April 2, 2020 – Cathy's Reading Bonanza

The Chronicles Of Pern: First Fall (The Dragon Books)
by Anne McCaffrey

Discovered this in my reading pile… big surprise! I have been reading Anne MaCaffrey since I was a teen and I re-read many of my favourite Pern books over and over again. Eventually I lost interest and never got back into the series.

After a little research I figured it out—at some point in 2019 I apparently decided to fill my gaps in this series in chronological order. So I seem to have gotten this as a start. After a little further research it turns out that McCaffrey herself suggested to read her books in publication order. But here we are…

This is a collection of five short stories/novelettes, „gripping episodes of early Pern.“

The P.E.R.N. Survey

We start of with a survey mission from space…

„Barring some unforeseen factor discovered in the analyses of soil, vegetation and biological samples, they were all three quite willing to let Castor initial it P.E.R.N. – parallel Earth, resources negligible.“

I would have liked to stay with them longer, to find out what becomes of them…

The Dolphins’ Bell

Early days with the dolphins of Pern. Vulcanic eruption, flight and the favourite word of this episode is „pyroclastic“-something-or-other. Master and Commander meets Dante‘s Peak, with dolphins… (not really).

The Ford of Red Hanrahan

A new Hold is founded… Lots of horses. The river crossing is mildly entertaining. The least interesting story of this collection.

The Second Weyr

Finally, a proper story about dragonriders.

“She was close enough at a roughly thousand-foot altitude to notice the churning of the water beneath where schools of every fish that thrived in Pern’s seas had gathered to feast on drowning Thread.“

Now that is more exciting than the previous stories!

Rescue Run

Maybe the colonists will get rescued? You and me know differently. Or do we? Not bad.

So, all together this story collection was ok. Nothing spectacular, however for fans it casts a light on the early colonists on Pern, how they got there, their abandonment of the Southern continent, beginnings in their new homes further North…

I‘ll have a look at the series in publication order. Maybe I will pick up one of the newer books.