Moreta: Dragonlady of Pern

With this book, I jump back to the Sixth Pass, a set of events occasionally alluded to in the Ninth Pass books through the epic song "Moreta's Ride"; this were McCaffrey's first attempts at telling stories outside of the framework of the original Ninth Pass. Moreta: Dragonlady of Pern tells the story of a plague that swept across Pern and the desperate attempts to stop it, particularly by the Weyrwoman Mortea, her lover Alessan, and the Masterhealer Capian.

Moreta is an unintentionally familiar read in the COVID era, a story about a respiratory disease that can kill you, quarantines, defiant leaders, and vaccine distribution. It's fairly effective, mostly because of its main protagonist, the eponymous Moreta. She is an older woman, one show more who has had children and as Weyrwoman, has had a lover, but has clearly never known love. The scenes between Moreta and Alessan are the emotional core of the book and its most effective. Moreta is a Weyrwoman: she must manage her weyr and assist her Weyrleader. Alessan is a Lord Holder; recently widowed, he needs to remarry to ensure the continuation of his bloodline. The two fall in love over runnerbeast (i.e., horse) racing and dance together, but then duty pulls them as the epidemic worsens across Pern. Yet, they manage to snatch moments together. There's an effective feeling of doom layered across the whole thing, and some decent uses of the time travel abilities dragons were revealed to have in the original trilogy. I like that McCaffrey was trying something a little bit different here, and I overall found it an enjoyable, occasionally moving, read. show less

Did a recent re-read of this, one of many childhood favorites by Anne McCaffrey, because I acquired a nice first edition hard cover. However, it turned out being very timely/topical. I almost entirely forgotten that it centers around a zootonic pandemic, and both responsible and irresponsible responses and thought processes of the people effected. America could have stood to learn a few lessons from Pern here. And lets not forget the tragic ending.

The premise of the Dragons of Pern series is that dragon riders are telepathically linked to their dragons - who can also teleport - and they fly to burn Thread (a space-traveling mycorrhizoid spore that devours anything and everything organic) from the skies of Pern, to protect the planet.

In Moreta, the people of the planet have to deal with a pandemic outbreak of a mysterious disease, against which they have no immunity - the disease having been eradicated before migration to the northern continent.

Though it's the sixth book written, the story is set centuries before the original trilogy (starting with Dragonflight), in which time Moreta is a legend of Pern. It is a well written story, with a lot of attention to small details which show more really set the atmosphere. There are twists in the story (though, since I've read this book a few times over many years, they were no longer a surprise to me) that click into place differently for us, reading from our modern-day perspective (the concept of vaccines, for example), than they do for the characters.

The series in general is well written (especially, I think, the first eight or ten books), with a fairly unique premise of telepathic, teleporting dragons, and Anne McCaffrey's world-building holds together very well. It doesn't hurt, either, that there are so many strong female characters - especially with the first story being written as far back as 1967. The dragons of Pern are some of my 'old-reliable, comfort' books; after all, who wouldn't want to ride an intelligent flying dragon, linked mind-to-mind only and forever to you? show less

It's been decades since I read this book. I don't know if it would hold up to adult Emily's standards, but what I do remember is that it's the first book that made me cry. I remember crying and hurling it across the room. Being able to elicit that memorable of a response earns it a 5-star rating, at least in my very subjective and forgiving rating system.
The Pern series overall swept me away. I remember reading the first trilogy and wishing with all my heart that it was real, that I could bond with a dragon of my own. Not all of the books were equally good, but I remember this one as a keeper.

I'm a fan of McCaffrey's Pern novels by and large, particularly the earlier ones and this is one of my favorites. There is a reference to Moreta's ride in the original trilogy. This tells that story celebrated in song and occurring centuries before the time of Lessa and F'Nor. Set at the height of the Dragonriders' prestige just as that "pass" is ending and they have peace to look forward to, it's about a worldwide pandemic--so not a lighthearted read. It was interesting coming from those other books to see this time in Pern's history. The characters, particularly Moreta, are appealing and I enjoyed this visit to McCaffey's Pern and its dragons. I wouldn't start with this book--I think Dragonflight, the first published book, makes the show more best introduction even though this is earlier chronologically. However, this book makes for a well-paced, gripping read. show less

While this book was good, this is where the series really started to slip, both writing and the plot. The plot has become tangled when it is discovered that some dragons can go 'between' back to the past, and Moreta does that to save her desperate Hold. Once that happens, things get all messed up. This book is more about personalities, namely Moreta, than it is about Pern or dragons or Thread. Still good, just not my favorite.

I wanted to read one of the Dragonrider books in honour of Anne McCaffrey's passing, and curiously enough, settled on one that I haven't actually read all that often. I'd forgotten what an enjoyable read "Moreta" is, with its appealing main characters and a strongly-conveyed sense of the desperation, peril and urgency of the situation that I think only "Dragonflight" can match. Plus, it never fails to make me cry :-). It was a real pleasure to read it again.