When war breaks out, and her father is mobilized, young Tirza Eircelly watches as her mother must prepare the demesne for the tribulations that war will surely bring to it. Her mother is a bastion of calm and wisdom in the dark days, keeping everyone moving forward while others lose their heads. Tirza learns to help her mother, and be the woman that her times require.

Although there are no wizards or exploding fireballs, this is a magical tale, a tale of a gentle magic, the sort that comes from within. This is a very touching story. Lady Talarrie is drawn as a formidable woman, a woman of courage and compassion, of action and wisdom. Though it might sound cliché, I don't believe that you can read this story without falling in love with it. This is a great book, one that I recommend to everyone!

I borrowed this book from the library and read it in a single day! It is well written and enchanting. The characters are charming and you will enjoy reading about their lives. It also gives a good picture of everyday life in the medieval time period. My daughter (11) is now reading it.

So far, she has done three of these little books and I have loved all of them. I think that she should compile a book of all these stories when she's gotten a few more. I know that I'd definetely buy it.

i found these books to be great. very descriptive and worth reading agin. anne mccaffery is wonderful writer that deserves praise. works of art.

I'm a great fan of McCaffery, and I like this series second behind the Dragonriders. Marina Sirtis reads it well, a bit hypnotically in spots. I can't tell if its abridged or not. These tapes are great in the car. They keep the kids quiet even on short runs.

I have all three of these books and can only hope that there will be more. Once again we are taken into yet another realm of fantasy by one of the genre's most skilled & talented authors.

The Harper Hall of Pern is an omnibus edition of the Harper Hall trilogy, including Dragonsong, Dragonsinger and Dragondrums. It follows the Dragonriders of Pern trilogy.

In Dragonsong, Petiron, the old harper, has died and only Menolly, the youngest child of Sea Holder Yanus, can properly sing the deathsong to honor him. Yanus is scandalized that a girl should perform the role of a harper, but gives in to the inevitable. Moreover, Menolly is the only one available to instruct the children in the Teaching. When the new harper arrives, however, Yanus and his wife try to keep Menolly from his attention. Disconsolate, Menolly starts taking long walks and finds a fire lizard nest about to be swamped by the tide. She helps save the eggs and returns later to witness the hatching and impresses some of the the hatchlings. Now Menolly has nine young fire lizards attending her.

In Dragonsinger, Menolly and her fair of fire lizards have been called to Harper Hall because of her songwriting. She has been accepted as the Master Harper's apprentice and soon finds several friends there, dull-witted Camo, who is fascinated by her fire lizards, quick-witted Piemur, who is fascinated by everything, but the foremost is Robiton, the Master Harper himself. Nevertheless, she also is the target of jealousy and prejudice from some of the residents.

In Dragondrums, Piemur, who is the pampered lead soprano in the Harper choir, finds that his voice is changing. Moreover, he is no longer the Voice Master's special student. The normally cheerful boy is desolate, but he soon perks up when he is told that he is now apprenticed to the Master Harper himself, working with Sibel and Menolly and maybe even going to the Southern Continent.

This trilogy concentrates on a different segment of Pern society than the previous novels. The Harpers are the teachers and messengers as well as entertainers. Moreover, Robinton uses them to spread new ideas and to spy out problems that haven't been reported by the Holders.

Highly recommended for McCaffrey fans and anyone who enjoys SF tales of young people with a zest for life.

The Harpers are my favorite characters in her books so of course I loved them. I think because she works by herself she can keep them true to what they always were and always will be. If you like the Harpers too, then you'll love these books. And if you haven't read her books, the Harpers play music and do other things but they're really cool.

This is a tale of the struggle a talented individual who is not allowed to practice her skills because of a too rigid social structure. She escapes and flourishes because of the kindness and open-mindedness of others, not to mention her own abilities to survive where many would give up and be relegated to what others would decide for them.

This is a story that fills your heart with pride for the characters as the conquer the obstacles set before them. It also proves that it pays to keep an open mind when dealing with others. Recognize their abilities and let them take that ability as far as they want. Never let ideas and rules that might have been established long in the past dictate what is best for an individual who can be better than what would otherwise be a poor life.

I read constantly and have always come back to this book. I read it every year and enjoy the unlikely occurrances that happen and how in the world could this happen. It's a taste of the unusual that we would like to happen to us. How unlikely our travels would be but then we meet Dan. Now I have had my trip out-of-town and can adventure forth back to my everyday. I love the way she makes it all seem so possible. It's an easy read and the best change-of-pace I have found.

The charactorization in this book is excellent. The plot twists & turns and keeps you turning the pages, one right after another. I read this book in just five hours. The next thing I knew it was 4:30 am. I paid for it the next day but it was worth it. I hope that one day I meet a man like Dan-The-man. Thanks Anne.

This is a good read for a cold winter's evening
The characters are human and the heroine knits
That is definately a plus point in my book but then I'm biased, I knit as well
It is also nice to see a less likely heroine find the man of her dreams
Well done for creating such a personable set of characters

Is the heroine anything like Anne McCaffrey I sometimes ask.

Hey, when I read this book, it kicked me into high gear for hell. Pal is practically in love with Acorna: so WHY WON'T HE ADMIT IT?!? It's that blasted obvious. Anyway, it rules. I liked the illustrations.

A book full of hints that Anne McCaffery likes unicorns, it must be one of my favorites. I am 12, and as of yet I have not read Acorna, but I am satisfied that I have read these wonderful shorter stories.

This book takes you through Acorna's adventures of rescuing the poor children of Kezdet, to finding a human she likes... and loses. Her feelings are easily related to, and I, being young and not stapled to the Earth, felt, while reading it, that I could heal and purify water and air. I felt as if I had a horn. This was a good book, and I was sorry to see it end.

I LOVED this book. I've read it at least a dozen times--once immediately after finishing it, I had to read it again. Along with "The Ship Who Sang," it is the best of the brainship series. I've read all of Anne McCaffrey's books to date (most of them two or three times), and this is my favorite. Even if you've never read any of her other books, you'll love this one.

As far as I'm concerned, Anne McCaffrey's heroines are the best in current fiction. From Restoree to Pern to the BB quasi-series, her heroines are intelligent, caring, and, yes, dangerous in one fashion or another. Tia may be her best. Stricken in childhood by a terrible nerve disease, Tia is on life support and deprived of human touch for life. Rather than be institutionalized, she chooses to become a Brainship. The hospital scene is everything you've heard. Get a hanky. Get two.

She is tormented both by her inability to touch anyone, since she grew up in a loving family (not selected at birth like the other Brains) and the need to find the source of the virus that got her. Acquiring an unorthodox "brawn", off she goes on her career as a courier, with an unannounced agenda of her own.

The book is episodic, but leads to a very nice conclusion that my wife predicted but I didn't. Oh, yes, the "bear" is Theodore Edward Bear, a childhood keepsake who is the center of a charming but strange "marriage" ritual.

If you read only one BB book, make it this one.

This was one book that as soon as I finished it the first time, I couldn't put it away, but had to immediately read it a second time. Since then I have read this Book at least five more times and still love it! Tia and Alex's adventures and love story are classic! I hope these two authors get together again someday.

Humans are forbidden to have contact with other intelligent races in space. That edict comes as a result of the fact that human contact with the Swiannese race resulted in their mass suicide. This rule is tested when a race of human colonists finds that they are not alone on their uninhabited planet.

The writing in the book is spare and often elegant. While elements of the plot show its age, it demonstrates McCaffrey's consummate skill as a science fiction/fantasy author.

I was so tired of sci-fi books dealing with Humans going out to murder another race. This book gave a welcome change, two completely different species working together to create a new world for themselves. I've never read the sequels, but having just read this book alone was wonderful.

I enjoyed this book a lot. The writing style was not flowery or poetic, just easy to follow and understand. Ken, Hrrestan, and the other main characters are interesting and fun to read about, and we sympathize for the human colonists as they try to understand a new alien race, and face the possibility of having to leave this paradise of a colony world to return to an overpopulated and excessively structured Earth. Don't miss it.

Three Women is three separate stories written by Anne McCaffrey quite a while ago. All three of the stories are markedly different, but all are very well written and quite engaging.

Ring of Fear is about Nialla Dunn, a young woman who has been on the run ever since she found her horse-trainer father murdered and she was raped by her father's ex-employer. She has disguised her looks and stays on the move by traveling from horse show to horse show to compete. Her only friends are her two horses Orfeo and Phi Bete and her cat Dice. Falling in love with handsome, mysterious Rafe Clery is the last thing she has planned...

The Mark of Merlin takes place during World War II and is the story of Carla and her big german shepherd, Merlin. James Carlylse "Carla" Murdock threw herself into her studies when she received the news of her father's death in combat. When she fell desperately ill, she was sent off to stay with her guardian, Major Laird, whom she had never met. Unfortunately, Major Laird had no idea that "James" was a girl. He also had no idea about how stubborn she was and how vengeful she would be when she discovered that her father was murdered in Europe...

The Kilternan Legacy is the story of Irene "Rene" Teasey, a recent divorcee with two hilarious twins, Snow and Simon. Rene is ready for a change when she hears that she inherited some property from an unknown great aunt in Ireland. Little does Rene know that she is going to have a major battle on her hands as real estate agents, sleazy land developers and her own family battle it out for her new property. Rene feels that she can deal with this, but she cannot understand why her great aunt hated Shay Kerrigan because she is beginning to fall in love with him...

Of the three stories, I enjoyed Ring of Fear the most and feel that this one is worth buying the book for. I also enjoyed the Kilternan Legacy, although there isn't really a lot of romance in that story, per se. I didn't care for The Mark of Merlin, but it was okay. All three stories are well written and have nicely developed characters and a clear plot. None of the stories are very long and they are all currently available in reprint editions, but you have to buy them separately, which gets to be pretty expensive. If you keep watch for a little while, you should be able to find a used copy of Three Women that isn't too expensive and this book is worth your time, especially if you have enjoyed any other McCaffrey books!

I, like many, am a huge Anne McCaffrey fan. I've read almost every book she's ever written. Thinking this was a new book, I checked this out here on Amazon.com. Reading through the other reviews, I realized that this is an omnibus of three novels Anne has recently re-released.

Ring of Fear is a mystery, romance, and horse story about a young woman in the horse show business. Various catastrophes throughout the book all link back to her father's murder, which changed her life forever. She meets up with Rafe Cleary, who helps her to deal with all her problems, and plenty more happens before the book is done.

The Mark of Merlin is about a college student during WWII whose father (a colonel) was killed in questionable circumstances. Her father's will appoints Major Regan Laird her guardian, but Carla is eighteen years old and wonders why her father appointed the twenty-something and very aggravating Regan her guardian. Together with her dog Merlin, various army friends of her father's, and the Major, Carla has to puzzle out the mystery of her father's death and break a war-time crime ring.

The Kilternan Legacy is the only one of the three I haven't read (yet), but from the various summaries I saw it's about a recently divorced woman who moves to Ireland and finds love.

Anyway, you can find all of these novels separately on Amazon.com, so without having to go through the misery of finding a used copy of this, you can get everything that's included separately. Happy reading, McCaffrey gurus.

Three Women is one of my favourite books. A book that I can read again and again. These stories of three women each of their time gets to you. You are there and you feel you know them, you understand why they react to whatever happens to them as they do. You laugh, you cry, and you rebel with them - and enjoy their personal successes. The stories are finely balaced in drama and humor as the various characters are portraied with a great knowledge of human nature and a lot of self-irony.

Lessa ,werwoman of Benden, and dragonrider to a young dragon queen. Thus begins the incredible 'Dragonriders of Pern' series. A tale that takes you out of this world to let you expierence this striking novel. Four hundred years has passed since the last Threads have fallen... but they return. The dragonriders must work together to save their beloved Pern from destruction. But only one person, who will be rememberd through ballads and poems, will risk life itself. That person went BETWEEN to bring back people from long ago to help save Pern...

This is a well written novel. Although it might seem slow at first once you get into it you will fall right in love with this book. This book might be a little too complicated for younger audiences. If you get stuck on an unfamiliar phrase, term, or name refer to the glossary at the back of the book. This is a must read for any fan of Anne McCacfffrey or science fiction/fantasy fans. {Also you may look for the reprinted cover version of 'Dragonflight' at a local bookstore near you.}

I must say that this book is one of my ABSOLUTE favorites! I have read it so many times that I almost know it all by heart! This book tells the story of Lessa, (my fav. character) who Impresses the last golden-queen dragon of Pern, Ramoth and how, basically, they defy all and, against all the odds against them, the save the world. This was the 1st Pern book I have ever read, and I say you should definetly read this one first. It makes understanding the different ranks and colors of the dragons easier...it makes you understand the real, emotional bond that the dragons and their riders have...how their minds are linked and how they understand everything about the other... This world is so believable that it makes me want to go to Pern and Impress a dragon! (lol) One of my favorite parts would have to be when Ramoth rose in flight to be caught by Mnementh, whose rider is F'lar, who was the only bronzerider who believed that the ancient menace of Thread would fall once again in the skies of Pern. And lo, was he ever correct! He and Lessa and Ramoth and Mnementh make the BEST couple, and their fierce wit and sense of knowing make the story fast-paced and wonderful! You get to really know all the characters like you are actually standing there, with them...its great! This is a TOTAL read for dragon fans and even sci/fi and fantasy fans! Its great for all ages, though I do warn against the 10 and under year olds-they might not get the concept. PLEASE READ! ITS SO WORTH A HARBACK VERSION! (I have all these books, so trust me!) :OD

Lessa waited 10 long years in hiding for her chance to reclaim her birthright. As the last of the Ruathan blood, she must hide her true identity or be killed by Fax, the usurper who killed all of her kin and claimed Ruatha Hold for his own. When the dragonrider, F'lar, comes on search for some likely candidates to impress dragons, Lessa knew that her time had come. Unfortunately, her plans did not go quite the way she wanted them to and she ends up in Benden Weyr, where she impresses the Queen dragon, the beautiful Ramoth. Even though Lessa is now Weyrwoman and dragonrider, her troubles are far from over. The dragons live to kill thread, deadly spores that fall from the sky and eat every living thing in their paths. But thread have not fallen for over 400 Turns and the people of Pern no longer want to support the dragonriders, of which few are left. F'lar is convinced that the thread will fall again - and soon. Can F'lar and Lessa mobilize the forces of Pern to fight the deadly forces of thread and survive?

Dragonflight is the first book in Anne McCaffrey's highly acclaimed Dragonriders of Pern series. She carefully eases you into the world of Pern and the reader has no trouble visualizing the planet and its people. McCaffrey also has a nice, easy to understand writing style that will make this book popular among young adults and adults alike. Her characters are engaging and anyone will root for the stubborn, opinionated Lessa and her all-too-perfect mate, F'lar. Readers will also love the fact that this book is the start of a long series and that, even though F'lar and Lessa are not the main characters of all of them, they figure into most of them so feel free to get attached to them! If you have not yet read any books by McCaffrey then you are in for a real treat!