Fist and Faith wrote: ↑
I've probably told this store once or twice over the years. I had the first Pern book in my car. A friend saw it and said, "Read this instead," and handed me LFB. Never got around to Pern.
A shame, really. The imaginative works of SRD and Anne McCaffrey are BOTH great! I don't see why it has to be an either/or.
(That said, I should consider reading the books about Malazan. )
By coincidence, I regularly visit a 'book exchange' outside a local church where some half dozen boxes of books are available to sift through and buy for a nominal contribution. Someone has recently dropped about twenty books by Anne McCaffrey in the pile, and frankly, the large number to select from has been the only thing stopping me from taking a punt on one. Where would I start?
I've read nothing by her at all - surprising considering how long I've been reading fantasy (fifty plus years) and how many fantasy books I've read (certainly hundreds).
Who knows Cord; perhaps I'll take a look later and if Dragons Kin is amongst them I'll take it as a sign.
President of Peace? You fucking idiots!
....and the glory of the world becomes less than it was....
'Have we not served you well'
'Of course - you know you have.'
'Then let it end.'
Peter, I have read that Anne McCaffrey preferred to think of herself as strictly a science fiction writer instead of a fantasy writer, and in her book Dragonsdawn even tried to come up with an explanation rooted in genetics for the creation of dragons from the native fire-lizards of the planet Pern. That said, I would consider her Dragonriders of Pern books to be fantasy anyway, due to the detail that dragons can disappear into a mysterious cold dark place called between that gives them shortcuts through space and time to reappear in the world of Pern (and sometimes even beyond it) wherever & whenever they visualized (courtesy of the mindset of their human riders, who have a telepathic link with their dragons). That, to me, sounds more like fantasy than science fiction.
Anyway, Peter, with regards to the Pern books, I recommend starting with either the Harper Hall trilogy, as I did (Dragonsong, Dragonsinger, and Dragondrums) or with the first three books focused on the dragonriders (Dragonflight, Dragonquest, and The White Dragon). Either route is a very good starting point for reading the series. Reading any of the other Pern books first might have you coming across names and terms with which you are unfamiliar and are unexplained, because the authorial assumption will be that you have already read at least one of the two above-named trilogies first.
Concerning McCaffrey's other books, I liked her Freedom series, about how a conquering alien race of the galaxy deposits humans and other conquered alien races on a planet, deserting them and forcing them to build up a civilization all over again. I found them inspiring, and really got into their challenges to overcome in living on a strange world, and learning to cooperate with other intergalactic beings to make it all happen. Those books are: Freedom's Landing, Freedom's Choice, Freedom's Challenge, and Freedom's Ransom. I enjoyed them a lot!
Other Anne McCaffrey books worth checking out: Restoree (her first published novel), and the poignant The Ship Who Sang.
I like Anne McCaffrey enough to have read more books by her than any other author; current total is 28 books of hers that I've read. I like her as much as I like Stephen R. Donaldson (for comparison, I have read 27 of his books), which is saying quite a bit!
Gosh Cord, that's praise indeed! I'd no idea that she could inspire such admiration, though the sheer volume her output should have given me a clue. I think it was never a conscious decision not to read her - just that I always had other books on the go (and also dropped all fiction reading for years as well). I think that by the time I picked up fantasy reading again she'd simply slipped too far into the past (if you get me).
It seems however that I might have a chance to rectify this and your pointers on where to start are much appreciated. I'll give the boxes a scan forearmed with your helpful suggestions and see what comes out.
I'll post an update when I've had a look (unfortunately working this weekend, but early next week most probably).
Thanks again Cord.
President of Peace? You fucking idiots!
....and the glory of the world becomes less than it was....
'Have we not served you well'
'Of course - you know you have.'
'Then let it end.'
My preference for Pern is published order, even with the intermingling of the first three Dragonriders books and The Harper Hall books. The stories are concurrent and effect each other. And by the time you get to The White Dragon, you’ll need to know who Piemur, from the Harper Hall is.
The “passes” of Pern then start to jump around, but the fantasy aspect holds up better than if you read in chronological order.
I also enjoy the Crystal Singer series and The Ship Who Sang books by McCaffrey. I believe she had extensive classical music training outside of being an author, and it comes through in her books, including in Pern.
Took a ride down to the church yesterday and somebody has nabbed the lot!
My fault because they have been there for, well, weeks really, and I've been looking at them and not picked one up genuinely because there were just too many to choose from. I'm guessing that finally someone realised what a treasure trove the collection represented and picked them up as a lot. They're probably on e-bay as we speak.
But it's okay. I'm taking it as a sign. I've got access to a very good library archive where I live and can most likely access the titles you guys have recommended in a more ordered way via this. Once an idea is in my head it doesn't easily dissapear and I now believe my 'date' with Anne McCaffrey is long overdue.
I'll keep you posted.
Edit; A quick check reveals that my library has both the original and Harper Hall trilogies in full on its listing. Seems like a good sign as to where to begin.
I like the idea of a slightly sci-fi skewed fantasy if you get me. Looking forward to giving it a whirl.
President of Peace? You fucking idiots!
....and the glory of the world becomes less than it was....
'Have we not served you well'
'Of course - you know you have.'
'Then let it end.'
Thank you for the update, peter! I think you will enjoy reading McCaffrey (at least, I know that I certainly have!).
Because you have access to both the Harper Hall trilogy and the first three published books about the dragonriders, I recommend reading them in this order:
Dragonflight
Dragonquest
Dragonsong
Dragonsinger
Dragondrums
The White Dragon.
I envy you this first voyage through McCaffrey's stories, Peter! Happy reading!
While I"m physically reading other books, at a fucking slow pace , I have decided to start an audiobook journey on the Malazan series, starting with Gardens of the Moon. I managed to physically read the first 5 books a few years ago, but then got sidetracked, and can now only remember a fraction of it. So @Fist and Faith - look out!
)
, I have decided to start an audiobook journey on the Malazan series, starting with Gardens of the Moon. I managed to physically read the first 5 books a few years ago, but then got sidetracked, and can now only remember a fraction of it. So @Fist and Faith - look out!
