Dragonseye

It has been two hundred years since the last Threadfall on Pern and there is no one alive who remembers the deadly silver thread and its first horrific onslaught - except for the dragonriders. For two centuries they have been faithfully practicing the manuevers that Sean O'Connell, the first Weryleader, had developed to most effectively fight Thread. Now the signs of Threadfall are appearing: violent winter storms & volcanic eruptions, as well as other, more subtle signs. But one stubborn Lord Holder, Chalkin of Bitra, refuses to believe the signs. He also refuses to let his people prepare for Threadfall or to let dragonriders patrol his holdings. The Lord Holders must band together and find a way to deal with Chalkin before it is too late...But, of course, Chalkin is not the only person who is causing problems. Clisser, who is in charge of teaching, is forced to deal with Pern's slowly dying technology. Most of the computers are already dead and unrepairable. Students and parents are rebelling at learning "useless" information, such as wars fought on old Terran and other alien information. Clisser and his fellow teachers must make the tough decision as to curriculum changes - do they begin teaching at the beginning of Pern's history and focus on the here and now or do they continue to teach their students to try and see beyond their own planet? Artist Iantine is caught up in Chalkin's evil wake when he accepted Chalkin's patronage and agreed to paint portraits of his children and his wife. Little did Iantine realize that Chalkin would not be satisfied with any portrait that he made and that he would be forced to pay for food and lodging while staying in Chalkin's home. When he was finally able to escape, he recorded the horrific circumstances of Chalkin's luckless people and forced the Lord Holder's council to realize that Chalkin was not doing his duty. K'vin is the new Weyrleader of Telgar Weyr and is uncertain as to his relationship with the Weyrwoman, Zulaya, who is older than he and much more experienced. As the newest Weyrleader, K'vin is determined to have Telgar put in a good showing at the first Threadfall. If only he could get brave fools like P'tero to stop taking foolish risks to show off for their lovers!At first, when I started reading Dragonseye, I assumed it was just like Dragonflight - no one believes Thread will fall anymore, it is up to the heroic dragonriders to save everyone, etc., but I was pleasantly surprised by the subtle - but critical - differences. For one thing, Pern still has much of its technology intact at this point and people still remember the first settlers of Pern and why they came to the out of the way planet. They still have computers, pianos, solar panels, etc., and can repair much of what they have. This book covered the tough decisions as to what to pass on to future generations and how and the teaching ballads were born. They also wanted to create something more concrete to warn futu

I started reading the Dragonriders of Pern many years ago and have never been disappointed by any of the books including this one. It explains many questions that any true Pern fan asks deep in their core as they read these fabulous books. From Finger Rock to the Harper Hall you will learn how these came into being. Anne McCaffrey writes books that can be read again and again (Believe me I've read the complete series four times and am now working on number five!) Enjoy this book as I know you certainly will.

I only discovered Anne McCaffrey as an author about a year ago. Since then I've read all of her books -- my favorites being the Dragonriders of Pern series. I love the concept, high tech to no tech, but with magical and wonderful dragons. I await each new book in the series with eager anticipation and was thrilled to be the first person in the library to read Dragonseye. I love that she went back and revisited an earlier time in Pern's history and created a whole new cast of characters for me to remember. Anne, I hope you never stop revisiting Pern and its Dragonriders and Lord Holders and Dragons

I've been a fan of Anne McCaffrey's Pern books for a very long time. In fact, the first hardcover book I bought (starting a long, expensive tradition) was McCaffrey's "The White Dragon." That's why I was thrilled when I heard of the publication of Dragonseye. This book takes us back to the early days of Pern, to the second fall of Thread, the deadly organism that strikes Pern every 200 years. The computers are dead, and Pern's leaders are concerned that future generations will not recognize the upcoming Threadfall and know how to prepare. This is the generation that composes the wonderful songs that warn of Threadfall and develops other ways to inform their descendants of the coming of the Red Star which brings Thread. It's a great read, whether for a new Pern fan or an existing one like me. The next thing I'm going to do is reread my other Pern books