Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I hate giving one-star reviews, but I think Gigi could have done better. She may be a fine storyteller, and writing for this Pass, with familiar characters, may have just been a poor decision. After all, I fully enjoyed her brother's addition to the universe, and I should be glad to give her own timeline a fair try. Unfortunately, I must judge this against the standards of the Ninth Pass, so here goes... There are, perhaps, schools of thoughts that would disagree with me, but I feel the title of a book should give the reader some idea of what the story holds. "Dragonflight" felt symbolic, as well as practical. The protagonists were grounded by those who held power over them, and come into their own when Lessa triumphantly tells F'lar, "Queens can, too, fly," and he replies, "Of course they can; that's why they have wings!" Halfway through "Dragon's Code", I still couldn't tell you what the title is meant to convey. A dragonrider's moral obligation to protect Pern? The dragon's inherent loyalty to its rider? Perhaps it would be easier to parse if this weren't an oddly placed Harper Hall installation, a couple years after "Dragondrums". This story follows Piemur as he continues his surveillance of the Southern Continent. Sort of. I think we're taking a detour? He was desolate when his voice broke in the previous book, but found purpose in his skills and talent outside of singing by the conclusion. This story reads like the author couldn't believe that a young adult could possibly come to terms with their situation as maturely as Piemur did, and so we're treated to an onslaught of continuous sulking. You want to tell him, "Just talk to your mentors, already!" Herein lies my greatest grievance of this book. Yes, even greater than the retconned nicknames, mislabeled characters, six-legged runner beasts, and Piemur being in a persistent state of awe with everything around him. My main problem with this story is that Robinton, the Master Harper of Pern, is a short-tempered idiot. When we finally reconnect with this beloved character, he fails to see that Piemur is suffering from dehydration and heat exhaustion, and shows visible signs of anger when a concussed Piemur tries to coherently give a report before collapsing. In past stories of Pern, multiple characters feared disappointing Robinton, not because of his ire, but because of how fair-minded he is. In "Dragon's Code", it feels as though people need to tread carefully in his presence, especially if Sebell isn't around to point out the obvious for him.