Showing results for "dragon", by author "Anne McCaffrey" in All Categories

There has never been a dragon quite like Ruth - he's small, agile, able to communicate with fire lizards and has an uncanny ability to know exactly when he is. His bond with the young Lord Holder Jaxom is uniquely strong thanks to their unlikely connection and the fact that nearly everybody else on Pern thought the diminutive dragon wouldn't survive to adulthood. With Jaxom set to inherit control of his Hold, the pair is banned from fighting Thread, their flying time strictly limited at the insistence of the Weyrleaders and Lord Holders.

Menolly has returned home and entered the Harper Hall. But her entry into the Hall proves the beginning of more troubles, and the Master Harper gives her a difficult time because she is a girl. As Menolly begins to despair, she finds help in the shape of nine bright allies.

Dragonsong is the spellbinding tale of Menolly of Half Circle Hold, a brave young girl who flees her seaside village and discovers the legendary fire lizards of Pern. All her life, Menolly has longed to learn the ancient secrets of the Harpers, the master musicians of Harper Hall. When her stern father denies her the chance to make her dream come true, Menolly runs away from home. Hiding in a cave by the sea, she finds nine magical fire lizards who join her on a breathtaking journey to Harper Hall.

For the first time in more than three years, best-selling authors Anne McCaffrey and Todd McCaffrey have teamed up again to do what they do best: add another chapter to the Dragonriders of Pern. Even though Lorana cured the plague that was killing the dragons of Pern, sacrificing her queen dragon in the process, the effects of the disease were so devastating that there are no longer enough dragons available to fight the fall of deadly Thread. And as the situation grows more dire, a pregnant Lorana decides that she must take drastic steps in the quest for help.

The Dragons of Pern are the world's only defence against an ancient threat - Thread, an evil rain that devours everything it touches. Paired with their riders from the moment they hatch, they risk their lives burning the scourge of the Red Star from the sky. But the dragons are in decline. Only one Weyr remains, and the only dragon queen is dying. F'lar knows that the Red Star is rising again and that the ancient threat will return. His only hope is the last queen egg and finding a woman strong enough to be the new queen's rider. But the villainous Lord Fax has other plans.

Leadership of these dragons and riders falls to Xhinna, female rider of a blue dragon, who must earn the respect of all who follow her and solve the problem of how to get sufficient numbers of dragon eggs, all while protecting her people and baby dragons from the predators, and worse, traitors!

Life in the Harper Hall is busy for best friends Kindan, Nonala, and Kelsa. As the only female apprentices, Nonala and Kelsa are the butt of jokes and easy targets for the bully Vaxoram and his cronies. But when Kindan springs to Kelsa's defense, he winds up in a fight for his life against the older, bigger Vaxoram - a fight that will lead to a surprising friendship. Then fate intervenes in the form of a virulent plague as fast-spreading as it is deadly.

Pellar is an orphan taken in by Masterharper Zist. Though born mute, Pellar is a gifted tracker, and when Zist sets off to take over as harper for Natalon's coal-mining camp, Pellar - along with his fire-lizard, Chitter - joins him on a secret mission of his own: to find out if reported thefts of coal are the work of the Shunned, criminals condemned to a life of wandering and hardship.

When the voice of Piemur, an apprentice at Harper Hall, changes, he has to leave the companionship of Master Shonagar behind. But his disappointment is soon replaced by a new challenge. He is to enter the service of the Master Harper himself as a rider of dragons. Soon, he embarks on a dangerous mission to the Southern Hold. The future of Pern hangs on his success.

Teenage Aramina has the unusual ability to hear dragons. Her keen perception causes dismay to her mother, who fears Aramina will desert her family and commit to living the life of a dragonrider. In the land of Pern, Aramina's family is known as the "holdless," nomads who roam the land to hide from bandits. Aramina must find a way to exploit her unique talent without sacrificing the family she loves.

The exhilarating adventures of Anne McCaffrey's best selling Crystal Singer series continue with Killashandra, a story that mixes interplanetary political intrigue with passionate romance. In this installment, Killashandra Ree's crystal claim has been exhausted, forcing her to take a new assignment and leave her new lover back on their native Ballybran. She goes undercover on a distant, desolate planet, searching desperately for the crystal that will save her - and, quite possibly, the fate of the entire universe.

Experience the first Killashandra Ree adventure, in which the indomitable Killa overcomes disappointment in one career by diving into a much more exciting one. Filled with suspense, anguish, romance, and intrigue, this distinctive adventure is one of Anne McCaffrey's best.

The beautiful planet Pern seemed a paradise to its new colonists - until unimaginable terror turned it into hell. Suddenly, deadly spores were falling like silver threads from the sky, devouring everything - and everyone - in their path. It began to look as if the colony, cut off from Earth and lacking the resources to combat the menace, was doomed. Then some of the colonists noticed that the small, dragonlike lizards that inhabited their new world were joining the fight against Thread, breathing fire on it and teleporting to safety.

Once again Pern is in danger. The air trembles with Threadfall, and the holds seethe with rebellion. Piemur, his singing ended by a change of voice, is given a new assignment. On a bold mission to the Southern Hold he will learn the Oldtimers' secret and help Pern rediscover its lost heritage.

Killashandra Ree was drawn like a magnet to the song of crystal, and now it's erasing her memory. She knew the forgetfulness would be a byproduct of the singing, and she doesn't mind the little annoyances, like being unable to remember her address or the names of her colleagues. But she hadn't counted on the loneliness a person can feel when the heart still remembers what the mind has forgotten. Can the crystal that destroyed her memory somehow restore it?

Day by day, the sentient planet is learning to recognize and understand the meaning of outside stimuli, to communicate its own needs and desires...even to use human speech. The Petaybeans have their hands full trying to protect their beloved planet from the sudden influx of tourists. Then some of Petaybee's staunchest champions are kidnapped.

The Weyrs are full again, with old and new riders taking to the skies to fight Thread once again. But all is not well across Pern - the Oldtimers are struggling to adapt to the changes their centuries-long absence has brought and F'Lar and Lessa must carefully balance their conservative ways against those of their allies in the Crafts and Halls. As new technology makes the Red Star appear closer than ever, F'Lar's brother F'Nor starts to look for ways to rid Pern of Thread once and for all...but at what risk?

When the first humans came to settle the planet Pern, they did not come alone: intelligence-enhanced dolphins also crossed the stars to colonize Pern's oceans while their human partners settled the vast continents. But then disaster struck. The deadly silver spores called Thread fell like rain from the sky, and as human colonists' dreams of a new, idyllic life shattered into a desperate struggle for survival, the dolphins were forgotten.

To Ride Pegasus: They are extraordinary people who read minds, heal bodies, divert disasters, foretell the future - and become pariahs in their own land. Pegasus in Flight: As Director of the Jerhattan Parapsychic Center, telepath Rhyssa Owen coordinates the job assignments for the psychically gifted Talents in her group.

Travel back to the earliest days of Pernese history in this first-ever Dragonriders of Pern short story collection. Building a new life on a distant world, braving the dreaded Thread that falls like silver rain from the sky only to destroy every living thing it touches, flying heroically on the wondrous dragons - The Dragonriders of Pern!