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A Gift of Dragons
by
Anne McCaffrey
in a Kindle edition that was published by Del Rey Books on October 29, 2002 and has 304 pages.
Explore it on Goodreads or Amazon
Illustrator: Tom Kidd
Other books by this author which I have reviewed include Dragonseye, The Skies of Pern, Dragon's Time, Dragonflight, The Chronicles of Pern: First Fall, The Masterharper of Pern
An omnibus of four short stories that include bullying in the Dragonriders of Pern science fiction series and revolving around the dragons and culture of Pern.
The Series
“The Smallest Dragonboy” (a year or so before “The Girl Who Heard Dragons”)
“The Girl Who Heard Dragons” (a few years after Dragonflight, 1 (14))
”Runner of Pern” (while Silvina is headwoman at the Harper Hall)
“Ever the Twain” (any time)
The Stories
“The Smallest Dragonboy”
It’s egg-hatching time at Benden Weyr, and Keevan is hoping against all hope that he’ll Impress. Only, the riders are talking of excluding the younger Candidates.
The Characters
Keevan is the youngest and shortest of the Candidates. Mende is his foster mother. K’last rides a brown and is Keevan’s father. Beterli is the most senior Candidate — and has been rejected at eight Impressions. Hmph.
F’lar is the Weyrleader with Menementh as his bronze dragon. Lessa, the Weyrwoman, rides Ramoth. F’nor, F’lar’s brother, rides Canth, the biggest brown. Other riders include L’vel with his blue.
“The Girl Who Heard Dragons”
There’s reason to be glad that Lord Fax was finally “executed”, only it takes a few years before Dowell and his family learns of it. What they hear of Lytol encourages the family to start the return journey to Ruatha, only, a horrible accident may prevent it.
The Characters
Aramina can hear dragons. Her parents are Dowell, a gifted wood joiner, and Barla who has seeings. The bragging Pell is her brother and Nexa is the youngest. Nudge and Shove are their dray beasts. Her parents had left their hold to hold onto their honor.
A cavern in Igen is providing shelter for hundreds of holdless folk. Lemos is said to have wood; Asgenar is its lord. They’re calling the mean Thella, Lady Holdless. Giron, a rider who lost his dragon, is her second-in-command. Lytol is the new ruler over Ruatha Hold. Belior and Timor are Pern’s moons.
Mirrim rides Path, a green; K’van rides Heth; T’gellan rides bronze Monarth; and, Lamanth is a queen who has clutched thirty eggs. F’lar is the Weyrleader with Menementh as his bronze dragon. Lessa, the Weyrwoman, rides Ramoth.
”Runner of Pern”
A fun and unexpected story about the runners of Pern, how they test for it, the traces they run, their concerns, their experiences, and the culture and history of their craft. The first half of the story concentrates on Tenna and her concerns while the second half pulls in other runners and a Gather at Fort Hold. It’s cute how Tenna doesn’t want kids, as she’d prefer to run rather than to raise runners.
Until a case of mistaken identity . . .
The Characters
Tenna is a fairly new runner from a family of runners. Cesila is her mother and manages a large runner station, Station 97 in Keroon Hold. Fedri is her father and she has a total of eight siblings, including Sedra and Silan.
Mallum is a runner at Telgar station. Other runners include Masso. Irma runs a nearby station.
Station 300 is at Fort Hold where Lord Groghe rules. Torlo is the station master; Penda is his mate. Some of their runners include Misler, Grolly, Rosa, Spacia, and Cleve who is the runner Rosa is sweet on. Delfie is a southern runner. Haligorn and the bullying Horon are twin brothers and sons of Groghe’s. Beveny is a good-hearted Healer. Silvina is the headwoman at the Harper Hall. Felisha is from the Weaver Hall and determined to snag Cleve. Ligand is a tanner journeyman.
“Ever the Twain”
The primary concern is of the twins being separated. Oh, they know, it’ll happen one day . . . in the distant future! It’s that desperate hope of theirs that keeps them together, even though this doesn’t feel very realistic. It’s also interesting that C’tic takes it as no big deal about his dragon speaking to Ru and Nian.
It’s a slightly different look at life in the Weyr with Ru and Nian helping the injured dragons. Impression is a crack-up with the twins’ roaring needs, lol. I gotta love those dragonets. They have got their priorities and don’t you forget it, lol.
The Characters
The sixteen-year-old Neru “Ru” and Nian “Ninny” are twins. Nerith is Ru’s dream dragon. Palla is their mother. Niall is the youngest sibling.
Lord Lado and Lady Cirine rule Lado Hold on Ista Island. Flamel, the son of the Hold’s smith, is a bully. Orla is the daughter of the Hold’s weaver and has been recommended for apprenticing to Master Elaine at Fort Hold. Chaum is also sixteen. Master Ruart is their Harper.
Clidith, a queen dragon, has recently clutched. R’dik rides blue Shalanth; Sarty is green Ledith’s rider; and Conna rides green Oswith. Kilpie is in charge of the Lower Caverns. H’ran is the Weyrlingmaster and rides bronze Prinith. C’tic gets help with his bronze Brith. Robina, a Masterfarmer’s daughter, is a snotty Candidate.
The Cover and Title
The cover is golden in its mottled sky filled with dragons emerging from a decorated treasure box above snowy mounds of mountains and flat plateaus with its bronze rounded border around the outer edges. At the top is the author’s name in burgundy. The title is at the bottom in a white shadowed deep blue. Below that is an info blurb about illustrated stories.
The title, A Gift of Dragons, technically only applies to three of the stories, as these dragons are a gift . . . to the individual and to all of Pern.
