In the Dragon’s Eye: Dragonwriter: A Tribute to Anne McCaffrey and Pern

June 12, 2013 In the Dragon's Eye, Pern, Todd McCaffrey 8

In the Dragon’s Eye is where I share the books I’ve got my acquisitive eye on: the ones I’m really excited about and hope to add to the hoard.

Dragonwriter: A Tribute to Anne McCaffrey and Pern, edited by Todd McCaffrey, is coming out on August 6, 2013, from Smart Pop books.  Essayists include David Brin, Mercedes Lackey, Lois McMaster Bujold, Elizabeth Moon, David Gerrold, Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, and cover artist Michael Whelan, among others.  The book will also contain 18 Pern sketches from Whelan’s archives. 

This is definitely on my wish list. The Pern books were among my very favorites in high school and college.  They got me through some of the tough times everyone goes through in those years.  Lessa, Jaxom, and especially Menolly, were — are! — almost real people to me. I still reread the books every few years.  (Hmm… it’s about time for a re-read!) 

Edited to add: Reviewed on 8/13/13

8 Responses to “In the Dragon’s Eye: Dragonwriter: A Tribute to Anne McCaffrey and Pern”

  1. Jan

    Oh, I hadn’t heard of this book! The Pern books were books I read and loved, too, during my young adult years. I loved the dragons!

    • Lark @ The Bookwyrm's Hoard

      I still love them… I think I’ll reread some of them. I like to pull out something familiar to read just before I go to bed, especially if the ARC I’m reading isn’t good before-sleep material or is too good to put down.

  2. George

    The Pern books used to be among my favorites in high school & early college too. In the last couple of decades, though, I haven’t really read them much. I think because of a combination of having read them so much earlier & then also the proliferation of them.

    Still, I need to get reacquainted with the basics, the original trilogy, Harper Hall trilogy, Moreta, etc. The only one I consistently re-read nowadays is Nerilka’s Story.

    • Lark @ The Bookwyrm's Hoard

      Interesting! I’m always glad to find a fellow Pern fan. I like Nerilka’s Story better than Moreta, probably because the main character survives. (Always a plus!) But neither one is among my very favorites. Those would probably be the first two Harper Hall books, The White Dragon and… well, after those three there are a whole lot I like about equally, including Nerilka’s Story and of course Dragonflight and Dragonquest.

      I have to admit, I haven’t been able to fall in love with Todd’s books as much as I did with Anne’s. I’m not sure why. He’s a competent writer, and his ideas are interesting, if not always precisely in line with what I thought I knew about Pern. But I just don’t connect with them in the same way.

    • Lark @ The Bookwyrm's Hoard

      I’m really looking forward to it, especially the stuff from Michael Whelan and the essay by Mercedes Lackey. I really loved The Ship Who Searched, which Lackey wrote in McCaffrey’s Brainship universe.

    • Lark @ The Bookwyrm's Hoard

      I like movies, too! But McCaffrey was one of the first adult fantasy writers I discovered, and I love love love her early and mid-career work in particular.

      There have been rumors for years about a Pern movie, but I haven’t seen any progress since Copperheart optioned the rights.