R- The Rowan (some v,x), Damia (some v,some x), Dragonseye (v,slight x)
PG16- To Ride Pegasus (v,slight x), Dragonflight (some v,x)
PG13- Pegasus in Flight (v,very slight x), Damia's Children (some v), Rescue Run (some v,slight x)
Truly the first book in the "Talent" series, To Ride Pegasus introduces the reader to McCaffrey's concept of psi powers through four short stories. While her ideas about how the powers work are nothing new, her true skill lies in showing how society interacts with those who are different- and how these outcasts react to society. Set in a not-too-distant future Earth, these stories mostly focus on the perspectives of women, but men play significant roles as well, and many of the minor characters are as interesting as the main ones. While not the best McCaffrey book I've ever read, this one reminds me of Get Off the Unicorn, in that I can see the seeds of several great ideas forming from it, and in the attention that McCaffrey pays to her details. This book is especially worth it for those who loved the other "Talent" books, or McCaffrey's older work.
As close to social commentary as McCaffrey likes to get, Pegasus in Flight stars two street-wise brats that society has given up on in different ways. Tirla is an illegal, born after her mother's second child, and she is the sole survivor from her family. Besides knowing everything about everyone around her, she has an unusual Talent- the ability to speak the native language of anyone she meets. Peter, on the other hand, was a proper second child, thought to be reasonably bright and to have a good future until a wall collapsed on him and lost him the use of his body. Quadriplegic now, he watches tv from a hospital bed. But mysterious electronic surges and power-outages make Rhyssa, the head of the Parapsychic Center, wonder if he's really so helpless. Finally, a man arrives in Rhyssa's life with apparently no Talent- except that no one can read his mind. Combined, these three people turn Talented society- and society in general- on its head. This is a combination of romance, social commentary, mystery, and suspense novel; basically, it's all-around good. McCaffrey handles the shifts in point of view very well and manages to forge a coherent whole out of several people's lives.
Many people begin the "Talent" series with The Rowan, which traces a young woman's life from her orphaned childhood to her ascent to power as one of the five Prime Talents. The details of her priviledged but cold upbringing combine well with her independent character and the mystery of her origins to produce a thoughtful, heart-wrenching first third on her birth planet of Altair. Then the scene shifts to Callisto, where she even more alone, separated from her co-workers (except the devoted Afra) by her power and her own attitude. What's more, this powerful woman who can throw giant ships across light-years can't move herself off the surface of her own planet. No Prime can. Until Rowan hears a distress call from distant Deneb, where an unknown Prime named Jeff Raven is fighting the battle of his life and needs her help. Yes, this book is a romance. No, it is not cheesy, or anywhere as low as supermarket romance. Lovers of the Pern series are encouraged to read this book- Rowan may remind you of Lessa at times, but my favorite character remains Afra, the T-3 who faithfully follows Rowan into her personal hell and lets her go when it's time for her to fly. Some of the other characters are equally strong.
The next story is a bit less strong, possibly because the main character doesn't change as much, or maybe because the plot elements are not as tightly woven. The Rowan and Jeff have several children, but the brightest one must be Damia, as impetuous as her mother but not as restrained by a sense of duty. My sense of this as a somewhat inferior book (compared to its predecessor) begins with Damia- she does not present as complex a character as her mother. Then there is Damia's downfall, a situation where she lets her pride kill someone very dear to her (though we get some good suspense out of this, wondering who it is). This breaking point feels a bit contrived, though McCaffrey works to make it fit. The major redeeming feature for me was the even stronger role played by Afra. The rest of the story, however, yo-yos between intricate storytelling and sweeping generalizations that almost lost me.
Damia's Children suffers from the same problems as Damia, but multiplied because McCaffrey tried to cover too many plotlines through too many characters. The children of Damia, each a unique Talent in his or her own right, spread out through the galaxy to fight the alien menace that once tried to destroy Deneb. The children split up and go with different groups of Mrdini, the alien race Humans have come to trust. Since they have so many purposes and plots, including mysteries, it's difficult to describe what happens next with any coherency. Perhaps this is what McCaffrey felt while writing the book. Mystery was never one of her strong suits, and she relied on it a little much this time. Damia's children could be fascinating characters, given time to develop and less emphasis on a plot that's been done by Heinlein and Card anyway. I thought that with the 'Dinis, we would see a race as carefully built as the Dragons of Pern or the Heavyworlders of Sassinak, but it just didn't quite happen. I felt this novel was rushed and needed more time for the author to develop what she really thought of the characters and to edit the final version a bit more. Nonetheless, it does provide an escalation of the plot of the earlier books for anyone who desperately wants to know what happens next. A warning, however: you won't get closure with this book- there are at least two more in the series.
Dragonflight - For over four hundred years, there had been respite from thread, and few believed that it would ever return. On Search for a weyrwoman for the golden egg of a dying dragon queen, F'lar is one of the few who believe that the return of thread is imminent. With little support within the weyr, let alone the rest of Pern, F'lar struggles to sway people to his belief. Even when the evidence is obvious, and thread returns, he still faces opposition, and the fact that there are too few dragons to be able to keep Pern thread free. A thouroughly enjoyable book, one of many by McCaffrey.
One of McCaffrey's more recent Pern books is Dragonseye (published in the U.K. as Red Star Rising), which centers on the second pass of Thread, when the original technology is on its last legs and the people of Pern must somehow make it possible for their descendants to remember how and when Thread falls. Though it includes several interesting characters and some very well-written parts, the book resembles a patchwork quilt with only a rough overall plan. The requisite unredeemable villain is a Lord Holder who doesn't believe that Thread will come again, but this time he is outnumbered by almost everyone on the planet and he can't hold a candle to the menace of Fax in Dragonflight. The constantly shifting points of view and the lack of real external danger (including that of Thread, which doesn't manage to hurt anybody) makes this a weak novel, especially since it lacks a strong purpose and its overall plot goal is vague. I would recommend skipping this one unless you really must know exactly how the star stones got where they are, or how the teaching songs were written. For the fan who enjoys a good story more than trivia, go on to Moreta's Ride and Nerilka's Story.
Against the will of the other colonists on Pern, one rogue sent a distress beacon to Earth. That beacon did not go unanswered. After everyone else had moved to the Northern continent, a Rescue Run was made on behalf of the one hold left behind. Ross Benden, nephew of the famous Admiral Benden, captains an increasingly dangerous attempt to take "the survivors" from Pern, though he finds that his greatest enemy in this case is one of the very people he is trying to save. This story is short and will probably only be of interest to fans of everything Pern, but the pacing and plot are good even if the characters seem a bit recycled. Sorry, folks, no dragons in this one.
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Last Updated: February 10, 2000
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