- Hardcover: 448 pages
- Publisher: Del Rey; First Edition edition (April 3 2001)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0345434684
- ISBN-13: 978-0345434685
- Product Dimensions: 23.6 x 16.8 x 3.8 cm
- Shipping Weight: 499 g
- Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (102 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,524,366 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Amazon
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 Publishers Weekly
Bestseller McCaffrey's first Pern novel in three years returns to the world of her most popular series, Dragonriders of Pern, reprising almost all the best-loved Pernese characters. In earlier episodes, hero and heroine F'lar and Lessa summoned the captivating dragons and their riders from the remote past to save Pern from a devastating rain of Thread, while the later discovery of Aivas, the artificial intelligence that guided Pern's original human settlers, brought technological marvels like printing to Pern and helped shift the Thread-producing Red Star from its lethal orbit before it self-destructed. Now neo-Luddite Abominators are bent on destroying all of Aivas's gifts and returning watery Pern to its primitive state, while the Dragonriders struggle to find new purpose in a Threadless world. F'lar and Lessa uneasily contemplate second careers or horrors! retirement, while their genteel and amorous son F'lessan and perceptive green rider Tai arrive at both a dragon-assisted romance and a whole new role for the telepathic and telekinetic dragons. McCaffrey's various themes traditionalism vs. technology, the necessity of societal change, feminist commentary on draconian psychology are at times awkwardly integrated. And her slightly watered-down villains seem peripheral to the action, merely a means to showcase familiar personalities performing during crises. Nonetheless, as all her Pern novels amply demonstrate, McCaffrey's sexy and cunning dragons carry the day and the novel with impeccable, irresistible panache. (Apr. 3) Forecast: A likely genre bestseller, but some younger Pern fans may be put off by the emphasis on retirement, unable to appreciate the angst of inexorably approaching age.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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First Sentence
THE JOURNEYMAN ON DUTY in the prisoners' quarters at Mine 23 in the western foothills was the first one to see the bright, almost bluish streak in the sky. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt
THE JOURNEYMAN ON DUTY in the prisoners' quarters at Mine 23 in the western foothills was the first one to see the bright, almost bluish streak in the sky. Read the first page
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Customer Reviews
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Most helpful customer reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
It was a Pern book,
By GreenJello (UT) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Skies of Pern (Mass Market Paperback)
For Anne, it was average at best. First the things I liked: I liked the fact that there's finally more character development again (F'lessan and Tai), and the interactions between Golanth and Zaranth. Things that bothered me: 1. While I understand that surgery was a Very Cool Thing for the Pernese to be learning and starting to use, I thought it was rather... convenient... that F'lessan needed those services. Which leads me into my #1 gripe about the whole book that knocked the two stars off the top: I didn't mind the jumping around between the different sections much; I figured that meant that there was at least a sequel planned. <grin> But to make 'Skies' a better and seemingly more cohesively written book, another one (or two) definitely need to be written to tie everything together. I'll buy it in hardback to keep my collection complete, but I think I'll be haunting the clearance tables. I highly doubt it will be one I'll pick up to reread any time soon.
5.0 out of 5 stars
May you live in interesting times,
By
This review is from: The Skies of Pern (Mass Market Paperback)
This oriental curse describes the new problems chronicled in this 2001 entry in the long running Pern series. The story picks up a few years after ALL THE WEYRS OF PERN. The Thread that has periodically ravaged the planet will be totally eradicated in a few years leaving the society with the need to reorganize itself. The dragons and their riders who have protected Pern for thousands of years now need to be thinking about what other skills they have to offer, new innovations from the AVAIS computer are still entering society, changing traditional ways of life. Some are not happy about the changes they see happening around them and wish to maintain the traditional ways of life. They attempt to sabotage the new inventions, calling them 'Abominations'. THE SKIES OF PERN chronicles these societial changes mainly through the actions of Lessa and F'Lar's son, F'Lessan although many other old friends appear, Jaxom and Ruth most notably.This is a must read for any fan of the series and while it could be read independantly it would be more enjoyable to begin at the beginning of the series.
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Dragon Lover's Look,
By "dragonman2184" (Cherry Point, NC USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Skies of Pern (Mass Market Paperback)
Well, first of all, I would like to congragulate Patricia C. Wrede on her astounding work with the Dragon Riders Of Pern series. Well Done!!! As for this particular entry back into the world of Pern, I would have to say that this book took us deeper into the world of Men and Dragons than anyone has ever gone! For a long time I have been a dragon lover and these books give me an opportunity to live my fantasy, however imaginary. The story of F'lessan and Tia was incredible. One could actually feel the passion of their relationship unfolding. Though it did lack the usual aspect and involvement with arial battles that the other books held, I must say that this book is an enchantment unlike any other, and is in itself the start of another possible series, should the author decide to develop on it. Keep up the good work Patricia, and you'll have me on my way to the Dreams of Pern. (I do wish I could find a Fire-Lizard of my own...)
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