(#7) (The Dragonriders of Pern) - The Renegades of Pern

As with all Permit based books in this series, the story and characters become real. There were a few minor slips between the characters and story lines from other books, but overall a wonderful tale, told by a wonderful storyteller.

I was somewhat dissapointed by this book. This is the 2nd one in the Pern Series I read, I had just finished all the Wyers of Pern before. I really enjoyed the large role the dragons got to play in Wyers of Pern, this book lacks it. You don't really get to see into the telepathic relationship the riders have with their dragons. It's exciting, but I really miss the dragons. The wyers are put into a bad light early on, and I was confused about the Leadership of Benden Wyer, when did F'lar and Lessa take over? The book is okay, but she's done better.

This book has a full fledged female villain: Lady Thella
and her band of thieves. As Thred falls for the first time
in this era the displaced people have gathered around
a leader and begun to steal to stay alive.
Most of the last half of the book deals with the southern continent
which has the imaginative name : 'Southern'.
We get a parallel to the adventures of Piemur
and at last Archaeology of the first settlement
of the planet with a computer still active.
The result leaves things open for another sequel
to follow?
As I have read several in this sequence I think this
effort doesn't have the spirit of some of the original
work, but continues the development of the Pern
culture from another point of view.

When I first read this book, years ago, I remember being a little disappointed. It wasn't as good as the Dragonflight trilogy or even as good as the Harper Hall trilogy. I'm re-reading the series in chronological order now, and I want to warn people not to listen to the negative reviews!
Yes, it's maybe not quite as enjoyable, it tells stories of the less-pleasant sides of Pern life, but it also tells things that you must hear if you want the whole story. You must read Renegades in order to be properly set up for All the Weyrs of Pern. This is the book that, if nothing else, tells more about the initial excavation of Landing and the discovery of AIVAS, and it introduces Jayge and Aramina of the Paradise River Hold from Dolphins of Pern.
I enjoyed this book more on second reading than I did the first time. The Pern series is five stars. If you enjoy the series, don't skip this four star book based on negative reviews.

Anne McCaffrey is the quintessential writer of fantasy books pertaining to dragons. These books are always wonderful, well written, and perfectly characterized. All of her series are great but the ones that take place on Pern are the best of all.

I enjoyed this book, yet again another of Anne McCaffrey's great Dragonriders of Pern books. Having read the series in order, I found it hard to jump back into the story after having read stories from another time frame. So, certain storyline aspects were a little fuzzy to me. However, I found that the book was able to update readers on what had already happened in other books, and it was like being in the know on an inside joke when I actually remembered a key point from another book that impacted this book. While I enjoyed the first three books of the series better than this one, I still enjoyed this read. It's a fine addition to the Dragonriders of Pern series.

I recomend this book if you are reading the entire Pern series in chronological order. Renegades will seem choppy if you read it alone and most of the secnes will not make sense if read before the other books. Renegades fills in a lot of time gaps that reading the others leave out. I recomend this book to all Pern fans.

Hm, its kinda disappointing to see how low others rated this book. This is definetly Annie's best book. It has elements of everything: suspense, character building, and an excellent plot.
Annie starts the book out from many different angles (and while some say its confusing) it is sooooooo awesome to see how everything comes together. The story arouses your emotions (hate for Lady Holdess Thella and love for Armania and Jayge) and keeps you reading
Seriously you WILL NOT regret reading this book as it contains all the elements of what has made the Pern series so lovable.

I always wondered where the 'bad guys' were on Pern. In that regard, it's quite refreshing to find that there are in fact truly unsavory characters abounding the planet. Lord Fax aside, Thella is the most ruthless, evil character of McCaffrey's tales. Read this to fill in knowledge of Pern and the Dragonriders Series as a change of pace. Like 'All the Weyrs', which this is a prerequisite to reading, this is only another good book. Within the context of the larger whole, a worthwhile read.

This book gives the reader a different view of Pern than the Weyrs and Halls. It shows how the common, unconnected people live, and their attitude towards, (read fear of) dragons and their riders. The people, for a change, are ordinary people, not the Lords and Ladies of Pern. They are simple people, trying to scratch out a living. The characters are interesting and well-rounded. It is wonderful to see how the disenfranchised try to survive, even under the threat of Threadfall. A must-read for all Anne MacCaffrey lovers.

Whatever you do, RESIST THE TEMPTATION TO READ THIS BOOK! It should be removed from the McCaffrey lineup by the publisher, it was so bad. A bunch of crappy characters, some of McCaffrey's most inattentive writing (and some of the latter-day Pern books are LAME, let's admit it), and a bunch of British class-warfare themes that the rest of us don't care about. Skip it.