The latest of McCaffrey's romantic Pern novels expands on the tale of a minor character in Moreta: Dragonlady of Pern. Young Nerilka is considered unattractive and overly serious in her own hold, where her peremptory father installs his mistress immediately after his wife's death. Angry and frustrated, Nerilka uses her medical training and her access to the supplies her father is hoarding to help combat the plague sweeping Pern, which has already claimed her mother and sisters.
There are dragons all over Anne McCaffrey's house. Some she's bought, but many have been made for her by adoring fans and given to her as gifts. I don't make dragons, of course. But whenever circumstances allow, I do try to bring her American bacon, something she can't get easily in Ireland, and something which she has taught all her friends there to love, as well!
YA-Set just prior to Dragonflight, Masterharper details the life, loves, and heartbreaks of Robinton, Pern's most beloved harper. Readers follow him through a childhood filled with rejection and neglect by his Mastercomposer father, the loss of his wife, the death of his best friend, to his becoming Masterharper of Pern. This is McCaffrey at her best, combining excellent writing with vivid settings and detailed, fully fleshed-out characters. The book would be best read after Dragonflight (1986) and Dragonquest (1979, both Ballantine), but can stand alone.
Bestseller Anne McCaffrey (The Skies of Pern) collects four tales of Pern in A Gift of Dragons, including a new adventure written especially for this volume, "Ever the Twain." Tom Kidd's illustrations of cuddly dragons and their human companions add extra value.
The dream of generations of Dragonriders draws within reach as, with the aid of an intelligent computer, the possibility of destroying the devastating phenomenon known as "Thread" becomes a reality. Having exposed Pern's civilization to technology in Renegades of Pern McCaffrey proceeds with her customary skill and humor to explore all the ramifications of culture shock. Despite some weaknesses in plot and an odd notion of time travel, the latest novel in a popular series will not lack for readers. Especially for libraries owning the previous Pern titles.
