Point Books In Pursuance Of The Dolphins of Pern (Pern #13)
| Original Title: | The Dolphins of Pern |
| ISBN: | 0345419383 (ISBN13: 9780345419385) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Series: | Pern #13, Pern (Chronological Order) #24 |
| Characters: | T'lion, Readis |
| Literary Awards: | SFBC Award (1994) |
Anne McCaffrey
Paperback | Pages: 352 pages Rating: 3.97 | 16287 Users | 249 Reviews
Narration Conducive To Books The Dolphins of Pern (Pern #13)
Ta dah! Review located. I am copying to here because the conversation thread is too interesting to lose. For any newcomer, mystified by this comment, see *footnote.The Dolphins of Pern
In this latter book in the Pern series Anne McCaffrey explores the notion that dolphins came to Pern with the original human settlers as helpers for the ocean side of the new planet. The book explores the re-discovery of the dolphins which have sentience and language skills due to a process they were given back on Earth (which apparently bred true).
Published in the early 1990's when dolphins and their intelligence were very much the talk of the decade, the book is a lot of fun in exploring Pern from these ocean going mammals perspective - I did very much love the fact that Pern's extensive oceans were getting a look in and would have been happy to read more about them.
This novel concentrated more on the Southern continent and a small number of settlements and people there so there was less repetition than was starting to creep in to many of the latter books in the series. McCaffrey's favourite characters from Benden ect do make a token appearance to wind up one plot thread, but I think McCaffrey loved them too much to ever completely leave them out, they are not central at least.
There was one element about the book that I was less than enamored with and it is kind of a spoiler, so maybe don't read it if you are planning on picking up this book. Definitely don't read it if you have never read any of the Pern books and want to (view spoiler)[The tactic for winding up Readis' plot line was predictable, repetitious and incredibly unnecessary. Also unbelievable.
I quite liked Aramina's character in a previous story: Here however she is a batshite crazy, borderline abusive parent, with no explanation and no reason. Her son is rescued from the ocean so she won't let him near it, raves and froths at the mouth makes him promise not to go near the ocean as a child and loses her mind when as a near adult he goes swimming. Ridiculous. Especially since she herself goes swimming and they live in a settlement on the ocean with a fishing fleet.
Then Readis stomps off to live in caves during thread-fall and follow his destiny with the dolphins.... hmmm.... where have we heard this before?
Menolly's story was good, so was The White Dragon, this book makes a repetitious hash of both those stories and it is not necessary in my opinion. Menolly stomping off to live it a cave has some credibility; she had no other resources, no one to go to. Readis is not in a similar position, he has heaps of other acquaintance, teachers, dragon rider contacts ect. Him going off to live in a cave is unconvincing and it feels contrived. (hide spoiler)]
Despite the two small elements about it that bothered me; the spoiler and the Benden contingent swooping in to save the day, this was a fun book and a very enjoyable installment in the Pern sagas. It is also very nice indeed to see a fantasy/sci-fi book making use of the oceanic environment and its inhabitants, too few do so.
*Footnote. In July 2018 I tried unsuccessfully to access this review, I angry-blogged; another long well thought out review, posted ages ago, that Goodreads has deleted (while moving the book onto my unread shelf) as though it never existed. Really angry about this!
Itemize Based On Books The Dolphins of Pern (Pern #13)
| Title | : | The Dolphins of Pern (Pern #13) |
| Author | : | Anne McCaffrey |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | First Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 352 pages |
| Published | : | September 10th 1997 by Del Rey (first published 1994) |
| Categories | : | Fantasy. Science Fiction. Dragons. Fiction |
Rating Based On Books The Dolphins of Pern (Pern #13)
Ratings: 3.97 From 16287 Users | 249 ReviewsAssessment Based On Books The Dolphins of Pern (Pern #13)
I would have enjoyed this installment more if Readis' mother hadn't had such antipathy for her son's work with the dolphins. It really didn't make any sense at all and just added unnecessary conflict. The confrontation with Toric was also superfluous.Another book in the Pern series, this one exploring the dolphins that apparently accompanied the original settlers to Pern and who still remember the traditions of helping the humans, even though the humans have forgotten. In this novel, with help from the records recovered from AIVAS, young Readis gets reacquainted with the dolphins and resolves to restart the Dolphineer mastery. It's a cute story and another tale of Pern - and a retelling of the colonization of Pern from another point of view
Ta dah! Review located. I am copying to here because the conversation thread is too interesting to lose. For any newcomer, mystified by this comment, see *footnote.The Dolphins of PernIn this latter book in the Pern series Anne McCaffrey explores the notion that dolphins came to Pern with the original human settlers as helpers for the ocean side of the new planet. The book explores the re-discovery of the dolphins which have sentience and language skills due to a process they were given back on
This book is parallel to The All the Weyrs of Pern in that it takes place in the same time frame.Readis is a youngster who develops an interest in "Ship Fish" (Dolphins) when they rescue him from a sinking skiff (during a storm). He's the first person in hundreds of years ("turns") to realize that they can talk. The story revolves around around this link between Readis and the dolphins as the fact of talking (and helping) "ship fish" clashes with the hidebound culture of Pern that is already
Another good Mccaffrey read. Love the dolphins.
This was such a great addition to the Dragons of Pern series. When the settlers came to Pern, they brought dolphins with them. Once thread began to fall and the settlers had to move north to the caves and as generation after generation came to be on Pern, the dolphins were a forgotten history. When the current Pernese went South and began to unearth their history, the dolphins were once again befriended and utilized. These were bottlenose dolphins that came from earth, or rather their ancestors.
For many Turns the dolphins have been left to fend for themselves. They remember the Second Crossing, the evacuation of the southern continent (detailed in a novella in The Chronicles of Pern First Fall), but why have the humans abandoned them?I understand why some people consider this one of the less-enjoyable books in the series: dragons hardly enter into it at all, the beloved characters featuring in the other books (F'lar, Lessa, Robinton, Menolly, Jaxom) are all on the sidelines here, and
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