If you want to read this book, and aren't concerned with buying an original, McCaffrey has recently been re-published as "The Lady." And yes, Amazon has it!

As an occasional reader of Anne McCaffrey, I picked up this book as an interesting diversion from what I normally read. Oh, boy, was I in for a surprise! This book caught my attention right away with the focus on horses and breeding. Instead of the normal fantasy/scifi that McCaffrey writes, this book presents the reader with a look into the life of a young child growing up on a horse farm in Ireland. It is a page turner, filled with dramatic events, sadness, joy, and (of course) horses. At times, I wanted to jump into the book and slap the mother, beat up the lady's husband, or shake some sense into the cook. McCaffrey's development of the characters in this book are a prime example of why she's sold so many books and has so many avid readers. Also, the addition of the cousin gives me some idea of what the Irish think of us Americans. (Are we really that obnoxious?) Part of the plot was predictable if one ever reads romance novels, but I won't tell you which part. The only downside to this book is that it ended all too soon. I keep looking for a sequel, but haven't found one. I'd love to know what happens later in the young girl's life and see her running the horse farm, even though that isn't proper for a lady. The overall message of the book, to live your life as you desire and not for someone else's wishes, is pounded home quite efficiently. All in all, a good read that I couldn't put down.

This is a thoroughly enchanting series. It is a great introduction to Pern for younger readers. The first two books follow the story of Menolly, a young girl who has a gift for music. When her family will not let her use and enjoy her gift she runs away and eventually gets herself to the Harpers Hall where she could study music.
The world of Pern is enticing as well. It is a world which although somewhat similar to earth, has a great problem. Every 200 years they are bombarded by a deadly life form, thread, which falls to their world from an erratically orbiting planet. To deal with this menace, they have bred huge flying dragons that spew flame to sear thread from the sky before it hits the ground killing whatever it hits. Related to the dragons are their smaller cousins, fire lizards. Both creatures have the ability to mentally impress with humans making a lifelong telepathic link brom human to dragon or firelizard. During her adventures after running away, Menolly manages to impress 9 fire lizards. This makes her somewhat of an expert as she has more than anyone else on the planet. It also makes her an object of jealousy.
The second book continues Menolly's story through her first week at Harper's Hall. It was not an easy week as Menolly has to put up with much jealousy and meanspiritedness from the other girls at the school who are not anywhere near as talented as her, but she gets to study music. By the end of the week, she has managed to carve out a unique place for herself. Dragon singer is very much a story of a young girl's coming of age that can be identified with by teens, male and female alike.
Dragon Drums, the third book in the series almost feels like an intruder because it does not carry on Menolly's story. It is the story of her young friend Piemur, a young male apprentice singer in the Harper Hall. Piemur is quite a character whose claim to fame at the Hall is his beautiful soprano voice. When his voice changes, his tenure at the Hall must undergo a change and Dragondrums is the story of his growing up. Dragon drums is not as focused in its plot line as the earlier two books because McCaffrey uses this book frequently to further her story line of the whole Pern series, thus one is introduced to many more characters and much of the greater story of Pern. It is a good link from reading the Harper books to getting into McCaffrey's other Pern books.
I believe that McCaffrey's strongest point as a writer is creating characters that the reader really feels are real people. It is easy to root for her good characters to root against her evil characters. However, the characters are three dimensional characters, not cardboard cut outs. The world of Pern is unique and well developed. This series is a good introduction to Pern and it is also great for those who have read the other Pern books and are looking for more insight into this creative world

Just like the books the story is captive and wonderful. Loves of pern will love this abridgement of these classic stories.

I have read all these books...and I think they are Anne McCaffrey's best work...I have most of her books...but Her Dragonriders of Pern are the Best I have ever seen...

All four of these books are some of my favorites. It helps to have all of them in one. I loved them and if you like Anne McCaffrey's books, you would love this book.

This collection of stories are all from the year 2041. All have different things that the world will be like in 2041. One story is "Ear" which is about the people of 2041 have to wear an amp on their ear to hear. Another is "Whose Gonna Rock Us Home?" which is about a boy who runs away from home with just him and his guitar on the streets full of murderous gangs. So I think this is the best collection of sci-fi stories about the future of the year. Trust me you should add this to your science fiction book collection

I own this book, and I loved it, It is not the first in the time line, but for the first book writen, it was fantastic. If you like, or in my case love the Pern series, this is a must have.

Si te gusta la fantasia este es un libro para tu. En el mundo de Pern, dragones viven junto con humanos con mucho honor, pero despues de generaciones, los dragones y sus companeros humanos han caido en desgracia. A los senores de la tierra, ellos son pesados. Pero hay una nueva amenaza que solo los dragones y sus companeros pueden salvar el mundo de.

This book is not for the easily upset, but it's a book I recommend that every person who cares for children, either as a parent or a carer, should be brave enough to read.

For it tells the truth about that most reviled kind of person, the paedophile.
It describes in chilling detail the way these people work, how they groom victims, and how they feel that they do no wrong.
The quote on the back cover reads "Monsters don't get close to children, nice men do..."
Unfortunately I know this to be true, so I write this revue with some knowledge of the issues raised within the book.
Although throughout the book the victims / survivors are treated with the utmost respect and empathy.

The book is a gripping read with it's detailed descriptions of the Police investigations, but it never sinks into becoming 'just a good cop story'.

If you have any desire to understand the mind of paedophiles, then this book is an excellent way to do it.

"Dave"

Wonderful bedtime story for parents to read to their preschoolers.
Great way to introduce God and how He is part of everything in our
lives. Wonderful illustrations with great attention to details. Find
the bunny on every page!!

This book is fantastic, a real delicacy for Anne McCaffrey readers. Skillfully woven, the story is great. (As are the other two in the trilogy) I couldn't put it down.

This is a wonderful accumulation of three top quality romances. The Ring of Fear is a story about a nice girl who fell on hard times and is traveling the horse show circuit when she meets a wonderful fellow. They then begin a series of adventures including some encounters with a dubious character from a dark period in her past. The Mark of Merlin is another wonderful story. A young woman is orphaned and her legal guardian is one of her father's war comrades. The soldier is expecting a small child but recieves a young woman just under twenty one. A nice, beautiful woman almost twenty one. The Kilternan Legacy is a wonderful romance set in modern Ireland where a young American divorcee woman comes to deal with an inheritance. She soon discovers a lot about herself, her distant relations, and a couple of very handsome men