The Dragonriders of Pern series has been a classic of sci-fi for pretty much my entire existence. I’ve never read any of it until now, however, and after two books I’m left wondering quite a few things.
Written in the late 60s, the first novel–Dragonflight–tells the story of a young woman who unexpectedly bonds with a dragon during the twilight years of the planet Pern’s 400 year peaceful interlude. The fungal spores that rain down from a neighbouring planet soon return, however, and she must find a way to save her homeworld.
It’s a good story that would be a great story if she weren’t so annoying. It’s a good story that would be a fantastic barn-burner of a novel if a good third of it weren’t devoted to her abusive conflicts with her mate. Nothing says “good leisure reading time” like a man shaking a woman violently when angered by her refusal to obey him.
Yes, you read that right. A man shaking a woman violently when angered by her refusal to obey him.
But here’s the problem I have as both a reader and a writer.
As distasteful as these scenes of domestic violence are, as uncomfortable as I am reading them I think they are accurate. Strong-willed men used to dominating a culture and being feted for their prowess often DO conflict with women of equally strong will and smart mouth.
At first I was horrifed, thinking “that’s just not something I need to read about”. Then I realised that as much as we speculative fiction readers carry on about worldbuilding, do we dare complain when the worldbuilding describes the characters in that world accurately? Unlike Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander, Dragonflight never fetishizes the abuse or makes it seem cute and kind of sexy in a “ravish me, big fella” way. It’s an uncomfortable situation portrayed uncomfortably. As objectionably squicky as it is to read, it does have resolution and doesn’t continue past the middle third of the book.
I’ve read a lot of reviews of this novel, most of them slagging off on the book and declaiming it as anti-feminist trash.
Feminists get abused. Believe it or not, there is more than one feminist out there who has been slapped, punched, kicked, shaken and worse. The point of feminism isn’t to pretend that this doesn’t happen but to point out how wrong it is when it does. I think that Dragonflight did that successfully, actually.
I’m on the verge of thinking that perhaps we as readers in the 21st century have gotten too much political correctness that then stands in the way of our willingness to watch characters develop. I’m not sure if I’m going to commit to that theory all the way, though, because I’ve read too many novels lately where the woman is raped for no other reason that to have a shocking, prurient thing happen. We’re also the culture that lauded the Millenium Trilogy to the rafters and made that trilogy of meaningless torture porn a bestselling icon of publishing. So I don’t think I’m ready to say we need to stop being so guarded against violence and exploitation in fiction.
I do think, though, when the violence serves a purpose and is ultimately dealt with we need to admit that a purpose was, indeed, served.
[…] I have to admit that conversation really has coloured my opinion on these three novels. A LOT of people read these and admire these stories and get caught up in them. Are they all willing to dismiss a man repeatedly violently shaking a woman who is a third of his size? Oh, it’s not so bad to react physically when a person upsets you or challenges you in any way! Anne McCaffery says so! She’s the Queen of Dragons. (Seriously, that’s what the cover art of one of the novels claims.) When all is said and done, though, I ended up making a strange sort of detente with that aspect of the book. […]
You know, Coble, I generally respect your moral point of view towards fiction. So I have spent a couple of days trying to fit what I remember of the first Pern book into the framework you suggest, that of a man’s problematic reaction to a strong woman, which is appropriately resolved over time. I admit that I don’t remember the situation being resolved. I don’t know whether that was because the initial violence was so shocking to me when I read it, or because the resolution really wasn’t addressed in the novel. (I sort of remember the guy thinking that the woman was having a bad reaction to him, and what to do about it, but I don’t remember him actually doing anything. But I read it 40 years or so ago, and may have lost that bit.) But I’ve tried accepting your statement that it does, and re-examining my reactions to McCaffrey in that light.
And I still get squicked. It may be that I read too many of her books, from various series. (I could never follow any of the series very far, because of the squick.) But I swear I remember her writing a literal, classic rape-by-an-aggressive-stranger in one of them, in which the rapist tells the woman he’s raping that they’re just having fun and she wouldn’t be getting hurt if she’d relax, so she relaxes and has a wonderful time and he’s clearly going to be her boyfriend/rescuer from then on. And I just can’t …. Too many stories about women ending up in romantic relationships with their bosses, teachers, or other authority figures. Too many women with no bodies at all, just brains hooked into spaceships. I can’t go there comfortably. I just get the feeling that the writer has such immense, immense issues and I don’t want to examine them with her. So I am not saying that you’re wrong, exactly. But to the extent that you are right, I prefer a righteous cry of anger against the behavior than an “oh, it’ll all work itself out.”
I wrote this on Thursday afternoon. Thursday night I went to a writers’ meetup at Panera. One of the other writers there was using an Anne McCaffrey book to prop up her laptop and I said “that’s funny. You’re reading Anne McCaffery. I’m just in the middle of reading one of her books now.” (It was at a restaurant and I was eating a sandwich and reading _The White Dragon_ while I waited for people to show up.)
That ignited a conversation between three of us about AM and the Pern books, which, as it turned out, were life-long favourites of two of the women there. When they found out I was reading them for the first time I got quizzed relentlessly about what I thought. When I said that I hadn’t cared for the physical abuse they both kind of got faraway looks on their faces as though they were trying to figure out what I meant. Then one of them said “he shakes her. But that’s not bad. It’s not really abuse.”
That upset me so much I didn’t know how to respond. My mouth was hanging open. Here were two young women (not sure how old they are…20s or maybe early 30s?) who had loved the Pern books as children and consequently were willing to excuse violent responses as “no big deal”.
So while the writer in me really does think that sociologically speaking the treatment F’lar shows Lessa is perhaps accurate of that particular character in that situation I do not think it is RESPONSIBLE for a writer to go in that direction.
The rape scene is one that I have problems with precisely because it is so vague. I’ve read it through twice now and it honestly seems like in that particular instance of Lessa and F’lar co-mating along with their dragons it isn’t rape because it seems that Lessa’s psychic link with Ramoth is driving her to be as lustful a participant as F’lar. Again, though, it’s the most troublingly vague sex scene I’ve ever read. I think it’s one where the reader brings her preconceptions to the translation. And of course, with that scene being preceded by at least 100pages of F’lar raging at Lessa and Lessa raging at F’lar and F’lar shaking Lessa…I can see how a lot of readers just automatically go right to the rape aspect.
Also, I wrote this on Thursday and I read The White Dragon over the weekend. After reading that book I think I’ve decided that Anne McCaffrey may not be for me in the long run. I’m torn because I really like the whole aspect of humans and how they interact with Pern, learning about the world and those who came before. I tried to start the next novel in On Dragonwings–another omnibus edition–but _The White Dragon_ left such a bad taste in my mouth. The book as a whole was okay, but the business about Jaxom’s sexual attitudes toward the two women he takes as partners just infuriates me more and more the longer I think about it. The one woman he pretty much takes advantage of, which AM reminds us over and over again is totally okay because Jaxom is the Lord Holder and C—– (can’t remember her name) is one of his tenants. So he has the right to just have sex with her whenever he wants. Then when he goes off on his dragon journey and meets someone else he decides THAT’S the woman for him. Which, you know, I know people fall in love with new people even after they’ve had sexual congress with someone else. That’s not news. The problem for me is that he never even tells the C—- woman what’s going on. He just flies into her family’s farm whenever his balls itch, gets his rocks off and then goes about his business.
McCaffrey has some really MESSED UP ideas about sexuality and male-female relationships in particular. So whether or not it’s rape and whether or not it’s accurate depiction of a character I just don’t think what she’s had to say about relationships and the value of women is healthy. Further knowing that so many young girls worship these books makes me even angrier.
I thought I had read the first two Pern books but the plot you mention and the character’s name seems completely unfamiliar to me. Also I don’t remember a white dragon. So maybe I stopped after the first one.
But I’m absolutely astounded at the idea that anyone could read the first book and not see that the relationship is problematic. I mean, they might come to the same conclusion you did, that the relationship is problematic because McCaffrey is writing about a problematic relationship, but not to see the problem at all? Of course, I was in my 20s when those books came out. I don’t know how I would have reacted if I’d been 10 years younger.
I’ve been thinking about tracking down some of the YA books I loved, back when I was a YA. I’ve been hesitating, because I’d hate to find out they were actually awful. But I was thinking in terms of writing style, bad history/world-building, stuff like that. It hadn’t even occurred to me that I might find them objectionable for more important reasons today.
The White Dragon is the third book, so you could have read the first two. I think many of the YA books you’ll find will hold up well, maybe even better than current novels. I’m always surprised at how good they are.
I’m not sure what is on your beloved YA list, but I’d wager they hold up pretty well; I re-read the YA favourites from my youth quite frequently and they all actually hold up pretty well.
I think Anne McCaffery may be a special case.
Oh, my biggest problem is not remembering the titles of the books or the names of the authors; my second problem is that so many of those I have been able to figure out are out of print. Plus Andre Norton, Rosemary Sutcliffe, and Laura Ingalls Wilder.
I’d have to reread them again. I liked the Harper Hall trilogy more than those books, so I don’t have as good of a memory of them save for the dragon sex. The psychic link I don’t mind as much as if I remember right, the queen needed to be chased down by the strongest dragon and taken. That was a big can of worms for me.
Most of her other books that I have read didn’t seem to have those issues. The “Ship Who” books I saw as more handicapped girls being given a second chance at life and love, and I don’t remember Crystal Singer or the Pegasus books being bad. My memory might be failing me though.
I’ve had several people say the same thing about the Harper Hall trilogy–that it’s more enjoyable. Sadly, the library didn’t have those three, so I skipped over them. (They technically come between books 2 and 3)
Dragonsong is a good book. It’s one of those ones that I read as a kid and haven’t read since but scenes of it inspire my own stories still.
I ended up reading a few more of AM’s books while I was in University hunting for good fantasy but gave up on them. I did enjoy how the world started with colonists from earth and changed dramatically from there (I read the On Dragonwings omnibus edition) but there’s a crucial element missing from her stories imho. And the way she portrays relationships, sex and romance bothered me too. 😛
I just finished the second book and I have some thoughts on the two books so far.
To me the first book was promising in Lessa’s character, she had things to do, places to go and the will to get there. She didn’t agree with things and stated her opinion loudly. I liked this, of course this brought problems and for a time I swear she was going to become the villain because of it but then… She just kind of stopped?? She went from being totally guarded to being absolutely open to others.
She, all of a sudden stopped butting heads with F’lar and became the perfect wife. Soft and dependent, willing to wait on him hand and foot and deeply caring. Oh she still butts heads with him but only because she suddenly cares deeply. I was completely lost as to when and how that happened. I remember reading that she had been starting to care of him but then it made a huge jump and she was all in with little explanation.
It was opposite to her character and the second book was as if Lessa was a completely different person. It bothered me greatly and when I brought it up with my mom she reminded me it was written in the 1960’s where it was a ‘woman’s proper place’ and stuff to be that to a man. And I thought that maybe men complained about the Lessa in the first book and the writer was forced to change her character to be less. I don’t know but it makes me feel a bit better thinking that’s the case.
The sex scenes are uncomfortable to say the least.
F’nor didn’t even ask Brekke he just kind of raped her? For her own good???
I’m honestly torn. I love the way these books describe this world and the people in it. I love how complete the male characters are and just kind wish that the female characters were described just as well.
I guess I don’t agree with the society inside the book because it’s a replication of the society the writer lived in most likely. I wish that because there were queen dragons, the dragonriders should have been guided by the queen rider and not her mate.
I liked that Brekke wanted to change things and have female regular dragon riders be a thing and I felt like that was almost the writers cry that she wanted females to be equal?
I guess I’m rambling a bit but I agree that it’s probably better to have these types of abuse written if they serve a purpose. I guess back then shaking and stuff wasn’t classified as abuse…
There’s more wrong with Dragonflight than just the chauvinism. It’s badly written, filled with literary cliches (that were cliches even in the 60s) and dreadful poetry, suffers from boring characters and bland worldbuilding, lacks any kind of evocative atmosphere, and builds up to a conflict that, as far as I can tell, consists of glorified gardening. The only credible antagonist is dead in the first few chapters. I would say it’s a mystery to me how it ever became popular, but the reason is quite obvious. A great many readers will overlook all of the above, because of an uncritical love for the notion of bonding with dragons. Many other bad books have become undeservedly popular for the same reason (Eragon even got a movie).
I wanted to like it, I wanted this series to be a guilty pleasure I could keep coming back to, but it’s too badly executed even for that. Unfortunately, I am not sufficiently in love with dragons.
I guess I need to go back and re-read “The White Dragon” to see what details I missed as a young feminist. (It has been my second favourite book for many years. The first being “Jude the Obscure” by Thomas Hardy.)