Product Description

A new age is dawning on Pern, for since the dragons have changed the orbit of the Red Star, the horrors of Threadfall will soon be a thing of the past. But even as the dragon riders are trying to decide what their future role will be, further dangers are beginning to emerge, as those calling themselves the Abominators plot together to destroy all the learning that has been discovered from the records of the Old Ones. Their first vicious assault is on the Healer Halls - irrevocable damage is done and it is obvious that this is a worldwide movement with a dangerous mind leading those who would destroy all of the new knowledge. And now comes a fresh and terrible catastrophe - a large cometary fragment is hurtling towards Pern and cannot be deflected. Everyone - dragons, riders, holders and craftsmen - must stand by to perform a giant rescue operation. As F'lessan, son of Lessa and F'lar, plays his heroic part in the events that follow, he is helped by Tai, his new weyrmate. But it is the dragons, bronze Golanth and the brilliant green Zaranth, who will provide the solution to the dangers of the skies.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #165785 in Books
• Published on: 2002-02-04
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 586 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Anne McCaffrey's Pern series has been running successfully for so long that most of the Dragonriders' original problems have been solved; inThe 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 rumours. 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... One of the reasons why Anne McCaffrey's tales of a lost colony declined into feudalism and of genetically engineered dragons have always been, ultimately, sf rather than fantasy is that 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.

Walter Ellis, The Times
'Anne McCaffrey, one of the Queens of science fiction, knows exactly how to give her public what it wants'

From the Publisher
A new novel of Pern and the Dragons.

Customer Reviews

Latest Pern book is worth the wait for fans
With Skies of Pern, Anne McCaffrey pushes into uncharted depths of her world's history, providing a long awaited sequel to Dolphins of Pern. For those people who have not yet met Pern, Skies of Pern is the 16th in a series about a planet where dragons are an important part of human society. For fans who have long since fallen in love with the world, Skies of Pern has a lot to live up to. Happily, it does so.

Set several turns after the events of previous books, the main character is F'lessan, who has featured frequently in earlier books, along with a new face, greenrider Tai. Both can hold their own in the vast array of characters who have featured on Pern, but even more of a treat for me, was revisiting characters we've met before. There's a lot of nostalgia here for fans: watch out for names featured in previous books--in and around the plot, Anne reveals the fates of more than a few loved and unloved inhabitants of Pern.

Those longing to learn how Pern itself has advanced since we last saw it won't be disappointed either: female greenriders have become more common and almost every rider is focusing on what they will do after this last pass is over. Moreover, Pern's technology is increasing, something that isn't being taken well by everyone: a new wave of Abominators has arisen to threaten what advances Pern has made. I sometimes feel like a closet-abominator myself, begrudging 'gadgets' on the agrarian world of Pern, but fortunately Anne seems to have no intention of making it just another hi-tech science-fiction series.

And for those who simply want another good read, this is one of the most action-packed Pern stories for a long time. As well as violence from the abominators, there's a natural disaster as evinced by the cover, and that's still not the most harrowing part of the book! I won't spoil it, but make sure you have the hankies nearby for the last quarter.

Let-downs? As a purist, I'm uncertain about the new ability which manifests itself in the dragons. After so many books, I can't help but feel that the dragons are as they are and that's how I like them--is this extra power really necessary? The ending too, seems a little abrupt and not quite as definitive as I'd like. Fortunately, Anne has left enough loose ends for us to be sure that a 17th book is on the cards.

Perhaps the greatest problem with the book is that it cannot really stand alone. It is very much part of a series, and even a Pern fan should read All the Weyrs of Pern first if they want to appreciate this one fully. Those who have not yet met Pern, will most likely find themselves confused. Still, this is one of those books that is worth reading an entire series for.

Another beatific bit of fantasy.
The Pern series always manage to transport me away from the humdrum of life into its beautiful and magical world. I savour these books. I keep them on the shelf waiting to be read so that I can properly enjoy the anticipation. I try to wait for a particularly dull or hard section of daily struggle to arrive before giving myself this wonderful treat.
I started reading about this world some twenty years ago with Menolly the girl who could hear fire lizards and have never been disappointed. This follows on the glorious story.
Like all the other Pern books this submerges the reader into that survival-tec world of Pern within a few pages. Its like taking a refreshing holiday whilst tickling your puzzle cells to guess which 21st century (or beyond) piece of technology or know-how is going to be discovered again by the Pernese.
The tension point in this book is the question of what exactly the dragon riders are going to do as a livelihood once thread has vanished forever. This is nicely drawn out until about two thirds of the way through and only really confirmed within the last few pages.
There is the usual plotting by the baddies and the inappropriate or reluctant love story.

The next installment in the story of Pern (for fans only).
Not the strongest book in this long saga, possibly because having previously engineered the future demise of the 'Thread' threat, a major plank of the whole series plot has been removed. This story continues the softer, less saga-like background tone of recent books and once again neatly manages to focus on a minor character from previous stories whilst keeping the major players in the story line.

I enjoyed it, but I always enjoy McCaffrey's stories especially when they concern familiar places and characters. A must-read for fans - not a good place to start.

I suspect a further volume is in the works, too many lose ends and a need to address the unsatisfactory plot developments for it to end here - I hope.