Conference noted::sf

    	How do you do, SHOGUN::HEFFEL ?  I like McCaffrey,too, and I'm so
    happy to read your topic.
     	In Japan, "Crystal Singer", "The Ship Who Sang", "Dragonknight",
    "Dragonquest", "White Dragon", "Lady in the Tower" translated into
    Japanese we can get. Of course, I've got all and read them. 
    	Sequel to Crystal Singer!? Hurray! I'd like to get it and read.
    Please tell me the publishing company of "Killashandra". I do my
    best to read it written in English, because I'm afraid of taking
    a lot of time to get the one translated into Japanese.
    	I'm looing forward to your reply.
    
    	best  regards,
    	A.Take	
    
                                     

    re:.1
    
    KILLESHANDRA was published by Del Rey Books, who publishes most
    of McCaffrey's books in America. There have also been a couple of
    other books of hers published here in the last couple of years
    that you don't list as having been translated into Nihongo, both
    Pern books: MORETA: DRAGONLADY OF PERN and NERILKA'S STORY. There
    have also been three other Pern books that are oriented more
    towards young readers, but I think are better than just about
    anything else of hers: DRAGONSINGER, DRAGONSONG, and DRAGONDRUMS.
    
    --- jerry

    I read RESTOREE some time ago and, as I recall, my reaction was
    favorable.  No match for Pern or the Ship stories tho'.
    
    							don

    DOES ANYONE HAPPEN TO KNOW IF THERE ARE ANY NEW BOOKS FORTHCOMING
    FROM THIS WONDERFUL WRITER???? LOVE ALL HER BOOKS, AND HAVE REREAD
    MOST OF THEM SEVERAL TIMES, MY 12 YEAR OLD SON HAS ALSO READ THEM
    ALL AND BUGS ME EVERYTIME I GET A NEW ONE TO HURRY UP AND READ IT
    SO HE CAN READ IT NEXT.
    
    MARY-LYNN

    	I'll have to dig up the LOCUS article but off the top of my
    head... 
    
    	She has contracted for something like 4 books.  At least one
    of which is a pern novel.
    
    	I'll try to look up the details tonight.
    
    tlh

    In reply to 292.4, I also love Ann McCaffrey's work, especially
    those dealing with crystals.
    Another great author with a different concept of crystals is
    Marion Zimmer Bradley's  "Darkover" series. I use the word
    series loosely because you can pick up any one of the
    Darkover books and have a complete story in itself, independent
    of the other books. The books cover a 2,000 year history of 
    the planet Darkover, a Terran colony that was lost. The people of
    the colony developed psi-powers instead of terran technology
    using crystals as their focus.
    Try "Heritage of Hastur" followed by "Sharra's Exile" and you'll
    be hooked!
    Happy reading- Renee

    One not hooked.  I've read STAR OF DANGER & THE BLOODY SUN (in my
    teeth-cutting days) and was not hooked.  I liked them, and have
    HERITAGE & TWO TO CONQUER, which I'll read someday.

    I am, however hooked on Pern & Ann McCaffrey, having some 15 of
    her books.  It actually comes down to a matter of taste.
           
    Did you like THE BRASS DRAGON?
    
    				Don ICEMAN::Rudman

    re. .7
    
    I don't know about the other but "The Bloody Sun" was not her greatest.
    She got the concept when she was about fifteen, and worked on it
    for four or five years and then published it in her early twenties.
    
    Both my husband and I couldn't put down HERITAGE or SHARRA'S EXILE,
    which were written much later.
    
    I am eager to try more McCaffrey,too.
    renee

    golly ! Bloody Sun was what got me hooked on MZB.

    The Mists of Avalon was MZB's greatest. (I think)
    
    No one mentioned the McCaffery set, "Harper Hall of Pern".  That
    was my favorite.  They're in the process of filming this beauty
    right now, in Ireland. ILM doing special effects.  I bet the fire
    lizards will be the next popular kids toy after the movie is released.
    
    There's also an Atlas available for the planet of Pern.  Very
    intricate drawings of the Holds and Weyrs.  Worth having around
    during your readings...
    
    Theresa.

    Re: .10
    
    I always liked Menolly's story better than the "big" story, my favorite
    being the week at Harper Hall (_Dragonsong_, was it?).  The third,
    _Dragondrums_, I'm not real keen on.  Perhaps because it felt less
    focused on Menolly.  I think I enjoyed them because of their smaller
    scope and tighter focus.

    re:.11
    
    While I liked the primary story running in the "adult" books, I,
    too, preferred the Harper Hall trilogy much more.
    
    --- jerry

    The HH t was more 'down to earth' in that the kids weren't Riders
    so it was easier to identify with them.  Also, it was a whole new
    area to explore but was still within the Pern setting.
    
    							Don

    
    Going over this note again has me intrigued. Several months ago
    I checked some of the Dragon books out of thi library, but I couldn't
    decide which to read, then I went off on a mysteries tangent. 
    I'd like some advice on the Dragon series. Is it chronological?
    Which book is first? or at least which do you recommend reading
    first?
    I just finished Mists of Avalon which was superb and very thought
    provoking,and I'm interested in reading more by A.M.
    
    Thanks, Renee

    Best to start with DRAGONFLIGHT (Dragonrider) & DRAGONQUEST to
    introduce you to some main characters.  You may wish to start the
    Harper Hall Trilogy before reading THE WHITE DRAGON for a change
    of pace but stay on Pern.  (Basically, read in the order in which
    they were written; I would not read MORETA, etc., until finishing
    the above.)
    
    In ANY case, begin with DRAGONFLIGHT.
    
    							Don
    
    P.S.  And when you're "Pern-ed out" (ik), read THE SHIP WHO SANG.

    	Forgive me for this plebian correction but... Isn't Mista of
    Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley?
    
    	If you like Anne MacCaffrey (and I do very much), read not only
    the Dragon books but also "The ship who sang" and the Crystal Singer
    books.  (Crystal Singer and Killashandra, in that order.) 
    
    	As for the dragon books, I read them in the following order:
    Dragonflight, Dragonquest, White Dragon then the Harper Hall Books
    Dragonsong, Dragonsinger, Dragondrums.  This order worked for me.
    The order mentioned in -.1 would work as well I think.
    
    tlh
                      
    

    RE -.1   Thank you.
    
    						Don
    
    P.S. I went back as far as .10; didn't see any reference to MoA
         being by anyone other than MZB.

    Sorry for the mistake-yes Mists is by Bradley! I've been getting
    AM and MZB mixed up in my mind lately, along with everything else
    I've been reading about crystals.
    Thanks for the info-I'm going to the library today.
    Renee

    I'm interested in finding out more about the movie -- when is it
    expected to "air"?  I haven't heard anything about it at all, and
    I am an avid McCaffrey fan.  I have also read all of her books.
     She now has out a fiction (not Sci-Fi) book that has something
    to do with horses.
    
    Jen

>    < Note 292.19 by CIVIC::SWANSON "Jennifer" >
>                          -< What about this movie? >-
>
>    I'm interested in finding out more about the movie -- when is it
>    expected to "air"?  I haven't heard anything about it at all, and
>    I am an avid McCaffrey fan
    
    HUH???
    
    What movie and where did you hear about it??  I just reread the
    last 18 replies and could find no mention of a movie by McCaffrey.
    
    Have I been sleeping??
    
    Clark.

    Re: .19 ...new fiction about horses.
    
    I too am an avid McCaffery reader and have all her books and currently
    bought the new one called "The Lady".  It's true, it's about horses,
    the upper crust, gentlemen, gentlewomen, romance, etc.  however
    I haven't gotten too far into it to tell you much about it.  I do
    have the hardbound addition and don't know if it's in paperback
    yet.  I suspect that the reading should be rapid considering the
    way I tear into her other stories.  I'll let you know asap.
    
    Roslyn

    I'm with you, Jennifer, where's the movie?  (Harper Hall of Pern,
    wasn't it? --  being filmed in Ireland... in one of the first 5
    or so notes)
    
    I love McCaffrey, but NOT the Dinosaur Planet stories.  I heard
    her talk at the American Library Association annual conference a
    few years ago, and she admitted that the first volume had a REAL
    cliffhanger that she was contractually obligated to finish...someday.
    (She didn't really like the story, either.)  I finally found the
    second volume last fall, and although it was ok, it wasn't up to
    her usual level.  (I can't even remember now whether she wrapped
    up the storyline or not.)
    
    *BOAST-BRAG* I managed to get her autograph on a copy of "The White
    Dragon", first printing, which had just been released.  One of my
    proud possessions!
    
    Sherry
    
    

	Try the others as well...

		_Restoree_

		_Decision at Doona_

		_Nerilkas Story_ (Pern - early like Moreta: ) / _The Coelura_

		There is one book which is a collection of short stories
		containing the continuation of _The Ship Who Sang_ 
		and the _Smallest Dragon Boy_ another Pern story + many 
		others, I can not remember the title at the moment .

	Personally I love all of her books, unconditionally :-)

    re:.23
    
    GET OFF THE UNICORN.
    
    (It was supposed to be "Get OF the Unicorn", but a typo crept in
    somewhere, and it seemed to all concerned to be too choice to pass
    up.
    
    --- jerry

    Re: .24
    
	Thanks, I didn't know about the title.

	I want to add another one of hers to the list :-


	To Ride Pegasus  (?)


	a very believable book which explores telekenetic/telepathic 
	abilities.

	CJA

    
    Re: the alleged Harper Hall movie
    
    I, too, would be very excited if there was any sort of Pern movie
    coming out.  Has anyone heard about the movie mentioned back
    in reply .10 in the last year or so?
    
    Julian
    

    
    Re .25
    
>	I want to add another one of hers to the list :-


>	To Ride Pegasus  (?)
    
    I think it's "A Bridle for Pegasus". Regardless, I enjoyed it.
    
    		Ian G.

>    I think it's "A Bridle for Pegasus". Regardless, I enjoyed it.

Nope, it's definitely "To ride Pegasus"....I read it again at the weekend !

    RE: -.1
    
    	The main book is:  "To Ride Pegasus"
    
    	The story:  "A Bridle for Pegasus" is in the collection of short
    	stories titled:  "Get Off The Unicorn".
    
    	Hope this helps.
    John

    I just noticed in the paperback edition of _Dragonsdawn_ that there is
    a book listed called _The_Renegades_of_Pern_. It didn't have a note
    indicating "soon to be published" or anything, just part of the list of
    "published by Ballentine". I never heard of it before. Anybody know
    what it is?
    
    Tamzen

    I have recently read DragonFlight and part of DragonQuest since
    there is a large fandom group based on-line a telecommunications
    service I subscribe to and I wanted to find out what the fuss what
    about.
    
    Presently (though I am assured by on-line friends they get better)
    I am not that impressed.  Good premised, bad execution.  The charcters
    (human, at least) are somewhat flat, pushy and unsympathetic.  That
    which I gather are supposed to be big events unfold in a non-committal
    way, leaving me waiting for something "good" to happen.  Not much
    is explained at ALL and when it is, it is only through passing remarks
    that one can gleam information about Pern, the dragons and everything
    else.  For example, while a detailed history of Pern is not needed,
    it would be helpful to know WHY and WHAT the colors of dragons mean,
    why these can do this and those can't, why there are no female
    DragonRiders (save for Weyrwoman), and so on and so forth.  I know
    all the answers now, but only because I grew impatient and asked
    members of the on-line Weyr to explain.
    
    I also dislike the overtones of sexism in the book (and no, I am
    no great feminist), especially as it seems out of place in that
    particular society.  
    
    Still, based on the recommendations that I keep going because the
    writing gets better I will probably forge ahead, but thought I'd
    toss my two cents in here.
    
    kim

    It's been a while since I read these, but it occurs to me that the
    forward to each of these books contaons a detailed explanation of
    dragons and their kith.
    
    As to the inter-relations of the characters, McCaffrey deliberately
    leaves you in the dark and writes as if you know everything about
    her characters.  This can be confusing to begin with, but you can
    figure it out with about 4 chapters (max) reading.

    I saw no such explanation in the forwards, or really anyplace else.
    
    I just tend to hold with writing (which I do a lot of myself) is
    that you shouldn't have to have everything spelled out for you,
    granted, but you shouldn't have to play detective either.
    
    kim

    
    I've always thought that this was a deliberate and intriguing ploy,
    by McCaffrey. The way the history of Pern slowly reveals itself,
    as you read through the series (especially in The White Dragon), was
    for me, the most interesting part.
    
    Dave.

    re .31
    
    Hang in there - they do get better. I found those two uninteresting at
    first but rapidly revised my opinion of the series after reading
    Dragonsinger and Dragonsong. These are quite different in style to the
    first two and are easier to read. The later books follow on in the same
    vein with The White Dragon tying things together nicely. 

    Funny, I thought the first two were the best and that the later
    books deteriorated into sentiment.
    
    Each to their own I suppose.

    To date my favourite AM book has to be Restoree. This is closely
    followed by The Cristal Singer and Killashandra.
    
    I also greatly enjoyed the Dragonflight series of Books upto and
    including the White Dragon. I was disappointed by the HH trilogy
    and gave up reading when trying to tackle "Moreta Lady of Pern" -
    I don't know why I couldn't get into it at all... Perhaps I should
    try again now and see if it is any better.
    
    Get off the Unicorn has some lovely tales in it - the smallest
    dragonboy, a bridle for Pegasus and the epilogue to the ship who
    sang.
    
    I'll try and prise the books off my mother and get back into Pern.

I just finished an excelent novel by Anne McCaffrey and Elizabeth Moon called 
Sassinak.  Set in the environment of the Federation of Sentient Planets, it 
details the rise of a young woman through "Fleet" in the on-going battle against
space pirates.  Another book in the series, called (I believe) "The Sleep of 
Death" has just been published, with a different co-author.  Sassinak is (c)
1989 and the next book is 1990.

Are these a series?  IF so, can they be expected to go in like the Dragonriders
series?  and is the new book a sequel, prequal, or companion?

Any info would be appreciated.

BobW

    RE: -1
    
    These books are extentions of the books Dinosaur Planet and Dinosaur
    Planet Survivors."Sassinak" and "The Death of Sleep" (both of which
    are out and are quite good) cover the lives of two of the related
    characters in the original two books. "Sleep" covers the life of
    Lunzie.

re: Note 292.39 by CXCAD::WILLIAMS "Set the mind free"

Aha!  Thank you!  I'd never read the Dinosaur Planet and Dinosaur Planet
Survivors books, so I would never have made the connection.  That also
explains the Dinosaur references in Sassinak that I found dangling and
unresolved.  I wish there were a "related books" page in these two volumes
to make the connection for me...time to write to the editor of Baen Books.

Thanks again,
BobW

    I went into one of the main Uk book stores to track these two books
    down and they haven't even heard of them as yet....
    
    Tahi

    Both "Sassinak" and "Death of Sleep" have something on the covers
    about the "Planet Pirates".  (A large part of Dinosaur Planet
    and Dinosaur Planet Survivors dealt with a FSP's problem of
    planet(s) getting surveyed and/or settled, then ending up under
    "different management" -- planetary piracy.)  Sassinak leaves
    an obvious opening at its end -- more is going to happen with
    the planet pirates.....
    
    No, there isn't anything as obvious as "Part one of the Planet
    Pirates", it just says something like "a Planet Pirates story".
    It was evident to me that there would be more, but that a definite
    "order" or chronological order was NOT likely to happen right away.
    
    I've read all four books now.... and found the two "expanding on
    particular characters" books interesting reads BECAUSE they filled
    in background(s) and built better circumstances around the major
    events.  I'm waiting for more....
    
    			- Ed -

Re .42

The next "Planet Pirates" book will be out in March 1991, and is
written by McCaffrey and Moon ("Sassinak"), so I think it likely
that this is a sequel to their earlier novel.

Incidentally, I thought that "The Death of Sleep" suffered greatly
because it wasn't a standalone novel.  Lunzie's story just stopped,
and anyone not reading Sassinak would never know if she woke up
again.  I was disappointed by it.

Also, I never finished "Dinosaur Planet".  I got about thirty pages
in, realized that I was bored out of my mind, and stopped.  I still
have no intentions of going back to it, or reading its sequel.

				Andrew

    I'm not sure that McCaffrey and Moon are a good pair. I read "Sassinak"
    and while it was OK I never really felt much for the characters. They
    didn't live for me the way MZB or Bujold or Roberson characters do. I
    could put the book down for several days before continuing to read it
    again. I doubt I'll read a sequel. liesl

    Does this mean I should read The Death Of Sleep before or after
    Sassinak?  Or should I skip them both?
    
    Willie_with_hundreds_of_pending_books

    I read Sassinak first, then The Death of Sleep.  Seems like that's a
    better order than the other way around.
    
    I thought they were both good reads ... guess that's a matter of taste
    more than anything else, so take it FWIW.
    
    ... Bob
    

    I read Sassinak first and thought it was a good read, eventhough there
    were some link errors from unresolved symbols.  Then I read Sleep and
    thought it was pretty good, though I had chronology problems until near
    the end.  After that, I read Dinosaur_Planet and
    Dinosaur_Planet_Survivors, finding that Dinosaur_Planet dragged in
    places.
    
    My wife read Sassinak, Dinosaur_Planet, Dinosaur_Planet_Survivors, and
    Sleep (in that order.  When she was done, we had a couple of good long
    "But I don't undertsand how..." talks.
    
    My only advice is to read Dinosaur_Planet and then _Survivors in that
    order.  I don't think the rest of the order matters.
    
    BobW

    
    
    .47 On the cover of Sassinak is my brother's girlfriend. She model
    	for the artist. It's her face and hair in that suit.
    
    							Dennis
    

    	Well, Christmas brought me a new McCaffrey book!  It's called
    "The Rowan" and according to an ad I saw for it in Analog, it's
    the first in a new trilogy!!  From the ad:

    	"They call her the Rowan - a beautiful magical woman who uses
    her enormous mental powers to bring life and hope to people on all
    planets.  One day, the voice of Jeff Raven appears in her mind,
    the strong, urgent call of a fellow telepath. The union of their
    Talents makes them the most powerful team in all the inhabited
    worlds, ready for the daring challenges that await them."

    	I haven't read it yet, but I'm certainly looking forward to
    it!


    	Also, since I haven't seen a complete list of her works here,
    I thought I'd enter the one from this book.  There certainly were
    some that I hadn't heard of.

    	Restoree
    	Dragonflight
    	Decision At Doona
    	Alchemy & Academe (compiled by McCaffrey)
    	The Ship who Sang
    	*Mark of Merlin
    	Dragonquest
    	*Ring of Fear
    	To Ride Pegasus
    	Out Of This World Cookbook
    	A Time When
    	*Kilternan Legacy
    	Dragonsong
    	Dragonsinger
    	Get Off The Unicorn
    	The White Dragon
    	Dinosaur Planet
    	Dragondrums
    	Crystal Singer
    	The Coelura
    	Moreta, Dragonlady of Pern
    	Dinosaur Planet Survivors
    	*Stitch in Snow
    	Killashandra
    	The Girl Who Heard Dragons
    	*The Year of the Lucy
    	Nerilka's Story
    	*The Lady (aka The Carradyne Touch)
    	Dragonsdawn
    	Renegades of Pern
    	Sassinak (with Elizabeth Moon)
    	The Death of Sleep (with Jody-Lynn Nye)
    	Pegasus in Flight

    * not science fiction-fantasy

    (I think this last one is also new this year - anyone know if it's
    part of a previous series?)

    	amy

"The Rowan" has been out for a couple months or so.  I stingily waited for the
Science Fiction Book Club to offer it, which it did a few weeks ago.

It is the expansion of a story in the collection "Get Off the Unicorn."  That
story appears almost verbatim as one of the chapters in "The Rowan" (the one
where Jeff Raven makes contact with the Rowan and then later arrives and sweeps
her off her feet, as it were).

"Pegasus in Flight," which I've looked at in the store but haven't bought yet,
appears to be a sequel (more or less) to "To Ride Pegasus," which is one of
my favorites of her books.  "To Ride Pegasus" is a collection of stories that
are related and chronological, but it is not a novel.  It is about people with
various kinds of psychic powers and how an organization to train, make use of,
and protect them comes into being.  I think "Pegasus in Flight" is another
collection of stories that follows the same scenario.  I'm planning to pick it
up one of these days, along with a hardcover version of "To Ride Pegasus" that
has recently been released (my copy is paperback).

							-- Nina

    "The Rowan" is a prequel for the short stories in "Get Off the Unicorn"
    and is about the life of the Rowan up to GOtU.
    
    "Pegasus in Flight" continues from "To Ride Pegasus", but it has
    a surprise link to another McCaffery book. I won't say what, but 
    both books are very enjoyable.
    
    There are a number of books listed in the front of "The Rowan" that
    will be out later this year.
    
    John

    The next Planet Pirates book is out, called, "Generatio Warriors".
    It appears to be a Lunzie and Sassinak story, from reading the back
    cover.  Now for the anomality:
    
    The cover and spine say "Anne McCaffrey Elizabeth Moon"
    The title page says  "Anne McCaffrey and Jody Lynn Nye"
    
    Anyone know which is right?
    
    BobW

    Has anyone read Renegades Of Pern in the UK ?
    
    I have never seen this in any of my local bookstores...
    
    A brief resume would be great also...
    
    bob

Re .52		-< Who wrote "Generation Warriors?" >-
>
>    The cover and spine say "Anne McCaffrey Elizabeth Moon"
>    The title page says  "Anne McCaffrey and Jody Lynn Nye"
>    Anyone know which is right?

The cover.  The book is by McCaffrey and Moon.  The production values on 
this book show undue haste and poor editing; I'll bet whoever designed the 
title page took the one from the McCaffrey/Nye book and revised it, 
forgetting to revise one of the authors in the process.  I'll bet there 
are some very red faces in the Baen offices.  And at Bill Fawcett and 
Associates, the packagers -- Nye is Fawcett's wife.

				Andrew

    I've just read "Pegasus in Flight", in four hours straight.  It's a
    good read, and fits well into the existing books.  To fully understand
    things, new readers should read "To Ride Pegasus" first.
    
    Spoiler warning; internals of "Pegasus in Flight" discussed;
    
    Re: Note 292.51 by CXCAD::WILLIAMS
    
>   "Pegasus in Flight" continues from "To Ride Pegasus", but it has
>   a surprise link to another McCaffery book. I won't say what, but 
>   both books are very enjoyable.
    
    "The Rowan".  Yes, I was surprised too.  The author went to great pains
    to avoid mentioning family names of characters until the last moment. 
    For instance Dorotea was not named a Horvath until near the end of the
    book.  From memory, she's the infant with the loud mental
    I've-wet-my-nappy cry in the first book.
    
    A few publishing/editing nits; they didn't treat the "#" sections in a
    useful way, such as italics or different fonts, and Dorotea was spelt
    on one page as Dorothea; twice.
    
    Johnny Greene seems to have taken over from Peter on shuttle launches,
    but it isn't as well covered in the story line as I would have
    expected.
    
    Regards...
    James Cameron

    "Renegades of Pern" off the cuff summary:  
    
    Remember in Dragonsdawn that there were tinkers who came on
    the original ship?  Well, they are still alive and well on
    Pern many centuries later.  These traders go from hold to
    hold, even through threadfall.  A sister of one of the hold
    Lords who feels she should have been chosen instead sets out
    on her own and builds a band of renegades.  Quite a description
    about the welfare system existing in the caves around the
    holds after the population has been alowed to get out of
    hand during an interval.  The hero is a young man from one
    of these trader families who are partially wiped out by
    thread, then badly damaged by the renegades.  Okay, so there's
    a young woman who is not a dragon rider who can speak to all
    dragons and he falls in love with her.  She is captured by
    the renegades.  He, predictably, rescues her.  There's a
    bit about the Southern continent, if memory serves me right.
    
    Now anyone who's read it recently (it's been a couple of
    years for me) may feel free to add corrections to this off-
    the-cuff summary.  I liked the book, although not as much
    as many of the other Pern novels.
    
    Lauraf
    
    
    who is not a dragonrider who can speak to dragons.  And
    the evil leader(ess) of the renegades wants her

    Hero = Jayge Lilcamp
    Girl who speaks to dragons = Aramina
    Lady Holdless (leader of renegades) = Thella
    LH's 2 top followers = Giron the dragonless man, and Dushik
    Jayge's uncle who joins the renegades = Readis
    
    The next-to-last few chapters takes place in the same time as The White
    Dragon, and the very last chapters is actually a continuation.
    
    Actually, from chapter 10 on, there is very little mention of the
    renegades at all.
    
    K.C. who is in chapter 13 of her 2nd time through.

    There's a new Pern story in the latest (August?) Analog (or was it
    IASFM?) called Rescue Run.  Pretty good read, all in all, it helps tie
    together some of the loose ends that I've been wondering about.  While
    I do like her Pern books, I sure wish she would get done with them all
    so I could read them in Pern-chronological order.  I'm a hard-SF nut,
    and all the more recent stuff is starting to fill in the details on the
    hardware that's always been behind the scenes in the Pern books.
    
    Willie

    Where can I find Rescue Run ? In a book, a magazine ?
    
    					Erik Bussink
    					Fareham UK

    Here it is:
    
    	Analog magazine, August 1991, P12-76
    
    Willie

    Has anyone noticed that McCaffrey's vilainesses all seem to be cut
    from the same cloth?  
    
    	Avril Bitra 	(_Dragonsdawn_)
    	Kylara		(_Dragonquest_)
    	Thella		(_Renegades_)
    
    Makes you wonder if there was a real-life model.
    
    -dave
    	

    Re .61
    
    Well, truth to tell, I've noticed that most prolific novelists seem to
    have a limited cast of "actors," if not "characters."  That is, even if
    their names, backgrounds, and physical appearances are different, you
    can hear the same set of narrative voices.
    
    E.g., Elizabeth Peters usually has an ascerbic heroine, a slightly
    cocksure hero or two, and often a delicate engenue.
    
    Ursula K. LeGuin is fond of struggling young women with resolve and
    defferential young men who are wise beyond their years.
    
    Poul Anderson has this heroine that I strongly suspect of being Mrs.
    Anderson...
    
    If I run into Orson Scott Card's troubled child prodigy ONCE MORE, I
    may shake him (or her) 'til his (or her) teeth rattle.
    
    And so forth.
    
    Earl Wajenberg

    Not to mention the gorgeous redhead who keeps appearing in
    Heinlein's novels and seems to resemble Mrs. Heinlein.  Alexei
    Panshin went to the trouble of classifying Heinlein's male
    characters into three types: the smart kid, the Competent Man, and the
    wise mentor.  They appear everywhere.  Well, better to share
    character types than share whole universes between novels.  /jlr

    Re: .61
    
    A similarity between Bitra and Thella, maybe.  But I don't see much
    between them and Kylara.  Kylara enjoyed being doted on and wasn't all
    that strong of a personality.  I couldn't see Kylara leading a rebel
    group the same way as Bitra or Thella, but I could see her on the ARM
    of a man who would lead a similar group.
    
    K.C.

	Heard recently that a new Pern book, "All the Weyrs of Pern", is
in the works. Should be released later this year. That's all I know; can
anyone confirm or deny this info?

	Peter.

According to the June issue of Locus, it's due in December from
Ballantine Del Rey.  In Britain, it will be out in September from
Bantam UK.  Both hardcover, of course.

	re: "All the Weyrs of Pern"

	December must have come early this year.  I bought a copy
	Saturday in Colorado Springs and just finished reading it.
	Very moving.

				To everything there is a season,
				and a time to every purpose under heaven.

Just read this string of notes, I am surprised that no-one seems to have noted
what appears to me to be an obvious connection with Dragonsdawn...

Jayge Lilcamp  in Renegades
Joel  Lilicamp in Dragonsdawn

Both with an apparent family trait of being able to scrounge and sell anything.

	John Travell.

    I believe that in Renegades, there was mention of the Lilcamp family
    being a long line of successful salespeople.  I thought that was
    obvious enough.
    
    K.C.

Re last few

The Lil(i)camp connection is made more explicit in ALL THE WEYRS OF PERN.

				Andrew

I just saw a new book,

	Crisis at Doona

by McCaffrey and Nye.  I didn't buy it, but Walden's claims it is # 10 on the
best seller list.

Any reviews?

BobW

    Haven't read it yet.  Picked it up along with PartnerShip (A new "Ship
    Who Sang" novel).  Will post more when I finish.

Finished both Crisis at Donna and PartnerShip this weekend, and
IMO both are well worth the read.

Crisis at Doona brings us back to Donna 25 years after the first
treaty was signed.  The treaty is up for renewal and there are
forces on both sides who wish to have Donna all to themselves.
Todd Reeves and Hriss are the main characters who may or may not
save the day (you'll have to read the book, no spoilers here!).

PartnerShip follows the careers of a newly graduated brainship
and five of her first passangers.  Lots of intrigue, politics,
and science (i.e. explanations of singularities, new computer
chips, etc).  This book is a standalone novel, although it helps
to have read The Ship Who Sang for the background info.

PR

    A coworker lent me Pegasus in Flight a couple of weeks ago.  Since then
    I've been to the bookstore and the library and have read The Coelura,
    To Ride Pegasus, The Rowan, Dragonflight, Dragonquest, and I'll be
    starting Decision at Doona tonight.  I'm hooked!  The Rowan was kind of
    disappointing but I thought the rest of them were excellent.
    
    
    Ginny

don't forget dragon riders of pern!

    There's an ad in Isaac Asimov's science fiction magazine for a new
    McCaffrey book, called "Damia."   It's a sequel to The Rowan, about her
    daughter.
    
    
    Ginny

    For publisher's edition hardcover collectors:
    I bought a first edition, hardcover version of the Rowan for $4.98 
    at Dalton's Bookstore in the Mall of New Hampshire yesterday.  Not 
    that there was probably a 2nd edition ever printed.
    I also found on their overstock tables first edition copies of Asimov's
    Fantastic Voyage II: Destination Brain ($4.98) and Anthony's
    Total Recall ($3.98).
    
    There were still copies of the Rowan and Fantastic Voyage, but I think
    the pile was decreasing since I first spotted them over the weekend.
    _Marty 

	Entitled Crystal Line. Saw it in hardcover (a UK edition) here in Aus,
but it's probably out in p/b in the states already.

Re .78
>                             -< Third in the Crystal Singer series .. >-
>
> Entitled Crystal Line. Saw it in hardcover (a UK edition) here in Aus,
> but it's probably out in p/b in the states already.

No, it's only been out for about a month in the states in hardcover.
The paperback won't be out here until fall 1993.

-- Andrew

    re: _Crystal Line_
    
    Yaaaaaaaawwwwwwwnnnnnnn.  I've been a McCaffrey fan for years, but this
    doesn't even rank in the top 2/3s.  It seemed to be a book to link all
    of her other worlds together.
    
    Altogether, wait for it to hit the reduced table or for the paperback.

I just finished Crystal Line. The latest Crystal Singer book. As best I can tell
the primary reason for writing it was to please a publisher. There was enough
plot line to fill a short story and a lot of filler tossed in to make this a
book. 

I suppose the author felt she had characters, a known universe and some spare
time on her hands. This book could have been cut to just the chapters concerning
the discovery of a new life form. Everything else seemed aimless and boring.
Perhaps this is the way real life goes but I prefer my fiction a bit more
focused.

This book seems to be the setup for a new varient on the Crystal Singer story
line. If someone wants to discuss details I will otherwise leave this one till a
day you are really bored. liesl

RE: .81

>This book could have been cut to just the chapters concerning
>the discovery of a new life form. Everything else seemed aimless and boring.
>Perhaps this is the way real life goes but I prefer my fiction a bit more
>focused.

I didn't mind it.  I agree that the denoument (where Killa meets the new
life form for the second time) is really deus-ex-machina, but I thought that
McCaffery did a good job of showing how memory loss would look like from the
inside:  literally decades go by and you didn't notice.  Life would be very
episodic, with no continuing thread (sorry, wrong world :-)).

But I liked the book a lot more than you seem to.  Ah well, different tastes.

-- Ken Moreau

    
    re _Crystal Line_...
    
    
    Hmmmm..   as brain candy, it filled a need. Comparing it with other
    work McCaffrey has done, it was alternately puffery and lack of depth.
    
    Spoilers to follow:
    
    
    I was dismayed/dissapointed with the way she wrote off so many
    characters..... Trag, Rimbol, Antonella.  Lanzecki's
    departure *was* ... appropriate, in some way, but all the others seemed
    like throwaways.
    
    The resolution at the end was so sudden... she missed an
    opportunity to develop the C.S. Ree character further as deputy Guild
    Master.    I also wasn't clear as to WHY she so vehemently rejected the
    idea of Lars as Guild Master.
    
    Did I miss something with the crystal Junk? There was a lot of
    foreshadowing about the value to the guild, and it just dropped off
    into the void at the end (albeit it did restore some faulty circuits - and
    why wasn't that followed up on as an antidote to the Singers' main
    weakness?)
    
    Liesl, my take is the main point of this was the change in guild
    masters; the new life form was somewhat of a red herring.
    
    
    Net: OK for a slow friday night, but probably not worth more than a few
    re-reads.
    
    Jamd

From CompuServe's "What's New This Week":

Novelist Anne McCaffrey Online

(31-Oct-94)

Anne McCaffrey, author of the ever-popular Pern novels, including Dolphins
of Pern and The Chronicles of Pern: First Fall, will be in the CompuServe
Convention Center on 6-Nov at 3 p.m. EST (21:00 CET).  McCaffrey's other
works include the Powers That Be novels (co-authored with Anne
Scarborough), the Damia series, and the Brawn-and-Brainship stories, some
co-authored with writers such as Jody Lynn Nye, Mercedes Lackey, and S.M.
Stirling. This event is being sponsored by the Science Fiction & Fantasy
Literature Forum (GO SFLIT) and the Science Fiction & Fantasy Media Forum
(GO SFMEDIA).

To join the conference in the Convention Center, GO CONVENTION. The
Convention Center, the Science Fiction & Fantasy Literature Forum, and the
Science Fiction & Fantasy Media Forum are each part of CompuServe's
extended services.

    She also managed to find time to write 3 Quantum Leap novels and keep
    the dream I love so much alive.