Dragonsblood
Dragonriders of Pern

By Todd McCaffrey

     The dragons of Pern and their riders are back - but with a brand new weyrleader in charge. Anne McCaffrey's son Todd has taken over the series following his debut co-authoring Dragon's Kin (also reviewed on this site) back in 2003. This novel is set in two time periods, just over fifty years after Landing and just over five hundred years later. When a plague threatens to wipe out all dragon kind, newcomer Lorana at Benden Weyr might just have the answer if she works hard enough to find it. Gifted with the rare ability to hear all dragons, Lorana and Harper Kindan embark upon a search to uncover knowledge that has been long lost. Meanwhile, way back in time, Wind Blossom has discovered a mysterious ownerless fire lizard which has some sort of disease…

     Back on Pern again at last! It is this series' great strength that we readers get to know it so well that we might not even need a map to get around it if we found ourselves there. We would certainly know what to expect - it all seems so wonderfully real. Now we have a second perspective, and a more in-depth look at the scientific side of Pern, which is good as this is science fiction after all. It is also about the tricky relationship between Kitti Ping, Wind Blossom and Emorra, and perhaps most compelling of all the transition from the early technological days of Dragonsdawn to the rather medieval fantasy scenario in the later books. Technology fails, supplies run out and cannot be replaced and the settlers have to find alternative methods to live in tune with their new home. It all makes for gripping reading, especially as this is another good tale full of energy and human interest, with some new (and a few old) well realized and memorable characters. To its detriment perhaps there are sections of this long book that seem a bit repetitive, and at times I wished to hear less of the dying dragons or Wind Blossom's family problems and more about such tantalizing things as the Eridani Way, Cetus III or the settler's transition from human space farers to full-blooded Pernese. Another time perhaps? As always I am left wanting more.