Where we agreed
4 numeric ballots landed at a 3.13 average. Population SD: 1.24.
May 2026 selection
3.1/5
- Published
- 1968
- Genre
- Science fantasy adventure
- Length
- 299 pages
- Participation
- 4 finished · 4 DNR records
Book brief
The bio
On Pern, Lessa rises from exile and bonds with a queen dragon just as the planet faces a deadly return of Thread, forcing rival factions to unite in a fight for survival.
Published club synthesis
Club verdict
A foundational dragon-and-time-travel oddity that split the room hard between genre delight and total resistance.
Josh's May pick dropped the club into Pern, where the opening slog, dated gender dynamics, and flat fantasy furniture tested almost everyone before the weyr politics and time-travel mechanics finally kicked the book into gear. Matt and Eric both warmed up once the sci-fi machinery arrived, with Eric especially enjoying the astronomy, teleporting, and political break from tradition, while Josh valued the worldbuilding and the book's early influence on modern dragon fantasy. Ed, meanwhile, bounced off the whole enterprise and gave the room its clearest dissenting vote, finding the mix of fantasy and sci-fi disengaging rather than charming. The final verdict is a qualified genre yes: strong for readers who like old-school fantasy/sci-fi history, rough going for anyone who needs modern pacing, richer character work, or less 1960s relationship nonsense.
The scorecard
Where we agreed. Where we fought.
Where we fought
Matt went highest at 4/5; Ed went lowest at 1/5. Range: 3.0 stars.
Unnecessarily official honours
Club categories
What aged the best/worst?
The best-aged votes clustered around the worldbuilding, the dragon bond, and the surprise sci-fi/time-travel turn, especially for Josh, Matt, and Eric. The worst-aged material was just as clear: Ed, Matt, Eric, and Josh all circled the gender dynamics, with Ed also finding the whole thing painfully dated and Matt calling out the generic fantasy shell.
Best: Josh, Matt, Eric | Worst: Ed, Matt, Eric, Josh
One Fix Changes Everything
The room mostly wanted structural surgery. Matt would cut the explicit prologue and let the sci-fi past emerge through hints, Josh wanted the two merged halves properly rewritten into one coherent book, and Ed and Eric both landed on the same blunt fix: give the story more action.
Structure: Matt and Josh | More action: Ed and Eric
The Dion Waiters Heat Check Award
F'nor and the Harpmaster/Master Smith lane took the oddball honours, with Eric liking F'nor's intense return and lieutenant energy, Josh reaching for Master Smith Something-or-other, and Matt giving the nod to the Harpmaster. Ed abstained by way of total disengagement.
F'nor, the Harpmaster, and Master Smith Something-or-other
Casting Couch Corner
The casting board went from plausible to cursed very quickly: Matt picked Anya Taylor-Joy, Josh went full LOTR-era Viggo Mortensen, Eric offered Charlie Hunnam, and Ed suggested Andy Serkis or Benedict Cumberbatch for every dragon with Tom Holland doing everyone else.
Casting chaos by Ed, Matt, Eric, and Josh
The Oprah Bookclub Award
The recommendation vote is narrow and conditional. Matt, Eric, and Josh would recommend it mainly to fantasy or sci-fi readers interested in an early genre-defining work; Ed would tell almost anyone to read literally anything else.
Yes, with genre caveats: Matt, Eric, Josh | No: Ed
8 preserved records
Member ballots
Open any ballot. Direct historical wording remains untouched.
JoshJosh picked Dragonflight because he had history with the series and wanted to revisit an early genre-shaping work.3.5/5
Josh picked Dragonflight because he had history with the series and wanted to revisit an early genre-shaping work. He liked the colony-reverted-to-feudalism premise, the dragon communication, the hidden time-travel element, and the way the book helped set the tone for later fantasy and sci-fi hybrids. His reservations were mostly structural and dated: the first and second halves feel merged rather than fully integrated, Lessa's early mind-control ability gets dropped, and the relationships and gender norms show their age.
- What aged the best/worst?
- Best: The world, the concepts about how dragons are presented, adding sci-fi and fantasy. Worst: The women and relationships and gender norms.
- One Fix Changes Everything
- Make it so that she went back and rewrote the first half of the book so it didn't feel like two different books.
- The Dion Waiters Heat Check Award
- Master Smith Something or other.
- Casting Couch Corner
- LOTR-era Viggo Mortensen.
- The Oprah Bookclub Award
- I would, anyone who likes fantasy and sci-fi and wants to experience one of the earlier genre-defining works.
AlecOverall take and standout notes pending.DNR
Overall take and standout notes pending.
- What aged the best/worst?
- Pending Alec's answer.
- One Fix Changes Everything
- Pending Alec's answer.
- The Dion Waiters Heat Check Award
- Pending Alec's answer.
- Casting Couch Corner
- Pending Alec's answer.
- The Oprah Bookclub Award
- Pending Alec's answer.
JacobOverall take and standout notes pending.DNR
Overall take and standout notes pending.
- What aged the best/worst?
- Pending Jacob's answer.
- One Fix Changes Everything
- Pending Jacob's answer.
- The Dion Waiters Heat Check Award
- Pending Jacob's answer.
- Casting Couch Corner
- Pending Jacob's answer.
- The Oprah Bookclub Award
- Pending Jacob's answer.
MattMatt found the first quarter a real slog, but thought the book improved considerably once Lessa became queen and the Weyr politics took over.4/5
Matt found the first quarter a real slog, but thought the book improved considerably once Lessa became queen and the Weyr politics took over. He liked the romantic tension staying wary instead of instantly mushy, thought the time-travel solution passed the pub test, and enjoyed the fantasy/sci-fi blend more once the conflict accelerated. His biggest gripe was the prologue and explicit spacefaring setup, which he thought would have worked better as background hints.
- What aged the best/worst?
- Best: Time travel, mix of sci-fi and fantasy. Worst: Gender dynamics, generic fantasy.
- One Fix Changes Everything
- Remove the prologue, fix the structure.
- The Dion Waiters Heat Check Award
- The Harpmaster.
- Casting Couch Corner
- Anya Taylor-Joy.
- The Oprah Bookclub Award
- Yes, but definitely only if you like fantasy.
NathanOverall take and standout notes pending.DNR
Overall take and standout notes pending.
- What aged the best/worst?
- Pending Nathan's answer.
- One Fix Changes Everything
- Pending Nathan's answer.
- The Dion Waiters Heat Check Award
- Pending Nathan's answer.
- Casting Couch Corner
- Pending Nathan's answer.
- The Oprah Bookclub Award
- Pending Nathan's answer.
EdEd hated it and could not go higher than a one because getting through it felt like work.1/5
Ed hated it and could not go higher than a one because getting through it felt like work. He could see why the book may have been special in its time, but the fantasy/sci-fi blend was exactly the wrong lane for him and he found the whole thing boring, dated, and disengaging.
- What aged the best/worst?
- Best: I'm sure it was special for its time given it was written in the 60s but it's so dated now. Worst: People say it's progressive with the female lead but I feel like that wasn't super clear for me and I reckon it also was a product of the time.
- One Fix Changes Everything
- Have a little more action, it was pretty boring.
- The Dion Waiters Heat Check Award
- None cause they were forgettable and I struggled to finish.
- Casting Couch Corner
- Andy Serkis / Benedict Cumberbatch for all of the dragons and Tom Holland for all other characters.
- The Oprah Bookclub Award
- Wouldn't recommend, literally read anything else unless you're a fantasy/sci-fi nerd like Josh.
EricEric found the opening weak and generic as fantasy, but the dragon material, political discussion, and gradual sci-fi reveal pulled him in hard.4/5
Eric found the opening weak and generic as fantasy, but the dragon material, political discussion, and gradual sci-fi reveal pulled him in hard. He especially liked the time-travel mechanics, the way teleporting brushed up against astronomy, and the chapter where F'lar starts breaking old traditions. The pulpy flatness did not ruin it for him; if anything, the second half made the premise click.
- What aged the best/worst?
- Best: Time travel stories, the dragons. Worst: Gender dynamics.
- One Fix Changes Everything
- Have a little more action, it was pretty boring.
- The Dion Waiters Heat Check Award
- F'nor, liked the coming back crazy, good lieutenant.
- Casting Couch Corner
- Charlie Hunnam.
- The Oprah Bookclub Award
- Would recommend, only for people that are into fantasy.
OliverOverall take and standout notes pending.DNR
Overall take and standout notes pending.
- What aged the best/worst?
- Pending Oliver's answer.
- One Fix Changes Everything
- Pending Oliver's answer.
- The Dion Waiters Heat Check Award
- Pending Oliver's answer.
- Casting Couch Corner
- Pending Oliver's answer.
- The Oprah Bookclub Award
- Pending Oliver's answer.
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