How to spot a great book!
A- the book moves you emotionally
B- It's hard to put down, immerses you
C- At then end, you need it to continue
All the Weyrs of PERN meets ALL of these marks. It's high rating, Hugo nomination and months on the NY Times best seller list support that.
I knew where it was going so I stopped reading 5 pages before the end. Maybe if I don't read it, it won't happen? ??
Well, I did it. I read the last 5 pages and, as expected, my eyes burned, my heart broke and I grieved with the people, dragons and fire lizards of PERN. I knew it was coming since this was my 5th time in this book, yet it slew me again. ??
I have a new goal added to my list of things I may never survive to accomplish - I want to write a story as moving as this one, to make people care as much for my characters. I want to reduce my readers to a blubbering mound of snot, like this one does even after reading it 5 times!