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A review by sarahdm
The White Dragon by Anne McCaffrey
5.0
Here's my no nostalgia review. First time reading this book in 2023.
TLDR: McCaffrey seems to have finally hit her stride with The White Dragon. Character driven and lots of interesting sub-plots blended together to tell Jaxom's coming of age story.
I have always liked Jaxom ever since he and Ruth were first introduced in Dragonquest. I could tell that their characters had serious protentional and I'm really satisfied with the character exploration and growth that happens in this book. Jaxom goes from a teen frustrated that he is not allowed to be dragon rider and hold master, to an adult who achieves both but in his own way different from the expectation.
With that said, the book really is just about Jaxom, so readers might be frustrated and feel like there is no coherent plot. The book is more several sub-plots all tied together by one common thread, that being that Jaxom is somehow involved. Character driven books aren't for everyone so I can see why some people wouldn't like it, especially if they aren't a fan of Jaxom.
And its very easy to not like Jaxom. He is possibly the most convincingly written teenage/young adult boy I have read in a long time. He is arrogant, impulsive, and horny. Like REALLY horny. The dude has like 3-4 different girlfriends at different points through out the book. And the weird dragon mating stuff is here and at full force, McCaffrey being sure to remind us that every time Jaxom climaxes that Ruth is also there feeling everything in his mind. There's a handful of sex scenes in the book, so get ready to read all about Jaxom and Ruth's intimate psychic connection. While this might be weird to read for some, its honestly just fascinating to learn and understand the ideas and feelings around sex for dragon riders in this world. I've said this before but its really not any weirder than A/B/O or omegaverse. In fact, compared to the first 2 books, the weird dragon sex is a lot less rapey in this one. Everything is consensual and all of Jaxom's partners delight in sex. Pern is so sex positive its wild that this came out 40+ years ago.
If you aren't a fan of Jaxom, a lot of other character are here and seem fully fleshed out in this novel. F'lar, Lessa, and Robinton all feel like real people instead of just placeholders now. Menolly, now a young woman, is actually tolerable and interesting compared to her books (Dragonsong & Dragonsinger). There is a weird scene between Menolly and Robinton in his book that I am not a fan of. I don't care how many fan fiction there are of them, the age gap is weird. Thankfully its not actioned on. Menolly, Mirrim, Piemur, Jaxom, and Sharra (a new character) create their own little Scooby Gang of friends. I really like this group of characters and the friendships between them. Those relationships are really on display in this book which really made me grow to like them all, now that they are actually realized characters.
On the lore/sci-fi side of things, some really cool and interesting stuff happens. Fantasy and sci-fi continue to be blended so well in these book. It makes me excited to read more of the series, just to find out what else the people of Pern will discover about their past. Also, the limits of time travel and going in-between is still exciting in this one. I don't see the novelty of it wearing off anytime soon.
Overall, this book is fantastic. A lot of the time readers will ask "When does the series get good" with books. With Pern, I really think The White Dragon is where this series is really starting to get good. McCaffrey is making fully rounded interesting characters, engaging in interesting worldbuilding and lore, and also having exciting plot lines. While some of the previous books were missing one or two of these factors, The White Dragon has them all.
TLDR: McCaffrey seems to have finally hit her stride with The White Dragon. Character driven and lots of interesting sub-plots blended together to tell Jaxom's coming of age story.
I have always liked Jaxom ever since he and Ruth were first introduced in Dragonquest. I could tell that their characters had serious protentional and I'm really satisfied with the character exploration and growth that happens in this book. Jaxom goes from a teen frustrated that he is not allowed to be dragon rider and hold master, to an adult who achieves both but in his own way different from the expectation.
With that said, the book really is just about Jaxom, so readers might be frustrated and feel like there is no coherent plot. The book is more several sub-plots all tied together by one common thread, that being that Jaxom is somehow involved. Character driven books aren't for everyone so I can see why some people wouldn't like it, especially if they aren't a fan of Jaxom.
And its very easy to not like Jaxom. He is possibly the most convincingly written teenage/young adult boy I have read in a long time. He is arrogant, impulsive, and horny. Like REALLY horny. The dude has like 3-4 different girlfriends at different points through out the book. And the weird dragon mating stuff is here and at full force, McCaffrey being sure to remind us that every time Jaxom climaxes that Ruth is also there feeling everything in his mind. There's a handful of sex scenes in the book, so get ready to read all about Jaxom and Ruth's intimate psychic connection. While this might be weird to read for some, its honestly just fascinating to learn and understand the ideas and feelings around sex for dragon riders in this world. I've said this before but its really not any weirder than A/B/O or omegaverse. In fact, compared to the first 2 books, the weird dragon sex is a lot less rapey in this one. Everything is consensual and all of Jaxom's partners delight in sex. Pern is so sex positive its wild that this came out 40+ years ago.
If you aren't a fan of Jaxom, a lot of other character are here and seem fully fleshed out in this novel. F'lar, Lessa, and Robinton all feel like real people instead of just placeholders now. Menolly, now a young woman, is actually tolerable and interesting compared to her books (Dragonsong & Dragonsinger). There is a weird scene between Menolly and Robinton in his book that I am not a fan of. I don't care how many fan fiction there are of them, the age gap is weird. Thankfully its not actioned on. Menolly, Mirrim, Piemur, Jaxom, and Sharra (a new character) create their own little Scooby Gang of friends. I really like this group of characters and the friendships between them. Those relationships are really on display in this book which really made me grow to like them all, now that they are actually realized characters.
On the lore/sci-fi side of things, some really cool and interesting stuff happens. Fantasy and sci-fi continue to be blended so well in these book. It makes me excited to read more of the series, just to find out what else the people of Pern will discover about their past. Also, the limits of time travel and going in-between is still exciting in this one. I don't see the novelty of it wearing off anytime soon.
Overall, this book is fantastic. A lot of the time readers will ask "When does the series get good" with books. With Pern, I really think The White Dragon is where this series is really starting to get good. McCaffrey is making fully rounded interesting characters, engaging in interesting worldbuilding and lore, and also having exciting plot lines. While some of the previous books were missing one or two of these factors, The White Dragon has them all.