I will read anything that even tangentially has to do with Anne McCaffrey and so I bought this book off of eBay and it was surprisingly really good. The story added something to the Pern universe and the characters and the writing engaged me. ( )

A book that is basically "D&D for One"? I still can't tell if this is incredibly super-awesome or just kinda sad.

Dragonharper is a crossroads adventure, a spin on the Choose-Your-Own-Adventure books, set in the world of Pern with the protagonist/player character being a younger Robinton.

The mechanics were well-done. There were lots of options given, many choices, which I like in any CYOA. There were also multiple situations that were more in-depth and D&D style, requiring dice rolls for skill checks and combat success. In addition to the choices you make, you have to track inventory, hit points, food stores, and money. It's a lot more involved. I really enjoyed that aspect; there were several times that I rolled my dice and was worried I'd fail a dex check and die. It's easy enough for a newbie to pick up, but retains enough D&D feel for campaign veterans.

What a terrible, terrible shame it is, then, that this book is god-awful.

1. The book is not canon. While not a deal-breaker, it decreases re-read value for me, because in the scheme of things, it doesn't matter.
2. The book is inaccurate. It breaks Pern rules, such as not having toy dragons nor naming things after dragons (dragons are about the only thing held sacred in atheist Pern society, and they are revered too much to be invoked so casually). Established characters have different personalities. Names of the signature characters in the series, F'lar and F'nor, are wrong! There were so many errors in Pern setting and continuity I had to check the cover to make sure Todd McCaffery didn't write this.
3. There is no real danger. While there is combat, it's not to the death. While there are dangerous actions, the worst that happens is you black out and go back. It sucks the fun out of the die rolls early on, because all the tension is gone. Even if you fail, the worst that will happen is a blackout scene and then the story resumes. There is also a river of healing potions doled out to you.
4. Your choices have completely no impact on the story whatsoever. At all. Nada. Zip. Zero. Zilch. There is only ONE ending to the book. A D&D has infinite endings. A typical CYOA will have anywhere from 6-12, most of which are 'bad' endings. This book has one. And you get there regardless of your choices. Turn down seeing a Hatching? Guess what, you go anyway. Select the small runner over the large runner? The trip is exactly the same, down to the horse's name. Purchase a puzzle from the vender? No real point, it never comes up again.

I can almost overlook the continuity errors, even if as a Pern fan they jar me out of the story as bad as typos do, because early Pern novels had continuity errors. I'd be a hypocrite to mark it down too heavily.

However, points 3 and 4 completely ruined it for me. Why go through the not-insubstantial amount of additional time and effort rolling dice, flipping pages, writing notes, checking character sheet, etc., when all my choices are meaningless and superficial and the dangers are inconsequential and nonexistent? For a story this linear I might as well read a regular novel.

TL;DRA fun premise ruined by, well, everything. ( )

Chance and the reader's decisions will determine whether Robinton, a journeyman harper on Pern will succeed in his first assignment at Benden Hold ( )