Todd McCaffrey

I did not care for this particular title. It had a slow start, a slow middle and only the last 20% did it seem more a pleasure than a chore to read. In fact, the only reason I did not stop without finishing it is because I want to read all of the books of Dragonriders of Pern. I think it was less enjoyable because McCaffrey wanted to strongly establish a new timeline in Pern, one he had already initiated. But I feel like he tried to cover too much. Because of this, he had what should have show more been a trilogy with each having it's own tight story to tell. This read like an overview with an artifice to hold things together. Fiona impressing a queen and the challenges of learning the rigors of Weyr life would have served as one. The development of Igen Weyr for recovery of badly injured dragons and dragonriders with the association with the Traders being a second part and the creation of the Watchwher and Gold Holds the final installment. It almost came across that McCaffrey wanted to get all things covered out there, but his real interest was on another project. So, yeah, publisher, got it done, here it is. I hope his next offerings improve or I will not be continuing to waste my time reading the series. show less

This was my first new Pern book after many decades away. So I'm not sure if my rather luke-warm appreciation is the problem of the book or because I have gotten older.

It is a story told in two parts: the first from Pellar's point of view, the second from Hella's PoV. Both are quite young, about 14 yrs old, at the beginning of the book, and it follows them, and their immediate neighbors for a year or two, with early chapters much younger, and some wrapup with them a bit older. There are a show more lot of characters, and I found myself setting the book down and forgetting to pick it up again.

It is a fine story, focussing on the miners, traders, and Shunned, with bits of faction with the watch-whers, and guest appearances by dragons, dragon riders, and fire lizards. Other reviewers have mentioned some inconsistencies, and they are there, but didn't destroy the book for me.

All and all, it was a fun read: not spectacular, not bad, and fun to return to the universe with Pern in it. show less

DRAGON HARPER stars apprentice harper Kindan. It begins with him standing up for the girl apprentices from bullying by an older apprentice Vaxoram. They fight a duel with the loser becoming a servant to the winner. Kindan wins and is determined to redeem Vaxoram. But events intervene....

A new virulent plague is infesting all of Pern and threatens to kill everyone. The Dragonriders need to stay away from the infected Holds because Pern won't survive the next Threadfall without the show more Dragonriders. And it isn't long before the trusted elders at Harper Hall succumb to it, leaving the fate of Pern in the hands of Kindan and his fellow apprentices.

There is a romance too. Both the Lord Holder's daughter Koriana and Kindan impress two from a clutch of fire lizards and fall in love. But the Lord Holder isn't going to let his daughter marry a lowly harper.

This was an entertaining story that makes me eager to read the next book in the Pern series. show less

I'm so pleased that Todd McCaffrey is continuing on with his mother's series that I'm willing to forgive some problems in this book. Fiona is the daughter of the Lord Holder of Fort Hold and she and her father are invited guests for the Hatching. When she impresses the Queen dragon everyone is surprised but her experience at the Hold stands her in good stead when she and a bunch of wounded dragons as well as the rest of the weyrlings go back in time to the abandoned Igen Weyr. The process of show more training the weyrlings was interesting and not something I remember from other books in the series. However, I really wanted to know what was happening with the sick dragons and we were just left hanging. I know it will probably be covered in the next book but would it have hurt to have some hope. And how does this book fit in with Dragon's Blood? We really need an overall timeline for all the books. show less