The Dolphins of Pern - Anne McCaffrey

The Dolphins of Pern is one of the books in the Dragonriders of Pern series of fantasy/science-fiction books (imagine a fantasy world with sci-fi roots which are gradually being unearthed by the characters.) Since all of the books of the Dragonriders of Pern series are so different, I'll be making lots of comparisons with other Dragonrider books to try to explain this one. This means that unfortunately readers with no experience of McCaffrey's world ...
...deals indirectly with the immediate aftermath of the events in "Red Star Rising", and continues the story of some of the characters from "The Renegades of Pern" The book also gives an idea of what might be in store for us in "All the Weyrs of Pern".

If you're reading, or are about to read "The Renegades of Pern" you'll probably find some of the details of this review to be a spoiler, although ... more

The Dolphins of Pern is one of the books in the Dragonriders of Pern series of fantasy/science-fiction books (imagine a fantasy world with sci-fi roots which are gradually being unearthed by the characters.) Since all of the books of the Dragonriders of Pern series are so different, I'll be making lots of comparisons with other Dragonrider books to try to explain this one. This means that unfortunately readers with no experience of McCaffrey's world might find it hard to keep up, as the book deals indirectly with the immediate aftermath of the events in "Red Star Rising", and continues the story of some of the characters from "The Renegades of Pern" The book also gives an idea of what might be in store for us in "All the Weyrs of Pern".

If you're reading, or are about to read "The Renegades of Pern" you'll probably find some of the details of this review to be a spoiler, although they'll pass you by if you aren't familiar with the characters yet, so don't worry, just leave a day after reading the review before touching that book.

The Dragonriders of Pern series (skim down if you've ever read one of its' books) is based on the planet of Pern, where every once in a "cycle" of 200 years ("turns") an organism resembling, and known as Thread falls onto Pern for one pass (50 years) while an eccentric planet called the "Red Star" is draws close to Pern. Thread destroys anything carbon based (basically everything except metal, stone and water.) To combat this menace, dragons were genetically created from indigenous creatures called fire lizards, and dragonriders (humans with psychic abilities riding gold, bronze, brown, green and blue dragons) take to the skies and breathe fire and destroy thread. These dragons have the power to go between (teleport their riders, though both place and time in a matter of seconds, by diving into something freezing cold and emerging somewhere else, meaning they stand a fighting chance, since even if thread start to scour them, they can go between, and the thread die.) However, dragons are linked to riders through impression (like baby chicks to the first faces they see.) and when riders die, dragons suicide too.

Now to get onto the fantasy bit, at the time of "The Dolphins of Pern", the planet has seen nine passes, and it's people have forgotten all of their old technology, and completely lost contact with anyone off the world. The northern continent of the world is fully settled, and peopled by Holds (completely autonomous and self-sufficient citidels). There are also holds are dedicated to a particular "Craft", which survive by trading their talent and are called Crafthalls The most common are probably Miner Halls, and Fisher Halls, although Healer Halls and Harper Halls are equally as important. Finally, the Weyr(s) house the dragons, and Halls, Holds and Weyrs are all autonomous. The series started with their relearning the ability to make paper, and since then, mainly through some remarkable discoveries at the end of the previous book (chronologically) "All the Weyrs of Pern" the people of Pern have become more aware of their heritage, and their society is in the process of a major industrial revolution approaching our own level of technology today minus transport (dragons for some elite few, or a horse or ship for everyone else) and weaponry (swords and spears only). The Southern continent is also at last being populated.

All this means that although "The Dragonriders of Pern" series is technically Science Fiction, it actually reads far more like fantasy. The series can also be compared with series such as The Dragonlance or perhaps Katherine Kerr's fantasy in that it follows the story of a world rather than clinging to the quest/view of any particular group of characters.

We're done? Phew!

Primarily, there are two main distinctions which can be drawn to give a further idea of what this book is like for all you experienced Dragonriders of Pern fans:

Like approximately ¾ of the other Dragonrider books, "The Dolphins of Pern" is very much in the "Biographies of Pern" style, to coin a phrase. It can be most easily compared to "The Masterharper of Pern" "Dragondrums" or "The White Dragon". It's the concerned with the early life and coming to age of one character - in this case Readis (child of Jayge and Aramina, if you remember them.) and tells his story.

Second, "The Dolphins of Pern" is one of the late books of the "present" era (post-All the Weyrs of Pern). This means, first of all that you'll be reading in the lives and times of the characters of the early series, F'lar, Lessa, Menolly, etc. but also that this book is not just written to provide backstory or explanation for the way things are, (such as those books in the series set in the past) but to made to advance the modern era plot as a whole.

To this end, the viewpoint frequently switches between characters in a style which McCaffrey fans will instantly recognise, but which will be hugely disconcerting to anyone else. Thankfully the effect is minimised by the biographical style, but it still happens, and perhaps as a result of this we don't get properly inside Readis' mind until he's grown up near the end. If you're familiar with the main movers and shakers of the "present time" (if you've read "Dragonflight", "Dragonsquest", "The White Dragon", "The Renegades of Pern" and "All the Weyrs of Pern") this won't confuse you at all, since all the leaps in viewpoint are into the heads of characters from these tales, and about events which naturally follow from these books. However, if you haven't read some of these books, then the plot at times will probably hugely confuse you. For example, at one point the story leaps into a private council between the Benden and Southern weyrleaders, where Lord Holder Toric's newest schemes are discussed, and he is compared with Fax. The story then goes on with the Weyrleaders trying to thwart Toric's plans, which will have repercussions in "All the Weyrs of Pern", but is only peripherally concerned with the plot of The Dolphins of Pern.

To get to the plot (at long last) We start off with Readis being saved by what he and everyone else on Pern know as "shipfish", and they speak to him! As the story goes on he gets more and more involved with these creatures, and it turns out they are actually creatures called "dolphins", who had accompanied the original settlers to Pern from Earth. Unfortunately at this point he is denied contact with them… "Will he ever get to see them again?" is the question which the rest of the plot sets out to answer.

This is a simple plot, and it shows - "The Dolphins of Pern" is a lot shorter than most of the other Pern stories. Nevertheless, it's equally as satisfying, and far less confusing than "The White Dragon" for example. Since it's the story of a boy, The Dolphins of Pern is far more approachable by younger readers than most of the rest of the tales of Pern, since they tell about the lives of adults, with all the drama which that obviously entails, which equally obviously needs to be hidden away from young children...

As you might expect this book joins "Dragon's Kin" and (to a lesser extent) "Chronicles of Pern: First Fall" in being chiefly about the one species of animal, who are important to both the external plot, and Readis as a character. This cleverly serves to unite the biography aspect with the continuation of a series plot. (Just as how "The White Dragon" used Ruth's abilities to link Jaxom to the discovery of "Plateau".)

This part of the story is where the book succeeds the best, in my opinion. At the end of some chapters there are scenes set in the dolphins perspective, describing their communications with each other. These are all incredibly touching, and the writers concept of the creatures is beautiful (and apparently well researched too, following a stint of swimming at the Dolphin Research Centre in Florida… The life of a writer, eh?) To give an extract:

"The happy songs were from the things dolphins had learned to do with mans, the Dunkirk, the Crossing of the Great Currents, The Swimming of the Whirlpool, or the finding of mans things that got into the water and shouldn't stay there; the saving of mans in storms. There were many songs dolphins would sound. Sometimes every pod would join in, weaving the sounds back and forth across the seas of Pern.
That darktime, many songs floated on the Great Current." (pp119-120)

I would strongly recommend "The Dolphins of Pern", to any readers of the Dragonrider series, who have read at least "All the Weyrs of Pern" (although to be honest before you can appreciate that you need to have read at least "Dragonflight", "Dragonquest", "The White Dragon" and "The Renegades of Pern". Regrettably this required reading is quite important, since the book only has it's full value after these other books have been read. Although feasibly it could be understood without these other books, this would be at risk of spoiling the earlier books of the series, since you'll learn about the state of Pern at the time the book is set, and each book sees the world change a little, while the preceding book of this series, "All the Weyrs of Pern" saw it change a lot.

At time of writing, The Dolphins of Pern is available on the Amazon.co.uk Black Market for 50p!

Dragonflight, the first book in the Dragonriders series is on Amazon for just a penny… Plus about £2:50 postage and packaging one would expect.. You know Amazon! ;> 

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