[.ca] DRAGONSEYE (5 CASS.) (ISBN 156100734X)

From Amazon.com:
When the volcanoes rumble and the powerful storms begin brewing on Pern, it means one thing: Thread. For 257 years Pern has been free of the life-destroying Thread, but now the Red Star has reappeared in the sky and soon the deadly Threadfall will follow. In the holds and weyrs across the land, the genetically-engineered dragons of Pern and their human riders begin feverishly training to combat the Thread, for only dragon fire can destroy the silvery invaders. But, incredibly, one Lord Holder refuses to believe the Thread will fall again, and he may endanger the entire planet.

Solving a few of those mysteries:
In this book, Dragonseye (aka Red Star Rising, the Second Chronicle of Pern), you meet up with familiar attitudes. Close to the second pass (about 250 years after the colonists landed) Chalkin, a Lord Holder of Brita Hold, is abusing his responsibility to his hold and refuses to prepare for Threadfall. The Weyrleaders and many other holders are trying to do what they can to overrun his authority. Unfortunately you need a unanimous vote to impeach a Lord Holder, and some don't believe the stories. Artist Iantine may offer a solution, but can they save Brita Hold in time? This book answers some questions like: Where did the firelizards go? And why don't the people still have them, since the colonists had them? When did computers disappear and why? Why didn't the people go and find AVIAS after the dust had settled? How did the Star Stones get to be? When and why did the teaching meathods go from teachers to harpers? If you are looking for old and familiar characters, you will be disappointed. I would reccommend starting with a book that is later on in time, so you will get familiar faces and characters that you will see over and over again, not like the one time only characters in this book. The first book anyone should read is Dragonsflight.

More like 3 and 1/2:
Well if you are stickly a Pern fan it would be a fine novel, and God knows this book is still much better then alot of the stuff getting published. Ms. McCaffey oversteps her bounds here I think, that is the main problem. Previously the books have delt with the later "pases" of the red star. This book was supposed to introduce us to the secound pass. I urge anyone thinking of starting a kinship with these books to reconsider and start at the begining. Then you will do better about understanding this serise of books.

Least memorable of a wonderful series...:
I've loved the Pern books for over two decades now but I have to say this is the least memorable of the lot. No engaging characters, not much of an interesting plot and a bit recycled. We've already had several stories of Pern folks not convinced about thread coming back. I understand that this is a different generation, but it just didn't amaze me nor was it given a new and fresh out look on the plot of resistant holders etc. It was not completly awful however, just not thrilling or a book I will reread as much as the rest of the Pern books. New readers to the Pern series should note that this is the only book of this generation and doesn't have any lasting story to tell here. Read the other Pern books first then, if bored for something new, read this one...

Great Book for the Pern Lover!:
It has been two hundred years since the last Threadfall on Pern and there is no one alive who remembers the deadly silver thread and its first horrific onslaught - except for the dragonriders. For two centuries they have been faithfully practicing the manuevers that Sean O'Connell, the first Weryleader, had developed to most effectively fight Thread. Now the signs of Threadfall are appearing: violent winter storms & volcanic eruptions, as well as other, more subtle signs. But one stubborn Lord Holder, Chalkin of Bitra, refuses to believe the signs. He also refuses to let his people prepare for Threadfall or to let dragonriders patrol his holdings. The Lord Holders must band together and find a way to deal with Chalkin before it is too late... But, of course, Chalkin is not the only person who is causing problems. Clisser, who is in charge of teaching, is forced to deal with Pern's slowly dying technology. Most of the computers are already dead and unrepairable. Students and parents are rebelling at learning "useless" information, such as wars fought on old Terran and other alien information. Clisser and his fellow teachers must make the tough decision as to curriculum changes - do they begin teaching at the beginning of Pern's history and focus on the here and now or do they continue to teach their students to try and see beyond their own planet? Artist Iantine is caught up in Chalkin's evil wake when he accepted Chalkin's patronage and agreed to paint portraits of his children and his wife. Little did Iantine realize that Chalkin would not be satisfied with any portrait that he made and that he would be forced to pay for food and lodging while staying in Chalkin's home. When he was finally able to escape, he recorded the horrific circumstances of Chalkin's luckless people and forced the Lord Holder's council to realize that Chalkin was not doing his duty. K'vin is the new Weyrleader of Telgar Weyr and is uncertain as to his relationship with the Weyrwoman, Zulaya, who is older than he and much more experienced. As the newest Weyrleader, K'vin is determined to have Telgar put in a good showing at the first Threadfall. If only he could get brave fools like P'tero to stop taking foolish risks to show off for their lovers! At first, when I started reading Dragonseye, I assumed it was just like Dragonflight - no one believes Thread will fall anymore, it is up to the heroic dragonriders to save everyone, etc., but I was pleasantly surprised by the subtle - but critical - differences. For one thing, Pern still has much of its technology intact at this point and people still remember the first settlers of Pern and why they came to the out of the way planet. They still have computers, pianos, solar panels, etc., and can repair much of what they have. This book covered the tough decisions as to what to pass on to future generations and how and the teaching ballads were born. They also wanted to create something more concrete to warn future Pernese that Thread was coming so they created the Star Stones. The Lord Holders were forced to look at the constitution of Pern and to make a decision regarding Chalkin and realize that lineage wasn't enough. It was also interesting to see the language start to shift into what is more recognizable in Dragonflight as the people of Pern start to use the word 'turn' for 'year', etc. Anyway, the story is familiar, but the characters contained are fresh and new and I greatly enjoyed this midway point between the original settlers and the time of F'lar and Lessa. I particularly enjoyed learning about the artists and found Iantine to be one of my favorite characters in the series. I know that other people have rated this book poorly, but I really enjoyed it and recommend it to other readers who have enjoyed the Pern series.

Good but not without errors:
This book was pretty good but there were a lot of noticeable (sp) typos in there. I think the story was pretty interesting and the characterization was really well done. Hope to see more on Pern from Ms. McCaffrey soon!