Probably my least favourite of the original 6 Pern novels, this follows the story of Jaxom, Lord Holder of Ruatha who has impressed the white dragon Ruth, and is now torn between growing up and into his responsibilities as Lord Holder, learning to ride a dragon, and chasing various women in various degrees of offensiveness (minor trigger warnings for extremely old fashioned views of women and sex - true with the first two Pern books also).