Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Prequels & Dragonsblood - Todd McCaffrey

I'm a big fan of Anne McCaffrey's Pern series and I was particularly interested in reading this book because it's not written by Ms McCaffrey, but her son, Todd McCaffrey. I was part excited at the new directions Todd McCaffrey might take this world, and part scared for that same reason.

I'm happy to say I needn't have worry. I really enjoyed this book. It's set in tw
o time periods - the first generation after Pern has been settled, and then four hundred years later. The issue that connects the two times is a sickness that's begun to affect and kill the dragons that protect Pern from the deadly 'thread' that falls from the sky.

While I liked the stuff set in Pern's future, what really caught me was the past, where we got to meet Wind Blossom, the daughter of Kitty Ping - the woman responsible for developing the dragons. In previous books, Wind Blossom was in the background and I wondered about her. I feel like this book gave me a chance to know her.

Because of its references to things that have been explored in previous books, Dragonsblood probably won't be as interesting for those who haven't been following the series, but if you're looking to pick up a good fantasy series, the Dragons of Pern books are amazing. A big thumbs up from me.

While this book wasn't actually a prequel in the real sense of the word, it did make me think about that topic. Most of the time, I like reading prequels. It lets me color in the past that might've affected the characters I've already fallen in love with. But I tend to back off from reading them when I know that something really bad is going to happen to the characters in the future. It just seems that the knowledge compromises my belief in the the "happy ever after". And I like my HEAs!

What about you? Any thoughts?

5 comments :

Estella said...

Cannot do without HEA .

Kris said...

I love the Pern books too, but i had not read this one because I was scared he would do something I did not like to it. But I might try it now that I have an opinion of someone who has read it.

I love my HEAs. But not all books move in that direction, some require that the ending is not a traditional HEA.

Joan said...

You have open my eye to a new author and series. I 'm going to have to get this one.

Nalini Singh said...

Estella - absolutely!

Kris - I really liked it. Thought it balanced the two eras (tech and post tech) quite well.

Joan - I think you'll like it. It's one of my favorite fantasy series.

Anonymous said...

I always g ofor the HEA.

I've read some Anne Mcaffrey a ferw years back but never tried her Pern series.