RIP Anne McCaffrey.

It is always a punch in the gut when a much-loved author passes away. This news, however, feels a big like a freight train ramming me over and over again.

For those of you who haven't heard, Science-fiction/Fantasy author Anne McCaffrey passed away this week at the age of 85. she is best known for her Pern series, which I wrote a post on back in March 2010; you can read that post here.

She was a pioneer in her genre, as many of the greats in Science-fiction and fantasy are men. She won awards for her novels, and continued her Pern series until just this past year. She was amazing.

But more than anything, he introduced me to new literature and sparked an obsession with reading. Because while I was a reader before, I can truly say that reading her work opened doors. It broke down boundaries for what was "acceptable" to read.

It has long been a goal to reread the entire series in order, but I have put it off for a number of years. Now, with her passing, I know I will have to take the time to revisit a world I haven't been to in awhile.


If you want to read an article about her passing, I would suggest this one.

RIP.

Thursday Treat #12: Dragonflight by Anne McCaffrey

If Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game is the reason I became hooked on science fiction, Anne McCaffrey is the sole reason I began to read fantasy. I owe everything to her and the series that begins with Dragonflight.

While first published in 1968, Dragonflight did not make it into my hands until I was in eighth grade (maybe 1998 or so). For my English class, my teacher required us all to read a book from a different genre than what we liked. At the time, I was a huge fan of Mary Higgins Clark and that was all I was reading. So, my teacher suggested I try a fantasy novel. My best friend Jenny was also in the class, so we both searched the fantasy shelves trying to find an interesting book. We decided then and there that we needed to find a book that our school library had two copies of, so we could read it together.

We ended up finding our book. The book of choice was The White Dragon by Anne McCaffrey. We didn't realize at the time we checked them out that The White Dragon was the third in a series. But that didn't matter. We both read it and fell in love. Arguably, I loved it more than she did.

My love of fantasy was born.

I ended up convincing my mom to take me to the book store so I could buy the first two books. Then I bought more, and more, and more. My collection of the "Pern" novels grew. I was obsessed.

To this day, I still find it funny that I was hooked on fantasy by a series that began in the 60s and is still going today. It was an odd choice for a young teenage girl, but I don't regret it. And as I have read more and more fantasy as I have grown older, I have learned that the Dragonriders of Pern is one of the best fantasy series ever written. It was inventive, new, and inspiring. It is truly epic fantasy.

McCaffrey is the mastermind behind much of dragon based fantasy today. Her series was one of the first big series that centered on dragons. Books like Eragon have McCaffrey to think for blazing the trail. It also helped jump start my own love for dragons (no, really, I love me some dragons).

If you want to see where dragon based fantasy began, you have to read this series.

The entire series goes as follows:

Original Trilogy:

1. Dragonflight (1968)
   
2. Dragonquest (1970)
3. The White Dragon (1978)

Harper Hall Trilogy:

1. Dragonsong (1976)
2. Dragonsinger (1977)
3. Dragondrums (1979)

Other Novels and Anthologies:

1. Moreta: Dragonlady of Pern (1983)
2. Nerika's Story (1986)
3. Dragonsdawn (1988)
4. The Renegades of Pern (1989)
5. All the Weyrs of Pern (1991)
6. The Chronicles of Pern: First Fall (1993)-Short Story Collection
7. The Dolphins of Pern (1994)-One of my favorites in the series
8. Dragonseye (1997)
9. The Masterharper of Pern (1998)
10. The Skies of Pern (2001)
11. A Gift of Dragons (2002)-Short Story Collection

There are a few other titles that have come out since, but all are with collaboration with Todd McCaffrey, her son. I have not read any of those, but only those she has written.

If you want to read this series, read them as they are listed to make it easier. McCaffrey also has a suggested reading order on her website if you are interested: http://www.annemccaffrey.org/index.php?page_id=30