QuietI's Full Review: Anne McCaffrey - The Masterharper of Pern
Masterharper of Pern is the only work in Anne McCaffrey's Pern saga that isn't a novel, and it suffers because of it. It's the biography of Robinton, the incredibly gifted, perceptive, and beloved leader of the Harper craft.
Like many, if not most, Pern fans, I think the character Robinton is my favorite. At first an unlikely ally in the struggle to save Pern from the renewed threat of Threadfall, he becomes a central figure throughout the saga of enormous social upheaval that Anne McCaffrey charts in her many Pern novels. As leader of Harper Hall, which has responsibilities as diverse as educating the young and disseminating news, Robinton was pivotal in resolving many political dilemmas. Early in the series, Robinton's most important role was as unfailing supporter of Dragonriders and friend to dragons. As his influence expanded, though, his flexibility and ability to accept new ideas, while at the same time respecting traditions, placed him in the unique position to shepherd Pern into a new era, free of Thread forever.
As much as I love the character, I was disappointed by Masterharper of Pern. It's a straight forward recounting of the life of Robinton, and begins before his birth, introducing us to his parents. We learn about his early childhood and how his mother protected his amazing genius from his father's exacting pressures. We follow along with the early days of his career, and his rapid ascendency to the well-deserved position of Masterharper.
The chapters recounting his life before he became Masterharper are the most interesting, and things rather go down hill from there. Why? Because they simply recount the stories we've already been told, starting out in the very first Pern story, Dragonquest, and moving rather quickly through nearly other every novel in the series. Familiar characters come and go, as in the other novels, but nothing new is revealed about either Robinton or the situations he's in. His personality, once established, never changes or develops. And, honestly? He's just too good to be true, and I was hoping that this work would help to humanize him somewhat.
In a way, this book reminded me of the stories presented on the A&E Biography series. They're pretty complete with respect to information that's on the public record, but they rarely if ever dig any deeper. We never get a glimpse under the skin, so to speak. After watching that show, you can say you know what that person did, but you can't really say you know who that person was, how he felt, what motivated him, or even what his personal philosophies were, for the most part.
And that's the main problem with Masterharper. By placing Robinton in historical scenes in which he had not previously appeared, McCaffrey very skillfully reveals that Robinton influenced more history than we had suspected before. But all of those historical events are well known, and dropping Robinton into them doesn't give the reader any new insight into either the man or the situation. That's why the early chapters are far more satisfying, because we do get a few glimpses into Robinton's heart.
Ultimately, Masterharper reads like a work that McCaffrey wrote because it sounded like a good idea, or maybe because her fans clamored for it. She took the existing framework of Robinton's "public record", and she filled in the blanks. Surprisingly, Robinton fares rather poorly here as a three-dimension character, in comparison to his appearances in The White Dragon, for example, in which a few hints were dropped about his personal demons. Alas, those demons remain unexposed in this volume. Exploring them could have revealed so much about this charismatic man, but we're left merely gazing at loving but shallow portrait.
In a time when the deadly scourge Thread has not fallen on Pern for centuries--and many dare to hope that Thread will never fall again--a boy is born ...More at HotBookSale
In a time when no Thread has fallen for centuries - when, indeed, many are beginning to dare to hope that Thread will never fall again - a boy is born...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.