Dragonflight

Dragonriders of Pern, Book 1

By: Anne McCaffrey

Narrated by: Dick Hill

Length: 9 hrs and 14 mins

Publisher's summary

On the beautiful planet Pern, colonized for centuries, Land Holders and Craftsmen have traditionally tithed food and supplies to the dragonweyrs to which they are bound. In times past, the mighty telepathic dragons and their riders were the only protection from the dreaded, life-threatening Thread.

But it has been over 400 years since the last Threadfall, and some people have come to doubt that the menace will every strike again. But F'lar, rider of Pern's greatest bronze dragon, has no such illusions. The Red Star is near; Thread will fall soon.

Book another flight with the Dragonriders of Pern.

©1968 Anne McCaffrey (P)1993 Brilliance Audio

Poor reading

I have always liked Anne McCaffrey's stories, but the reading of this story is so poor that I have to make an effort to follow it. The reader makes constant smacking noises. He doesn't seem to know how to control his saliva or how to breath. He has some ability to vary voices, which is good. But he is no Jim Dale. When he reads as a dragon speaking, his voice production is hollow, as if through an echoing tunnel. That's a bit unconvincing. The reading presents a challenge to enjoying the story.

Anne Fan...Still

Read it, Heard it, Still love it. Though I would have been more comfortable thinking/listening in a feminine voice as much of this story is a woman's perspective. Characters you care about & want to know. Adventure you envy, Dragons you love. Enjoy!!

Just as Good the Second Time Around!

This is a second reading for this series. I loved these books so long ago, and find I am excited to be back in Pern. I didn't change my star rating as they are just as wonderful now as when I read them the first time.

The difference, this time, is I had the Audible version to listen to while keeping track on the Kindle version, and in the huge book version, Dragonriders of Pern, that contains Dragonflight, Dragonquest and White Dragon. My eyes couldn't stay with the book version at all. The font was too small.

This Audible version had Dick Hill as narrator. His deep voice resonated within me, especially when he did the voice for Robinton. Oh, how I had missed that Masterharper! Mr. Hill was able to keep the characters different while not making the females sound silly. In fact, I think his strength was in drawing out Lessa's personality.

My soul misses Anne McCaffrey and her wit and imagination. At least we still have all her books to immerse ourselves in

Narrator teeters on my nerves

The narration stretches for extra prominence by including coughing, gasping, sighing, mouth noises, and some whining voices.
The realistic/dramatic style teeters on getting on my nerves.
I won't be replaying this book even though it is an old favorite of mine.

The Pern series is very engaging

Having only recently discovered downloadable audio books, I have also only recently discovered a love of science fiction. But this series sucked up every moment of my available listening time, to the point I was putting my iPod on for even the shortest trip to the loo at work. Like all series, it has it's high and low points, and sometimes the narrator grates a nerve with his accents, but I chewed through the series so fast I had some 'splaining to do when the bill came. It's a great story and a fun listen/read.

terrible narrator

The narrator keeps swallowing and making mouth noises. I have loved these books since I was a child and in the last couple years have fallen in love with audiobooks - was so excited to revisit this old favorite in the new format - totally ruined by this narrator.
Have listened to dozens of audiobooks and have never encountered this problem before.

Robotic

The narrator sounded like a robot. I couldn't listen to the story. A huge waste of money.

A lovely listen

The action came in waves - a great pace for an audio book because you had good places to stop. The last hour though was fast paced 'til the end! A great book and I will be looking for the rest of the series. You know that it is worth it when you have characters with odd names you have never heard before in you life, and yet at the end of the first chapter you can still list everyone you have heard about.

Dragonflight

After reading the reviews, it took me a little time to stop trying to analyze the reader and actually listen to the story - Then it was enjoyable listening. Maybe not as versital a reader as some, but passable.

Classic worth revisiting

Read this many years ago, and have returned to the Pern books off and on through the years. It was a pleasure to listen to. The voice of the dragons is well done. My overall familiarity with the series has muddled my memory of what happened in this book, so it was nearly like a first-time read. There was a little less depth of story and culture than I remembered, but this likely is more due to the accumulated sense of the Pern culture and history in my memory, than a fault of this particular book. A wonderful concept in the world of science fiction / fantasy, and I recommend it if you have not yet "been to Pern." It is a good production of a now-classic for those who have. Enjoy!