The White Dragon

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.