Anne McCaffrey

Has anybody read any of her Dragons of Pern books. There an excellent mix of Fantasy and Sci-Fi.

Jonce

Yes, I've read all of them actually. The first book, Dragonsdawn is by far one of my favorite sci-fi books of all time. If anyone hasn't read it, I strongly suggest you at least pick up Dragonsdawn.

haven't read anything from that series in awhile - the books without Robinton aren't nearly as good.

aryne *

The earliest ones in the series are indeed the best... the later in the series that you get, the more they decline.

I like them too. However, I don't think the trend of "the newer the worse they are" is really true. My least favourite is "Renegades of Pern".

What are your opinion of the "Ship" books?
I think some of them are good, while others are abysmal. The worst being "Partnership" I think.

I found the Dolphins of Pern to be one of the more interesting of that series. ROP wasn't the greatest. It had to be filled out a bit in my opinion. Her little short in She Talks to Dragons was well done and added enough backstory to tide me over.

I did like her Chronicles of Pern as well. Great lead into the entire story.

On another side. Anyone ever read her partnership with Mercedes Lackey about the Ship captain who over ran a coup attempt on the government?

Oh, and what about the books about the crystal singers?
They are actually quite good as well.

Yes, the Ship who Searched was the first of the Ship books I read, and the only one I have bought. Having read the others, I think Lackey added an extra level to that one (I had tears in my eyes each time I read the scene in the hospital).

The Crystal Singer books were ok, but they ended up in a second hand bookstore a while back (no regrets).

I think the one that I am talking about findulas, is Sassinak. Great start to a wonderful trilogy, of which the Ship who Searched was I think the end. Nice little story to read and follow. Enjoyed it immensely. You are right though that Lackey did add a certain level to it, that made it all the more charming. If you liked those stories, you just might like an old out of print book by Gunnarson, named Starwolves. Same sorta vein and style of story.

Nope!
Sassinak is the 2nd book in the Planet Pirates trilogy. The first one is 'The Death of Sleep" I think, and the last one is "Generatinon Warriors"
They are all collaborations.

Ok, Well I have read Sassinak and Generation Warriors. Not the first one. Enjoyed them both immensely. Need to read that first book now.

I have not read the Ship series however. Thought I had, but I ws mistaken.

In my opinion (not everyones) some of the Ship books aren't worth the paper they were printed on.

Interesting. I have read the cover spiels on those. And they never really caught my interest.

I really like The Ship Who Searched, and occasionally read The Ship who Sang, but Partnership and the Ship who Won are abysmal. As are any of the Ship books done solo by any of the collaborators.

I prefer the early Pern books also. However, if it's about Pern, I'll read it even if I don't buy it. The library has been useful in determining which ones I'll spend $ on. I can read it first before buying

Read the Cyrstal Singer books but preferred the Pern universe. Haven't been very interested in the "ships" books, but have enjoyed the Freedom books (Freedom's Landing; Freedom's Choice). Is there another of those?

Yes. I think it's called Freedom's Challenge.

I also don't care for the Tower Books (The Rowan series), nor really the Pegasus trillogy. In both cases I have not read the latest book.

However, I am thinking of buying Nimisha's Ship.

Nimisha's Ship is pretty good, although I prefer the Pern books.
The later Pern books are a BIG departure from the early ones, although they're good in their own right IMO, they jsut don't really fit in with the rest of the books (ones like All the Weyrs of Pern I mean)

i think my favorite books were, for no apparent reason, the Menolly trilogy (Dragonharper, Dragonsinger, Dragonsomethingelse) and that book about Robinton's youth

there's also a short story (about 50 pages ) called Runner of Pern out there somewhere... it's in a collection of add-on short stories to existing fantasy worlds. they also have a Wheel of Time story which is cool... i think the name of the book is Legends?

Yes, there is a bit of a difference between the early ones and the most recent ones. I like Masterharper too. The trillogy you are referring to is Dragonsong, Dragonsinger, and Dragondrums.

I know the book you are referring to, but I can't remember the title either.

Heh at least i got the spirit of the titles right
it's been a while since i read them, but i might start rereading around christmas since that's when i go home and that's where the books are...

I had to go check the titles at Amazon. (It's also available as "The Harper Hall").

Another McCaffrey book I like is "Black Horses for the King"
Have any of you read it?