McCaffrey's first novel in her imaginative Pern series, that is actually science fiction despite the presence of dragons!

This was the first of her Dragon books, I believe. I first read it in the early 1970's & was a favorite for years. It's a great heroic adventure in an interesting & complex world. Well written, as is typical of her work. While I've read a few other of the spin-offs, the original trilogy is my favorite & is plenty for me. ( )

Introducing Lessa, Ruatha Hold and dragons. Pern is an escape place for me and for the'greenie' people escaping Earth, and several centuries along the people are still unmodernised. Here we find out that not all is perfect, but good does overcome in the end. Love it. ( )

Almost everyone knows about Pern, even those who aren’t generally interested in fantasy or science fiction novels. I’m surprised that no one has tried to take this series and make it into a movie. At the very least, a Sci-Fi channel original series or an anime treatment of it is due. I’ve included this as part of the classics because I believe that McCaffrey’s ability to create a world and tell a story with lots of layers of conflict is far above and beyond that of most fantasy and science fiction writers. She doesn’t just rely on the fantasy and tension of the storyline as a crutch, but creates realistic characters who are fighting real battles, whether that be against the threads, other people, or even time itself. She’s also so intricately created the politics of Pern that it seems like a real place. A quick warning, though, there are elements of sexuality and murder throughout the text, so it may skew a little higher in age. I recommend this book to readers 14 .-Lindsey Miller, www.lindseyslibrary.com ( )

This is the first book in the Dragons of Pern series, which I read a small part of as a child. Given that they're still being written, its not surprising that I'm pretty out of date on this series. This book is excellent for a few reasons -- the idea is unique and well implemented; its an amazing mix of fantasy with science fiction style justifications for the way things are; and its well written. The underlying premise is that a planet named Pern as a nearly neighbor on an eccentric orbit. When that neighbor comes near to Pern, spores from the other planet try to land on Pern. These spores breed by eating organic life, so they need to be neutralized or life on Pern will cease. There are however a few patches I had to re-read to make full sense of. I really liked this book.

http://www.stillhq.com/book/Anne_McCa... ( )