Nerilka's Story [Mass Market Paperback]

Ms. McCaffrey has spun many a wondrous tale of these heroic figures, creating a world rich with a culture all it's own. This story, however, does not feature a dragonrider, nor does it feature Ms. McCaffrey's other favorite Pernese subject, the Harpers. Instead, both of those groups play secondary parts to the main character, Nerilka. Rill, as she's known, is a new type of character for fans: she is an ordinary person. A middle child, a daughter in a culture that favors sons, and an average human being with jealousies as well as compassion, Rill stands out amongst the characters that the author has created as she becomes the 'average Rill' who rises above tragedy and finds strength deep inside to do what must be done.

The book stands best as a companion volume to Ms. McCaffrey's "Moreta: Dragonlady of Pern", though it can be read on it's own. There is a greater richness of understanding and unsaid detail available if the reader is familiar with the storyline and characters populating "Moreta", though.

The writing style is a bit more simplistic than usual for the author, and the book is a very quick read, not taxing in either length or complexity. The illustrations are interesting, though I have to admit that the characters looked very different in my own mind's eye, but that is probably to be expected.

All in all this book is good for a quick 'dip' into the world of Pern. The characters are engaging, Nerilka and those that the reader comes across at Ruatha Hold are the most clearly delineated. It has an enjoyable, simple plotline with no real shocks or unexpected twists and turns. An excellent read for times when the reader just wants something light.

When Fort Hold hears the terrible news about the sickness spreading across Pern, Nerilka immediately takes as many stores to the Harper Hall as she can, knowing full well that her father would never give them anything. Her father forces one of the dragonriders to bring him back to Fort Hold, flagrantly disobeying the rule of the Masterhealer to stay where you were when the sickness started to spread. Nerilka soon learns that her mother and all of her sisters died of the plague. Her mother is barely in the ground before her father brings his mistress and her family into the Hold. Nerilka cannot bear to serve someone younger than herself who lords it over everyone at the Hold. When she overhears her father denying the Masterhealer and Masterharper medication and other supplies, Nerilka sneaks out several large sacks of the essentials and leaves with them. She starts treating the illness at a camp just outside of the Fort Hold and then travels to small holdings that are far away from Hold and Weyr.

Nerilka soon hears that Ruatha Hold is all but desolate, she knows that she is needed most there. She arrives to discover that Lord Alessan has lost all of his family, but his sister Oklina. As she struggles with the few survivors of Ruatha Hold to develop a vaccine that can save all of Pern's livestock, she finds herself falling in love with Lord Alessan. She knows that he will never care for her, especially since he loves Weyrwoman Moreta, but when news of the terrible tragedy of Moreta's death reaches Ruatha, it changes everything...

Nerilka's Story is essentially the same story contained in Moreta: Dragonlady of Pern, but told from a different perspective. This is the first time in the series that Anne McCaffrey wrote a book about someone other than a dragonrider or a Harper so it was very interesting to see life on Pern from a completely different perspective. I liked Nerilka - she kept trying to stand up for herself and to do what was right even when everyone else was trying to hold her back and keep her down. I also enjoyed seeing the story of Moreta from an outsider's point of view and learned a lot about Pern at the time of Moreta that I didn't know before. My only real complaint about the book is that it is so short! I was able to read it in about 1 hour (I am a fast reader, though). If you have enjoyed any of Anne McCaffrey's other books in the Pern series, I know that you will enjoy this one!