I don’t normally enjoy prequels. Too often you have authors trying to shoehorn a future onto a situation that feels forced. Sometimes a story just needs to have happened without it being explained too much. However, when you are dealing with an imagined history, sometimes you do need to fill some gaps. Such a situation … Continue reading Pern Appreciation Month: Dragonsdawn
Month: April 2026
Pern Appreciation Month: “The Girl Who Heard Dragons”
(Like “A Time When,” the extract from The White Dragon, this was first published in a limited edition hardback, this time by the ironically-named publisher Cheap Street in 1986.) Aramina and her family are on the run from the vicious ex-noblewoman Thella. Thella is searching for them because Aramina can hear dragons, which would be … Continue reading Pern Appreciation Month: “The Girl Who Heard Dragons”
Pern Appreciation Month: Nerilka’s Story
Nerilka is one of the daughters of Lord Tolocamp of Fort Weyr. During the events of Moreta: Dragonlady Of Pern, Tolocamp dishonoured himself by leaving his family to die of plague at Ruatha while he returned to Fort to make sure that measures were taken to protect his hold. On his arrival back at Fort, … Continue reading Pern Appreciation Month: Nerilka’s Story
Pern Appreciation Month: Moreta: Dragonlady Of Pern
Moreta is a name that has already been dropped several times in this series. We know that she was a famous dragonlady from the past, and in Dragonsinger: Harper Of Pern, we are treated to an impromptu performance of the opera/ballad based around her life and death. We also know that she dies at the … Continue reading Pern Appreciation Month: Moreta: Dragonlady Of Pern
Pern Appreciation Month: Dragondrums
This was published in 1979 and is set roughly three years after the events of Dragonsinger: Harper Of Pern and about four years before The White Dragon. Piemur wakes up one morning in the Harperhall, helps Menolly feed her fire lizards, has breakfast, then goes off to rehearse a new musical piece that has been … Continue reading Pern Appreciation Month: Dragondrums
Pern Appreciation Month: The White Dragon
(The first part of this book was published as a chapbook entitled “A Time When” in 1975. I’ve managed to procure some copies of early versions of the novels and stories in this series for when it was relevant, but due to my parents not being named Rockefeller I was unable to obtain this.) This … Continue reading Pern Appreciation Month: The White Dragon
Pern Appreciation Month: Dragonsinger, Harper Of Pern
When we left Menolly at the end of Dragonsong, she was overjoyed to discover that she was going to live at the Harperhall. After a lifetime of abuse because of her musical talent, she was finally going to be recognised and accepted for her skills. Dragonsinger: Harper Of Pern begins with Menolly arriving at the … Continue reading Pern Appreciation Month: Dragonsinger, Harper Of Pern
Pern Appreciation Month: Dragonsong
I mentioned previously that “The Smallest Dragonboy” was picked up as a short story idea because Anne McCaffrey was working through a story about a girl called Menolly. After K’van’s adventure was published, she went back to her notes and fleshed out the basic idea some more. And in 1976, Dragonsong was published as a … Continue reading Pern Appreciation Month: Dragonsong
Pern Appreciation Month: “The Smallest Dragonboy”
In 1973, Anne McCaffrey should have had the world at her feet: she had released several short stories and novels into the world, won some awards that no other woman had won before her, and had the beginnings of a bestselling series in Dragonflight and Dragonquest. However, she had recently divorced her husband and emigrated … Continue reading Pern Appreciation Month: “The Smallest Dragonboy”
Pern Appreciation Month: Dragonquest
It’s not often that you read a sequel that feels as though it was written by a different author. I first experienced this with Terry Brooks’s The Elfstones Of Shannara, the sequel to The Sword Of Shannara, a novel that owes a rather large creative debt to The Lord Of The Rings. Elfstones is a … Continue reading Pern Appreciation Month: Dragonquest
Pern Appreciation Month: Dragonflight
Dragonflight first appeared as two short stories: “Weyr Search” and “Dragonrider”. These were originally published in Analog magazine in October 1967 and in the December – January 1967-68 issues. Together they make up parts 1, 3 and 4 of Dragonflight. Part 2 of the novel (named “Dragonflight” in the book) was submitted to John W. … Continue reading Pern Appreciation Month: Dragonflight