Dragonsblood (Dragonriders of Pern)

• Publisher:   Del Rey
• Number Of Pages:   448
• Publication Date:   2005-01-25
• ISBN-10 / ASIN:   0345441249
• ISBN-13 / EAN:   9780345441249

In Dragon’s Kin, bestselling author Anne McCaffrey did the unthinkable: for the first time ever, she invited another writer to join her in the skies of her most famous fictional creation. That writer was her son, Todd McCaffrey. Together, they penned a triumphant new chapter in the annals of the extraordinarily popular Dragonriders of Pern. Now, for the first time, Todd McCaffrey flies alone. And Dragonsblood is proof that the future of Pern is in good hands. After all, dragons are in his blood. . . . Never in the dramatic history of Pern has there been a more dire emergency than that which faces the young dragonrider Lorana. A mysterious fatal illness is striking dragons. The epidemic is spreading like wildfire . . . and the next deadly cycle of Threadfall is only days away. Somehow, Lorana must find a cure before the dragons–including her own beloved Arith–succumb to the sickness, leaving Pern undefended. The lyrics of an all-but-forgotten song seem to point toward an answer from nearly five hundred years in the past, when Kitti Ping and her daughter Wind Blossom bred the first dragons from their smaller cousins, the fire-lizards. No doubt the first colonists possessed the advanced technology to find the cure for which Lorana seeks, but over the centuries, that knowledge has been lost.
Or has it? For in the distant past, an aged Wind Blossom worries that the germs that affect the fire-lizards may one day turn on larger prey–and unleash a plague that will destroy the dragons, Pern’s only defenders against Thread. But as her people struggle to survive, Wind Blossom has neither the time nor the resources to expend on a future that may never arrive–until suddenly she uncovers evidence that her worst fears will come true. Now two brave women, separated by hundreds of years but joined by bonds transcending time, will become unknowing allies in a desperate race against sickness and Threadfall, with nothing less than the survival of all life on Pern at stake.

When I picked this one off the shelf I didn't realize that it was actually written by Todd McCaffrey and not Anne. I was only slightly disappointed and determined to forge on ahead. I had previously read Dragon's Kin, written by both the McCaffrey's and I enjoyed it. I found that Dragonsblood started a little slow, but after the first few chapters, the pace picked up quite a bit. I couldn't put it down! Not only is it a great tale in the Dragonriders of Pern tradition, but it is thought provoking and deep. Good stuff!!!

By far Todd's best work. It has out shown his mother's work, who I'm sure is quite proud! A must read. Heart-wrenching and happy at the same time.

While this is a worthwhile addition to the ever expanding line of Pern canon, it's certainly not on a par with the original trilogy. Or, indeed, with most of the later books. It is, however, the best Pern novel written solely by Todd McCaffrey to date. Unfortunately, other than the setting, there's nothing new in this one. Even the characters are the same ones from the other books he's written. It's as if he's determined to tell us the same story over and over again, each time from someone else's point of view. And it's getting boring. There's always, of course, the theory of an author tying off loose ends. Unfortunately, that doesn't happen in Dragonsblood. In fact, there are more loose ends created during the story than are tied off by the end. Quite a few of them, in fact. I won't list them all here, in case you want to read the book for yourself, but I'm sure you'll spot them. I'm actually hoping for a direct sequel to this one, in the hopes that those loose ends will get resolved, and we'll finally be done with this group of characters and we can move on to something/somewhere/someone/sometime else.

Way to go Todd! You are definitely in the "Pern" groove! Really enjoyed it. I always wondered what could be dangerous to the great winged beasts.

I was so thrilled that Todd McCaffrey wrote yet again another wonderful story of Pern. I thoroughly enjoyed his previous effort Dragon Harper that continued the story of Kinden. Todd is a worthy torch bearer for his mother's wonderful planet of Pern and it's beloved Dragon's. This particular installment in the Pern story was wonderful. I often wondered what had happened to Wind Blossom after Kitti Ping's death. I know Wing Blossom became vilified as the creator of the stunted watch wheres. This breed was no where near the graceful counterparts of the dragons. I had always wondered how thread was fought at night. It couldn't only fall during the day but, we were never told of any treacherous falls at night. These watch whers became more useful as fighers and not just as the family hold's "watch dog". This was a wonderful story and well worth the addition to the stories of our beloved series. Keep up the fabulous work Todd. I feel you have become a worthy bearer of your mother's torch in carrying on Pern's story. There are still other stories of this marvelous planet and it's dragons to tell us. I look forward to each and every consequently written book from Todd. Thank you for many hours of absolutely wonderful reads. I have all your mother's Pern novels in print and in electric form and as many in audible form as I can find. They are a favored series in our house. My husband does not like to read but, he read this series with alacrity which was totally unusual and only told of the superb writing of the books. Long may Pern and her dragons reign!

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