Sky Dragons (Dragonriders of Pern Series)

McCaffrey, Anne; McCaffrey, Todd

ISBN 10: 1423347099 ISBN 13: 9781423347095

Publisher: Brilliance Audio, 2012

Synopsis

From the New York Times bestselling mother-and-son team of Anne McCaffrey and Todd McCaffrey comes the final installment in the riveting Pern saga that began with Todd’s solo novel Dragonsblood. Now, with all of Pern imperiled by the aftereffects of a plague that killed scores of dragons and left the planet helpless against the fall of deadly Thread, the only hope for the future lies in the past.

There, on an unexplored island, a group of dragon-riders led by Xhinna, a brave young woman who rides the blue dragon Tazith, must battle lethal Mrreows and voracious tunnel snakes to build a safe home for themselves and the dragons, whose offspring will one day―if they survive―replenish Pern’s decimated dragon population. But as the first female rider of a blue dragon, and the first female Weyrleader in the history of Pern, Xhinna faces an uphill battle in winning the respect and loyalty of her peers...especially after an unforeseen tragedy leaves the struggling colony reeling from a shattering loss.

Amid the grieving, one girl, Jirana, blessed―or cursed―with the ability to foresee potential futures, will help Xhinna find a way forward. The answer lies in time...or, rather, in timing it: the awesome ability of the dragons to travel through time itself. But that power comes with risks, and by venturing further into the past, Xhinna may be jeopardizing the very future she has sworn to save.

About this title

Review

Anne McCaffrey's Pern series has been running successfully for so long that most of the Dragonriders' original problems have been solved. In The Skies of Pern, she confronts her standard cast of characters with the consequences of those solutions, consequences that are a whole new set of problems. Now that the Red Star has been pushed to another orbit, there will only be a few more ravenous Threads descending from it for them and their dragons to fight--and what role will that leave for them? They have successfully reclaimed Earth's lost technology--and suddenly everyone with a craft that might be outmoded, or who is phobic about surgery, is on the rampage, sabotaging and smashing and making up rumors. These fundamentalist Abominators are sure that something terrible will happen if the old ways are not gone back to--and sure enough, fire descends, on cue, from the skies.

Anne McCaffrey's tales of genetically engineered dragons and a lost colony that has declined into feudalism are ultimately SF rather than fantasy because they are about finding solutions to problems, solutions that involve working with what you are given to start off with; The Skies of Pern is all about elegant solutions to credible problems. --Amazon.co.uk

From the Inside Flap

Thanks to Anne McCaffrey, millions of readers have soared the skies on dragonback, shared the thoughts and dreams of the great dragons of Pern, and risked life and limb to safeguard the planet from the deadly threat of falling Thread. With the Dragonriders of Pern, McCaffrey has given us more than just an extraordinary masterwork of imagination. She has given us a whole world?and has taught us to fly. Now, in this triumphant return to Pern, Anne McCaffrey takes us on an adventure as surprising and unforgettable as any that has come before . . .

It is a time of hope and regret, of endings and beginnings. The Red Star, that celestial curse whose eccentric orbit was responsible for Thread, has been shifted to a harmless orbit, and the current Threadfall will be the last. Technological marvels are changing the face of life on Pern. And the dragonriders, led by F'lessan, son of F'lar and Lessa and rider of bronze Golanth, and Tia, rider of green Zaranth, must forge a new place for themselves in a world that may no longer need them.

But change is not easy for everyone. There are those who will stop at nothing? not even violence?to keep Pern and its people pure. And now a brand-new danger looms from the skies . . . and threatens a catastrophe of unimaginable proportions.

Once again, the world looks to the dragons and their riders to solve the crisis and save the world. But now, as the friendship of F'lessan and Tia begins to bloom into something more, unforeseen tragedy strikes: a tragedy destined to forever change the future?not just of the two young lovers, but of every human and dragon on Pern . . .

Edition details

• Publisher: Brilliance Audio
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 1423347099
• ISBN 13: 9781423347095
• Binding: MP3 CD
• Language: English