Dragon Quest (Usborne Fantasy Adventure) (Usborne Fantasy Adventure S.)

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Although the events concerning him and his dour guardian Lytol are less connected to the rest of the books plot; almost a self-contained novella, they do setup what is to come very well and make for an extremely nice interlude. F'nor attempts to lift her spirits by praising her, and goes to kiss her, only for the two to embrace. Sentences with confused subjects, patchy use of description and uneven changes in view all make the first half of Dragonquest feel rather slower than it should have done.

Each monster has also the additional information if they are recruitable or not, using the moniker Unrecruitable if they're the latter, while using the more broad Easy to recruit, Occasionally recruitable, and Hard to recruit terms to define their tameable chances, instead of more specific odds (both a 1/2 and a 1/4 chances are considered Easy, both 1/16 and 1/32 are Occasional, both 1/64 and the very low 1/256 are considered Hard).McCaffrey fleshes out her world with for the most part nicer characters and includes some truly fascinating politics, albeit politics that takes some concentration to keep up with. Despite sustaining a cut to the chest, F'lar defends his actions to T'ron, and taunts him about his age, eventually managing to stab through his riding leathers, causing the Fort Weyrleader to fall to the ground, unconscious.

F'lar proposes a guard be established across Pern, but since T'ron objects to them using dragonriders, G'narish suggests they get the Holders to provide watchers. Robinton grabbed up his overcloak — the dress tunic would never keep out the full cold of between — his gloves and felted case that contained the best guitar. Though Lessa was still occasionally the haughty princess, she was also rather nicer, indeed one scene in which she shamelessly flirts with an intransigent weyr leader then wearily sighs “the things I do for Pern” to F’lar was actually rather amusing (particularly since it was so different from the strident, acerbic weyrwoman of Dragonflight).

Some time later, Groghe and Lord Corman of Keroon Hold assemble in the forests of Lemos during a Fall, to watch the grubs destroy Thread. This time, only a handful of bosses, mostly the final and post-game ones, are recorded in the book, while most of the minor ones met during the adventure are ignored.

As he and Lessa go to leave, F'lar remembers the message from F'nor, and decides to read it, resulting in him and the others becoming aware of the existence of fire lizards in the Southern Continent. When he asks why she let others assume that, Brekke reveals that she has loved F'nor ever since she first saw him, but became heartbroken once she discovered that bronzes, not browns, fly queens. Groghe demands the dragonriders travel to the Red Star to destroy Thread; F'lar says he will launch an expedition if they desire it, and goes on to explain how long it would take and what supplies they would need, noting that this would leave Pern completely unprotected. The Weyrleaders agree to this, also deciding to get sweepriders to watch out for signals from fire beacons — originally built to warn against a possible invasion by the deceased Lord Fax. The Benden dragonriders arrive in time to dispatch the Thread, and in the aftermath, F'lar talks with Lord Asgenar, who briefly asks about this and other «variations» in recent Threadfalls.Undoubtedly though, the single worst instance of gender portrayal is in the relationship between F’nor and Brekke. Note that if like my thirteen year old self you also stumble on this Dragonquest review unawares I will be discussing Dragonflight spoilers. He stepped out of the Court quadrangle to the fields beyond, since it was obvious that's where the beasts were landing. Terry reveals this is due to their headwoman usually being too busy helping them with bringing up faded ink on old Records, so Lessa decides to send them aid from Benden Weyr, and F'lar later suggests they approach Robinton to get aid from spare Harper apprentices.

As the Candidates arrive, Felessan reveals to Jaxom that Brekke is amongst them; Lessa hoping she will re-Impress. As they discuss a time when the Northern Continent will be covered in grubs, F'lar explains what dragonriders will do if they are no longer needed to fight Thread; they will explore the remainder of Pern, and the planets that surround it. Noting that the plan to use fire beacons and sweepriders won't work, F'lar wonders if Fandarel will be able to come up with an alternative, only for Lessa to reveal that she has already sent for him and Robinton. F'lar explains his plans to spread the grubs to the Northern Continent, and requests F'nor to capture some Thread during an upcoming Fall so that they can test their abilities. Brekke's cry for F'nor not to leave her was also the inspiration for a song by Menolly, after she found that a certain guitar chord sounded amazingly like Brekke's voice when she screamed.Additionally, using the skill Eye for Trouble, learned thanks to the Thief's Acquisitiveness skill tree, adds a second page for a monster's bestiary entry. Upon arrival at the Weyr, Jaxom goes to play with Felessan — F'lar and Lessa's only child — who leads him into a dark passageway in an old and disused part of the Weyr that secretly opens onto the Hatching Grounds. After the other Weyrleaders leave, Lessa and F'lar discuss the possibility that this crisis could be used to their advantage to help get the Oldtimers to accept change. Brekke is one of the most genuinely appealing characters in the series; I had quite the crush on her as a teenager.