Pern Appreciation Month was born out of the realisation late last year that this April would have marked Anne McCaffrey’s 100th Birthday. As the books have been fairly important to me over the last 40-something years, I wanted to commemorate the occasion. In January of this year I decided on what it would look like … Continue reading Pern Appreciation Month: Summing Up →

The Skies Of Pern is the last novel written in The Dragonriders Of Pern series that was written solely by Anne McCaffrey. Like a lot of the novels before it, it ends with a sense of closure and with hope for the future. But things aren’t necessarily going to be easy for our heroes. Let’s … Continue reading Pern Appreciation Month: The Skies Of Pern →

Merelan and Petiron are two giant talents at the Harperhall. Merelan is a gifted singer, while Petiron writes sublime and quite esoteric 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 … Continue reading Pern Appreciation Month: The Masterharper Of Pern →

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 →

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 →

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 the other four members of the team their lives, they are not holding out great hopes for this planet. But landing dispels their … Continue reading Pern Appreciation Month: “The P. E. R. N. Survey” →

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” →

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 →

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 →

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 →

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 →

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 →

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 →