Kevin's Watch

At least McCaffery can write--unlike Jordan and others of his ilk. I have no issue with McCaffery; I just point out that she writes CHILDREN'S stories.

"When I was a child I spoke as a child I understood as a child I thought as a child; but when I became a man I put away childish things."

If you are reading this and you are 16 or older, and you love science fiction and fantasy, broaden your horizons. McCaffery, Bradbury, and Asimov are fun for kids and teens; Simmons, Vinge, some Clarke, and some Heinlein are what I would classify as "adult light sci-fi"; but writers like Donaldson, Wolfe, Dick, Kay, and Burgess can change you.

Personally, the older i get, the more 'child-like' i become!

I always felt that Dick was a little simple. Not in a bad way, but... maybe "unpretentious" would be a better word. Dunno. Maybe it's because his work is so dated, but it just never felt hard to me. On the other hand, I felt that Bradbury could at times be quite deep (or that the Pern books could run a little risque, much less the Crystal Singer books... but I don't remember that much of most of it... back when I was about 13).

Lady Althea wrote:Yes, it does! The Thorns of Barevi!

Porn? Well it all depends on the eyes that see I guess.

Anyway, didn't she extend this into a whole series later?

I will bet you 1 WGD that the Freedom's Challenge, Freedoms Landing and Freedoms Ransom is based on that short story.

Hmm, I dunno. I prefer short stories to a long series. And, she does state that it's porn.

Lady Althea wrote:Hmm, I dunno. I prefer short stories to a long series. And, she does state that it's porn.

What I meant was that although she does state that it is porn (because it was written for Playboy?) I do not consider it all that seriously pornographic.

It certainly does not hold a candle to Anne Rice's foray into pornography, and it is probably less pornographic than much that is published as mainstream these days; e.g. "A Caress of Twilight" by Laurell K. Hamilton, which is heavy on the (group) sex but not so heavy on the plot.

Here's a quote from the lady who taught dragons to fly and rockets to sing.

"The Thorns of Barevi" was an attempt to cash in on the lucrative market for soft- and hard-core pornography in the late 60's. The market paid well for such stories and many sf authors earned their monthly rent from such submissions. I thought I'd give it a try.

That's from the book. And no, it isn't any of that gross stuff my dad watches. You could almost say this has class.

Earthfriend wrote:Personally, the older i get, the more 'child-like' i become!

Why Earthy that is the true path to enlightment afterall.

I read a few dragonrider books myself. The Masterharper of Pern and a few with a little girl who controlled all those tiny dragons. They were very fun to read and great for the imagination.

Menolly and her fire-lizards. I bet you read about Piemur too. He likes pies.

members.fortunecity.de/fantasystuff/fantasy/misc/image/dsuu.jpg

Just found this when I was shopping for a new avatar.

Heh. I for one see nothing wrong with reading a book if its just for fun, with likeable characters and with a happy ending.
I enjoy deep books written by the likes of Donaldson, Simmons, Martin, and Zindell -- but I also read lighter, happier books sometimes, too.
Even little kids books sometimes.

Severian wrote:At least McCaffery can write--unlike Jordan and others of his ilk. I have no issue with McCaffery; I just point out that she writes CHILDREN'S stories.

"When I was a child I spoke as a child I understood as a child I thought as a child; but when I became a man I put away childish things."

If you are reading this and you are 16 or older, and you love science fiction and fantasy, broaden your horizons. McCaffery, Bradbury, and Asimov are fun for kids and teens; Simmons, Vinge, some Clarke, and some Heinlein are what I would classify as "adult light sci-fi"; but writers like Donaldson, Wolfe, Dick, Kay, and Burgess can change you.

In regards to McCaffrey - well said. I have read all but one of the Dragonriders of Pern books, and enjoyed them, especially "All the Weyrs in Pern." But it's very light reading.

the fisrt anne mccafferey book i read was dragonsong and the harperhall books they were good

dlbpharmd wrote:especially "All the Weyrs in Pern."

Actually, I think that an excerpt from that book was what first introduced me to Anne McCaffrey, many years ago.

--Avatar

The Dragon books are so good, and Pern would be the best place to live, if you read the books for enough years, they get into your heart. My Mum read about the death of Robinton and had to take a day off work. She told them one of her friends just died. Actually. her best friend did too...

Robinton is a great character, but F'lar is my favorite!

Eruanne wrote:The Dragon books are so good, and Pern would be the best place to live, if you read the books for enough years, they get into your heart. My Mum read about the death of Robinton and had to take a day off work. She told them one of her friends just died. Actually. her best friend did too...

Master Robinton was my life. Then Sebell came along...

Has anyone read the two most recent Pern books? <i><u>Dragon's Kin</i></u> by Anne and Todd McCaffrey or <i><u>Dragonsblood</i></u> by Todd McCaffrey alone?

<i><u>Dragon's Kin</i></u> really made me worried about Todd McCaffrey taking over the series. The idea that sucking blood was needed to impress any Pernese creature struck me as a totally unneeded idea, and I was worried it was Todd's influence on the series.

However, IMO <i><u>Dragonsblood</u></i> is a decent read, albeit with blatant Pernese errors. I hope Todd grows into the series more, and produces some well written, engaging Pern novels over time.

Menolly, or anyone else who's read them, if I were to read the Pern books now (I haven't read any of them for a long time) should I skip the "Todd" books, are they important to the story?

ZL...

It depends on how you feel about the series.

The collaborations between Anne and Todd, and Todd's single authored books are set in an earlier Pass than the main stories. Some things that are unexplained in the Ninth Pass are started or at least hinted at in the Third Pass, which is when the Todd books are set.

IMO, they are not essential to the main storyline, no. But, I believe the series will continue, even after Anne's passing, with Todd as author. Whether he will continue to concentrate on the Third Pass, or take up stories about the Ninth Pass I don't know.

I just looked up the series on Wikipedia. Apparently novel set for later release is being worked on. Its working is titled After the Fall. Considering how The Skies of Pern ended with the Dragonriders planning on settling the Southern Continent after thread stopped falling, perhaps the title implies the series will return to the Ninth Pass after all.

So, if you are willing to continue with the series with Todd as author, then read them. But I personally don't think the ones currently published (I have not read the newest release Dragonharper, so can't speak for that) with Todd are essential.