his feelings for the young SeaHold-bred girl whose rare talent he had developed. Ironic that he should be weak enough to admit it, to himself and to her, at such an awkward moment. Obtuse of him not to have recognized the intensity and quality of Menolly's feelings for him. Yet, she'd seemed content enough with Sebell. Certainly they enjoyed a deep emotional and physical attachment. Robinton had done everything in his subtle power to insure that. Sebell was the son he had never had. Better that!

He also has weirdly explicit thoughts about Lessa. This makes me super sad, not only because Robinton has always been such a super cool dude, but because the relationship between he and Menolly was such a good example of a male-female friendship that didn't have any weird subtext. Plus, the idea that she's settling for Sebell is pretty messed up. Basically I'm just declaring this whole thing non-canon.

We get more casual domestic violence:

“Brekke's right, Lessa,” F'lar said, putting his hand on Lessa' s shoulder with apparent casualness. “Mardra wouldn't like competition.” Robinton could see the pressure of the Weyrleader's fingers whitening his knuckles, although Lessa gave no sign.

“You will be my lady, won't you, Sharra?” “You know I will, Jaxom. For as long as I can ...” “For as long as we live ...” he corrected her, gripping her hands tight enough to make her wince.

PROTIP: DOING IT WRONG.

We get... weird dragon voyeurism?

As his hands touched her soft flesh and he felt her body press against his, he wondered briefly if she'd have been as willing a lover had he not been Ruatha's Lord. But he didn't care! He was her lover now! He gave himself to that pursuit with no further reservation. At the precise moment of his release, exquisite to the point of pain, he was aware of a gentle touch and knew, with a sense of relief that enhanced his own, that Ruth was joined to him then, as always.

He did not resist or deny Ruth's familiar beloved touch as his orgasm released the turmoil of body and mind.

“Do you like what you hear? Our lovemaking?” Jaxom asked, abruptly deciding to air his concern. Yes. You enjoy it so much. It is good for you. I like it to be good for you.

They made love in the soft warm darkness, delighting in each other and fully responsive to the moment of ecstasy that came, totally aware that Ruth loved with them.

We get... more weird almost-rape (with some bonus slut-shaming!):

Jaxom was not pleased with himself. He was thoroughly disgusted and revolted by the way he had used Corana. The fact that she seemed to have matched what he had to admit was a violent lust dismayed him. Their relationship, once innocent pleasure, had somehow been sullied. He wasn't at all certain that he cared to continue as her lover, an attitude that posed another unpleasant burden of guilt. ... But he ought not to have taken Corana like that. Doing so was inexcusable.

“And with Ruth, I can handle both responsibilities. Manage my Hold and please myself. You'll see!” He drew her closer to kiss her, but suddenly she broke away from him, pointing over his shoulder, her face mirroring hurt and anger. “What's the matter? What have I done, Sharra?” She pointed to the tree where two fire-lizards were intently watching. “Those are Toric's. He's watching me. Us!” “Great! Let him have no mistake about my intentions toward you!” He kissed her until he felt her taut body responding to his, till the angry set of her lips dissolved into willingness.

There's this sentence which is... baffling and kind of great?

Sharra had assumed her usual intricate fold of leg, a posture which evidently fascinated and confounded Menolly.

And there's the delightful phrase “cavort in lustful exercise” which... is MAYBE how I am going to refer to sexytimes from now on?!?