Dragon Harper (Pern)

An excellent continuation by Ms. Mccaffrey's son. The book had me laughing and crying and kept my attention from page one.

I think a couple of these reviews are a bit harsh. Sure, Todd has to find his way around and always will be measured against his mother's legacy - and that's a tough one! So far I've liked all the "mother/son" collaboration results. This one is not so much about dragons, but honestly - I don't think a Pern-novel has to be about dragons. I've always enjoyed the intricate display of a much simpler, trust based society. I have to strongly agree with one of the other reviews: Please consider continuing the storyline of F'lar and Lessa. What happens when the pass ends? Where and how do they settle? What happens to the "star-guild"? What's up with the telekinetic abilities of the dragons - aside from moving trundlebugs and felines? I think Todd has a vast playground with all the open ends his mother left him as starters. I sincerely hope he'll pick up on all the open ends. I've just reread all Pern novels in the last few weeks and there are many storylines that were never continued. For example nobody knows what became of Readis and his "Dolphin Hall". I wouldn't mind another Dolphin story. There are also plenty of characters/institutions that never spun off. For example there is no major story about the farming/animal-hall. I'm not tired of plaques - our real planet has and will face big ones repeatedly. For me that's a given. But what about something a bit less "picked up" if we have to continue the "plaque" theme? Say, a plaque that destroys crops, or pollutes water? Ok, maybe too realistic for some :-) Point is, I will continue to buy every Pern novel written. Until now I've never been disappointed. Most were great and a few not my fav's, but still worth reading. Try to compare any of the Pern Books to other fantasy novels. The only other author I ever found who could keep up with the Pern stories is the Shannara series written by Terry Brooks. Ok, there's one other, the Envor books from Wolfgang Holbein - but I doubt they have been translated to english and I tend to read the books in the language they've been written in - trust me, the german or french translations of Pern really suck. Overall: buy it, read it and don't compare it to the top novels Anne wrote in her prime. You'll find it's worth reading.

If I had an imaginary world to live in this would be the one - especially if I had a fire lizard or could impressed even a green dragon. Our ranch is called Dragons Weyr Ranch, our wedding rings have Celtic dragons on the sides, we are Scottish, and both born in the Year of the Dragon...in the blood. Todd is a great assest working with his mother and this story line is in keeping with all the other adventurous Pern stories. Give me more!

Dragon Harper (2007) is the third SF novel in this subseries of the Dragonriders of Pern, following Dragon's Fire. In the previous volume, Pellar tried to stop Tenim from destroying the last firestone mine, but failed. He also lost his fire-lizard to Tenim's falcon. Later, Cristov found a bed of the old form of firestone and starts a new mine. Pellar is highly respected by the High Reaches Weyr leaders and was invited to the Hatching so that he might Impress a dragon. Instead, he stayed with Halla and supervised the new firestone mine. They were very happy to be digging up a form of firestone that didn't explode when wetted. Cristov attended the Hatching and Impressed the bronze dragon Sereth. Later, C'tov returned to visit Pellar and Halla. He discovered that they have expanded the camp to three mines. In this novel, Kindan hopes to ride back from High Reaches with M'tal, the Benden Weyrleader. Instead, he rides to Harper Hall on Gaminth, the bronze dragon of D'vin. M'tal does renew his promise to take Kindan as the Benden Harper when he is promoted to Journeyman. Verilan is the youngest apprentice. Kelsa and Nonala are female apprentices. All three have been harassed by Vaxoram, the senior apprentice. Kindan -- himself a latecomer among the apprentices -- takes these three under his wing and protects them from Vaxoram and his cronies. Kindan and his friends walk out to meet a dragon in the fog. M'tal appears and Kindan introduces the others to him. M'tal comments that Verilan should see the healer about his cough. When Verilan protests the idea, his friends agree with M'tal. After giving a bucket of fire-lizard eggs to Kindan and sending him to the kitchen, M'tal carries Verilan to the healer. One day, Vaxoram makes a snide remark about Nonala and Kindan slaps him in the face and challenges him. Vaxoram hits him back, but Weyrleader M'tal arrives just then and stops the punching. Kindan repeats his challenge and they agree on a time. Masterharper Murenny soon heats about the challenge and calls Kindan to his office. The masterharper has M'tal with him and they discuss the situation with Kindan. They decide to let Mikal prepare Kindan for the duel. In this story, Kindan is called to Fort Hold for the hatching of the fire-lizard eggs. He helps Korianna -- daughter of the Lord Holder -- to impress her gold fire-lizard, Koriss. Meanwhile, he impresses Valla, a bronze fire-lizard. The Lord Holder's two sons are supposed to get their own fire-lizards, but the queen chases the hatchlings away. Kindan is infatuated with Korianna and she seems to respond in kind. Lady Sannora -- Korianna's mother -- doesn't seem to approve of their relationship. Neither does Lord Bemin, Korianna's father. This story tells of a disease that infests all of Pern. Only the dragonriders are not effected, but the other Weyrfolk are susceptible. Kindan early recognizes the danger of the new disease and spreads the word to the other hold

Todd McCaffrey is doing a great job with his mom's life work. Anyone who has enjoyed the Pern stories previously will also enjoy this latest edition.