The Pern books are generally fun little bits of fluff, so I decided to give one of the mother-and-son collaboration books about Pern a try. I was..."disappointed", I guess is the best word.
I know that Anne McCaffrey doesn't so much as have a nodding acquaintance with "Continuity" or "Consistency" in her books (the "Crystal Singer" and brainship books are especially horrible at this - she's got entire plot points being contradicted at times. Other times it's just "timeline" issues or other minor items, but still...) I have, however, come to expect that a story will, if not be internally consistent, at least be an entertaining read with a good storyline and story flow.
This book, however - the first half or so was entertaining. It's set 12 years before a Thread Pass, sometime between Moreta's Ride and "modern-day" Pern. It tells the story of "Kindan", a Harper apprentice, who originally worked in a mine, as a bondmate to a watch-wher. He then moved to the Harper hall, then was taken in a Search for a potential dragonrider, and when he didn't Impress a dragon, he went back to the Harper hall. He has a duel, makes friends, Impresses a fire-lizard, falls in love, and generally lives his life.
About the time of the fire-lizard Impression and the falling in love, however, the story starts to fall apart. Things happen that just don't make sense - or aren't explained well. However, the story still flowed fairly decently, and I was willing to overlook the inconsistencies for the sake of the story.
But the last 1/3 of the book or so is "suddenly, a PLAGUE appears!" This pandemic is very similar to the Influenza Epidemic of 1919 - the healthiest, strongest people (and the very weakest) are the ones who die, while the old, infirm, and very young are the ones who survive. And, naturally, it's deadly, spreads like wildfire, takes out entire holds, doesn't affect dragonriders...sound familiar? It should - it's Moreta's Story all over again with a different plague. It's as though they couldn't allow Kindan to just live his life and tell the story - no, instead they felt compelled to suddenly reprise Moreta's Story (complete with "timing it", although Kindan obviously isn't the one timing it, and the "timers" survive it, rather than getting lost between).
I get it: Plagues and epidemics aren't predictable, they don't happen just once and then no other disease hits like that, but honestly. It read like they suddenly realized "hey, we've got no real conflict now...I know, let's throw in a half-disguised Moreta Story! Yeah, that's it..."
It didn't work. I don't think I'll be reading any more Todd-and-Anne books; this one just wasn't as cohesive as some of her other collaborations, and I don't have the patience for books like that.
2 bones.
Showing posts with label Anne McCaffrey. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Anne McCaffrey. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Friday, January 4, 2008
Acorna's Children Trilogy
The Acorna's Children Trilogy is made up of "First Warning", "Second Wave" and "Third Watch" and, as you'd expect, involves the offspring of Acorna, the linyaari heroine of the "Acorna" series.
A few notes before I get into the synopsis. First, if you've never read the "Acorna" series, you likely won't understand these books. It assumes you've read the Acorna books and are already knowledgeable of the "culture". Second, I'm reviewing all three of these books at once because they're essentially one gigantic book, broken into thirds.
SYNOPSIS: An extremely rapid-moving plague breaks out, killing in a seemingly indiscriminate manner. Later it is discovered that the plague attacks those of childbearing age, and only those people. Khorii, Acorna's daughter, is able to see the "plague dots" - apparently the virus itself. The Linyarii are able to heal people and decontaminate the plague-affected areas, but in overworking themselves, Acorna and Aari (Khorii's parents) become infected with a mutated version of the plague that cannot be cured by the Linyarii. They are carriers of the mutant strain, and do not get sick, but they are in isolation for everyone else's sake.
Khorii looks for a way to cure them, and for the source of the plague, hoping the originators can eradicate it.
Meanwhile, her twin sister, kidnapped from the womb of Acorna, by Greymalkin, at the end of the Acorna series, has been raised these past 6 years by the "Friends" in an attempt (by them) to understand how they merged their race with the Ancestors (unicorns) to make the Linyaari. Her sister escapes from the Friends by stealing a crono, and meets up with Acorna, Aari and eventually Khorii, and together the twins (with Greymalkin's assistance) work together to solve the mystery of the plague.
The plague mutates again...they think...except that it's not a mutation. It's the next generation of development.
Through their time-travels, they discover that the "plague" is really a life-form that mutated when it was attacked by the Khleevi, and is now being spread throughout the galaxy by the last few "Friends". All the threads are tied up at the end, the plague is stopped, and Greymalkin falls in love with one of the Others / Ancestors in his time and goes back to be with her, neatly explaining (by inference) how the Linyaari people were started.
REVIEW: Uh-huh. I do not, as a rule, like books that have no resolution. I was unimpressed with "First Warning" when it came out, because it didn't resolve anything. "Here's all the problems, now wait a year or two for the next installment. Then another year or two for the conclusion...or maybe just another installment. You'll see when it comes out." My opinion: if I like the book / author / series enough to keep reading, I'm going to do so. You don't have to play little Hardy-boys-style cliffhanger games to get me to read the books. If they're not good enough to each stand on their own, then nothing you do is going to induce me to finish the series. In fact, that game has turned me off some perfectly good series before, including this one. The only reason I picked them up was because the library had all three books available.
I was disappointed, frankly. I usually expect better from Ms. McCaffrey. I really enjoyed the "Acorna" series, and was hoping for more. Unfortunately, these read rather like she was "pushing" the appeal and trying to get more mileage out of the series, rather than writing them because she had more story to tell. The ending was weak, the resolution was very deus-ex-machina, and felt rushed, as though she realized she needed an ending and wanted to tie everything up, so she just threw a solution at it and hoped it'd work.
As far as the Linyaari Origin Story...complete disappointment. These "Friends" wanted to figure out how they "combined" with the Ancestors to make the Linyaari and not once did they try it the time-tested old-fashioned way? Come on. I don't believe that for a second. Greymalkin was the only one to try it? Puh-leez.
It started out as a good story, but I think she pushed the franchise too far, and tried to get too many elements into the story. It was an entertaining ride, but a disappointing finish.
2.5 of 5.
A few notes before I get into the synopsis. First, if you've never read the "Acorna" series, you likely won't understand these books. It assumes you've read the Acorna books and are already knowledgeable of the "culture". Second, I'm reviewing all three of these books at once because they're essentially one gigantic book, broken into thirds.
SYNOPSIS: An extremely rapid-moving plague breaks out, killing in a seemingly indiscriminate manner. Later it is discovered that the plague attacks those of childbearing age, and only those people. Khorii, Acorna's daughter, is able to see the "plague dots" - apparently the virus itself. The Linyarii are able to heal people and decontaminate the plague-affected areas, but in overworking themselves, Acorna and Aari (Khorii's parents) become infected with a mutated version of the plague that cannot be cured by the Linyarii. They are carriers of the mutant strain, and do not get sick, but they are in isolation for everyone else's sake.
Khorii looks for a way to cure them, and for the source of the plague, hoping the originators can eradicate it.
Meanwhile, her twin sister, kidnapped from the womb of Acorna, by Greymalkin, at the end of the Acorna series, has been raised these past 6 years by the "Friends" in an attempt (by them) to understand how they merged their race with the Ancestors (unicorns) to make the Linyaari. Her sister escapes from the Friends by stealing a crono, and meets up with Acorna, Aari and eventually Khorii, and together the twins (with Greymalkin's assistance) work together to solve the mystery of the plague.
The plague mutates again...they think...except that it's not a mutation. It's the next generation of development.
Through their time-travels, they discover that the "plague" is really a life-form that mutated when it was attacked by the Khleevi, and is now being spread throughout the galaxy by the last few "Friends". All the threads are tied up at the end, the plague is stopped, and Greymalkin falls in love with one of the Others / Ancestors in his time and goes back to be with her, neatly explaining (by inference) how the Linyaari people were started.
REVIEW: Uh-huh. I do not, as a rule, like books that have no resolution. I was unimpressed with "First Warning" when it came out, because it didn't resolve anything. "Here's all the problems, now wait a year or two for the next installment. Then another year or two for the conclusion...or maybe just another installment. You'll see when it comes out." My opinion: if I like the book / author / series enough to keep reading, I'm going to do so. You don't have to play little Hardy-boys-style cliffhanger games to get me to read the books. If they're not good enough to each stand on their own, then nothing you do is going to induce me to finish the series. In fact, that game has turned me off some perfectly good series before, including this one. The only reason I picked them up was because the library had all three books available.
I was disappointed, frankly. I usually expect better from Ms. McCaffrey. I really enjoyed the "Acorna" series, and was hoping for more. Unfortunately, these read rather like she was "pushing" the appeal and trying to get more mileage out of the series, rather than writing them because she had more story to tell. The ending was weak, the resolution was very deus-ex-machina, and felt rushed, as though she realized she needed an ending and wanted to tie everything up, so she just threw a solution at it and hoped it'd work.
As far as the Linyaari Origin Story...complete disappointment. These "Friends" wanted to figure out how they "combined" with the Ancestors to make the Linyaari and not once did they try it the time-tested old-fashioned way? Come on. I don't believe that for a second. Greymalkin was the only one to try it? Puh-leez.
It started out as a good story, but I think she pushed the franchise too far, and tried to get too many elements into the story. It was an entertaining ride, but a disappointing finish.
2.5 of 5.
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