Dust Jacket

When young Fiona impresses a queen dragon, she doesn't realize the perils and privileges that come with her new role. The challenges of becoming a Weyrwoman - co-leader of an entire dragon Weyr - can be overwhelming. And then, on top of it all, she faces the possibility of losing her dragon to the sickness that has already claimed so many others. Now Fiona is forced to confront the question: What is she willing to give up in order to truly be a queen rider? ( )

Anne McCaffrey is the quintessential writer of fantasy books pertaining to dragons. These books are always wonderful, well written, and perfectly characterized. All of her series are great but the ones that take place on Pern are the best of all. A thoroughly fun and engaging read. ( )

This is another Pern book about the time of the second Interval and the third Thread fall. If that sentence did not make sense to you, then you haven't been reading the Pern series of books. This is probably not the place to start, but it is a fine place to continue visiting that world.

I was a bit concerned that I had read some of these books out of order. I need not have worried -- Several of these newer books are happening at basically the same time-period, following the arc of different characters in different Holds and Weyrs. The same characters show up - Kindan, Nuella, and the Weyr leaders, as supporting characters.

This follows the fortunes of Fiona, the 13-year-old daughter of the Lord Holder of Fort Hold, who impresses a gold queen dragon hatchling at Fort Weyr. The story is good, but at 500+ pages, did not need to be quite so long. It is a "slice of life" story, but perhaps it could have been edited down a bit. Important things do happen that are related to the other books in this series, which is cool. But at times I wanted the story to just get going. ( )

Dense, edge of the seat, held me reading all day. Very well done and so close in style to first books written in the series. Continuing beloved characters.