Tenna is a courier, running messages and letters across Pern. One evening while she is travelling between stations she is knocked over by a wagon. This is a blatant disregard for the long-established rules that the runner trails are only for runners. When she stops at Fort Hold station to get treatment, she learns that … Continue reading Pern Appreciation Month: “Runner Of Pern”
Tag: Books
Pern Appreciation Month: The Masterharper Of Pern
Merelan and Petiron are two giant talents at the Harperhall. Merelan is a gifted singer, while Petiron writes sublime music, often for Merelan’s voice. Their child Robinton, though, shows talent enough to surpass them both in talent and intelligence… This is the biography of Robinton, Masterharper of Pern. His death was the conclusion of All … Continue reading Pern Appreciation Month: The Masterharper Of Pern
Pern Appreciation Month: Red Star Rising/Dragonseye
The First Pass of the Red Star finished two centuries ago. Pern has been free of Thread (the parasitic spore that travels in the wandering planet’s wake) for all that time, but signs are indicating that it will soon begin again. Most of Pern is preparing for it but Lord Chalkin of Bitra is refusing … Continue reading Pern Appreciation Month: Red Star Rising/Dragonseye
Pern Appreciation Month: The Dolphins Of Pern
When we last saw Jayge and Aramina, they had settled down in a settlement built by the original inhabitants at what they called “Paradise River Hold.” They'd settled into a quiet life as holders and begun to raise a tribe of kids. However, Alemi (Menolly’s brother, introduced to us in Dragonsong, has also come to … Continue reading Pern Appreciation Month: The Dolphins Of Pern
Pern Appreciation Month: The Chronicles Of Pern: First Fall
While I’m not the hugest fan of these remaining two stories, I’m really glad they exist. So let’s take a look at the pair of them before we start discussing the whys and wherefores of them… “The Ford Of Red Hanrahan” Fort Hold, the first of the settlements on Pern’s Northern Continent, is becoming overcrowded … Continue reading Pern Appreciation Month: The Chronicles Of Pern: First Fall
Pern Appreciation Month: “The P. E. R. N. Survey”
The remaining four members of an Exploration and Evaluation team have arrived at the third planet of the Rukbat system. Tired, worn out and shattered after a gruelling mission which has cost four members of the team their lives, they are not holding out great hopes for this planet. But landing dispels their pessimism and … Continue reading Pern Appreciation Month: “The P. E. R. N. Survey”
Pern Appreciation Month: “The Dolphins’ Bell”
During the second half of Dragonsdawn, a rather epic event took place: the colonists, in their bid to reestablish the colony on the Northern Continent, create a huge convoy of boats and ships to convey people to the new settlement. But because Dragonsdawn was mostly about how the dragons were created, this got pushed aside … Continue reading Pern Appreciation Month: “The Dolphins’ Bell”
Pern Appreciation Month: All The Weyrs Of Pern
I’d have been perfectly content if this had been the last novel in the series. It’s a great place to finish: during the course of this book the threat of Thread is eliminated, there’s a tearful ending of a long and fruitful life and the promise of a better future for those who want to … Continue reading Pern Appreciation Month: All The Weyrs Of Pern
Pern Appreciation Month: “Rescue Run”
During the events of Dragonsdawn, a group of terrified colonists launched an emergency beacon. This was after the horrendous toll was taken from the first Threadfall and before the first generation of dragons had hatched. Some 49 years later, a ship – the Federation of Sentient Planets vessel Amherst - happens to be patrolling that … Continue reading Pern Appreciation Month: “Rescue Run”
Pern Appreciation Month: “The Impression”
Felessan is facing an Impression. As the only child of Benden Weyrleaders F’lar and Lessa, there is a certain expectation that he will “do well” and possibly impress a dragon, despite it being his first time as a candidate… Honestly, this story is a piece of fluff. It goes with the resource book The Dragonlover’s … Continue reading Pern Appreciation Month: “The Impression”
Pern Appreciation Month: The Renegades Of Pern
The 1980s had been very good to Anne McCaffrey. She had had successes not only with the Dragonriders novels, but with so many of her other books as well: by the end of that decade she had sold nearly fourteen million copies of her books. It didn’t hurt that Dragonsdawn explicitly stated that the Pern … Continue reading Pern Appreciation Month: The Renegades Of Pern
Pern Appreciation Month: Dragonsdawn
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
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