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This review does not represent the opinions of the general public. It reflects my personal thoughts and opinions on the book.
That said, on to the review!
The dolphins of Pern came to the far-off planet with the original settlers, navigating its seas and doing the tasks they'd been trained to do: rescue drowning swimmers, recover sunken items, identify storm fronts, find big schools of fish. With the threat of Thread occupying the settlers' collective attention, contact with the dolphins was lost. But now, with Aivas providing more information about the first settlers, there are those willing to renew contact with the dolphins. Among them are dragonriders, holders, and craftsmen alike, but none is so fervent in his desire as Readis, future heir to Paradise River Hold. Readis, however, is considered much too young to know what he wants to do, and with his mother's unreasonable ultimatums ringing in his ears, he leaves his home and seeks out a sight to establish his own hall: the first Dolphin Crafthall of Pern.
The Dolphins of Pern moves away--to an extent--from the great dragons who have figured so prominently into the other Pern books and focuses on the other intelligent species that inhabits Pern, and I'm not talking humans. It's good to see narratives written from the point-of-view of characters other than humans. So far I've only seen it done from a cetacean's perspective twice before, in Into the Deep and Above the Lower Sky. Actually, I'm waiting for a Pern novel told from a dragon's point of view--probably Ruth's since he's the smartest of the dragons--but for now this novel was enough to satisfy my craving for non-human perspectives. For now.
One of the major attractions of this book was the problem that grew between Readis and his mother, Aramina. Namely, that Readis was growing up. It was interesting to see how a mother who sought to isolate herself because of an ability that was more curse than gift tried to deprive her son of a similar chance that had been offered to her. And of course, there is the interesting treatment of a son growing up and struggling to prove himself independent of his parents to consider. Take these two problems and set them against each other and you have the perfect parent-child conflict to keep a story going.
The Dolphins of Pern provides a short glimpse at life after Aivas' self-termination. It doesn't cover quite so much ground as I might wish, but it makes an excellent start to what could well be a new set of Pern books: the Dolphin Trainers of Pern! What do you think?
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