On
Dragonwings
is an omnibus edition of three of Anne McCaffrey’s “historical” Pern
novels. McCaffrey’s
original series detailed the science-fictional world of Pern and its spore
fighting dragonriders long after the planet was settled by colonists from
Earth. At the end of The
White Dragon, the third volume, McCaffrey’s characters were only
just beginning to discover their long-forgotten past.
Subsequently, McCaffrey has visited that past to flesh out the
colonization (in Dragonsdawn), the establishment of the
pseudo-medieval society which thrived at the time of Dragonflight
(in Dragonseye [British title: Red
Star Rising] ) and the legendary flight of the dragonrider
Moreta in a novel of the same name.
Dragonsdawn
not only served to answer many of the question which arose in The White
Dragon, but also served to tie the series more firmly into the realm
of science fiction. The
characters, many of whose names are familiar from the earlier published
books, are given personalities which the reader can relate to and are
shown not always to act in heroic manner.
McCaffrey shows the troubles undergone by the original colonists
and how they dealt with them, along the way showing the origins of some of
the standard characteristics of Pern as well as knowledge the colonists
had that helped them survive which was later lost.
Dragonseye
is probably the weakest of the three stories in the collection.
Set two centuries after Dragonsdawn, the colonists are no
longer as dependent on the technology which came to Pern on the three
spaceships. They are
beginning to develop their own culture and institutions, many of which are
the prototypes for the institutions which are so ingrained in the original
Pern novels. Despite this, there is an air of familiarity in the way the
story plays out. Characters
fall into archetypes which McCaffrey has used in the earlier novels,
although they may seem fresher to readers who have not already read the
“Dragonriders of Pern” trilogy.
More
than twelve hundred years separates Dragonseye from Moreta,
less time than separates Moreta from Dragonflight, and Pern
is pretty much established by the time Moreta makes her legendary flight.
McCaffrey referred to Moreta’s flight several times in the
original trilogy and in 1983 she returned to Pern to tell Moreta’s full
story. When legend is
examined, it never meets expectations, and Moreta’s ride is not quite
what McCaffrey had made it seem initially.
Nevertheless, it does provide an excellent story, despite readers
of the original trilogy knowing the ending.
Although
these are the first three novels in chronological order, McCaffrey has
also published several short stories which are set during or before the
first two novels in the omnibus. These
stories were all collected in The Chronicles of Pern: First Fall. It
might have made more sense to combine this book with Dragonsdawn
and Dragonseye and leave Moreta for a later omnibus with Nerilka’s
Saga and a reprint of the newly published story “Beyond Between,”
all of which take place during the sixth pass and feature the same
characters.
The omnibus edition is a welcome introduction to
Pern for new readers and a convenient collection for those who have
already read the books. While
the selection of works in the omnibus may be questioned, the stories all
take place before the initial series of books and is easily defensible.
