THE SKIES OF PERN by Anne McCaffrey
Bantam Press (Transworld) - February 2001
ISBN 0593043308 -  Hardback
Science Fiction

Reviewed by Rachel Hyde, MyShelf.com
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The dragons of Pern and their riders are back!  The orbit of the Red Star that brings the feared Threadfall may have been changed but Thread is set to fall for one last time.  But the dragonriders have no time to ponder their use in the future as they and the Holds are being plagued by attacks from a group of people calling themselves Abominators who think that all the knowledge gained from the AIVAS system is evil and will destroy life, as they know it.  So they smash the Healer's hall and wreak havoc but even this pales beside a terrifying new threat to Pern - a huge fragment of a comet is hurtling towards them at top speed and its course cannot be changed. Everybody in the area must be evacuated and F'Lar will emerge as a hero with a new love interest but that isn't the end of the story.

As always McCaffrey can be relied upon to deliver a good story packed with excitement and human interest and full of memorable and well-realized characters, most of whom have been known to the readers of this series since the first book.  It is in describing the ordinary details of everyday life that McCaffrey really lifts the book above many others of its genre as it creates a more believable background instead of just a thin framework to hang adventures on.  Then there is her mixing of SF and fantasy to produce something that will please fans of both.  May she write many more Pern novels!

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