As the QUEEN of Science-Fiction and Fantasy, Anne McCaffrey has written quite a few things. Do you have a favorite? I know it is hard because everything is just so darn enjoyable. Shall we review the series for kicks?
Freedom: The Freedom series is about Kris Bjornson and Zainal, a Catteni, who fight to free the humans, deski, rugerians, catteni and even the Turs from the Eosi. They also wonder… who ARE the farmers? This is a four book series.
Titles are :
Freedom’s Landing, Freedom’s Choice, Freedom’s Challenge, and Freedom’s Ransom.
This series has some REALLY interesting human/alien interactions, but sadly, as we get into books three and four, where did the aliens GO?? I know they were fighting to free Earth, but hopefully she is hard at work on a book 5 to free the Deskis and others.
Next, the Crystal Singer Series
Not very surprisingly, about people who use crystals in their singing. Get it?
Titles are: Crystal Singer, Killashandra and Crystal Line
And now, her most popular series, PERN. I will not link to each book, because that would be insane. The list of titles is over here at her website and you should definitely check it out. You are supposed to read it in the order that she wrote it, NOT timeline wise according to the books themselves. This is very important. ALWAYS start with the “Dragonriders of Pern” trilogy. My personal favorites in Pern are the “The Harper Hall Trilogy” and “The Dolphins of Pern.” Though…. I love “Masterharper of Pern” as well. This is also a series she is still working on. She had begun writing with her son, which I think is an excellent way to segway into a new PERN author.
The Petaybee Series was also written with Elizabeth Ann Scarborough and is another favorite. I have not re-read these titles in some time but they did recently release two new “Twins of Petaybee” books. This is actually a new series within Petaybee. They are Clhangelings and Maelstrom which was just released yesterday actually. The original three titles of the series are Powers That Be, Power Lines, and Power Play.
A description from the third title, from the previous link:
Petaybee was growing up. Day by day, the sentient planet - like any child - was learning to recognize and understand the meaning of outside stimuli, to respond to those stimuli, to communicate its own needs and desires . . . even to use human speech.
The Brain & Brawn Ship Series is another group author project. Margaret Ball, Mercedes Lackey, S.M. Stirling, and Jody Lynn Nye each wrote books with Anne in this series. Stirling even went on to write his own. All of these books are based around the impressive future technology to preserve a human body inside a ship console, while still letting the brain/personality of the person be used. It is a voluntary procedure that allows the people to use their brains to control ships (or cities). Really interesting science fiction writing here. Here is a description from the first in this series,
Helva was born with massive debilitating physical deformities. Her brain, however, was unaffected and highly intelligent. Placed inside a capsule which overcame all her physical disabilities through advanced cybernetic enhancements, Helva was a formidable individual. Beyond her other distinctions was a love of music. Placed inside a spaceship with her Brawn at her side, she became The Ship Who Sang.
The Ship Who Sang (by herself), Partnership, with M. Ball, The Ship Who Searched, with M. Lackey, Baen Aug 1992 (this is one of my favorites in the series), City Who Fought, with S.M. Stirling, Ship Who Won, with Jody Lynn Nye, Ship Avenged, with S.M. Stirling
Brain & Brawn Compilations: just pairings of 2 different novels.
Brain Ships, The City and the Ship, and The Ship Who Saved the Worlds
Short Stories (no links available)
The Ship Who Returned, FAR HORIZONS, Silverberg 1999
And now… telepathic powers. Always a good time. The Tower & Hive Series consist of five books. The Rowan (aka A Meeting of Minds), Damia, Damia’s ChildrenLyon’s Pride, To Ride Pegasus, Pegasus in Flight, and Pegasus In Space. And here is a quote that describes some of the characters, from the third book of the series,
here is Peter Reidinger, a teenage paraplegic who happens to be the strongest telekinetic ever, his mind capable of teleporting objects and people thousands of miles in the blink of an eye. Yet all his power cannot repair his damaged spine or allow him to feel the gentle touch of a loved one . . . Rhyssa Owen, the powerful telepath and mother hen to Peter and the rest of her “children” - and a fierce, unrelenting fighter against the prejudice that would deny the Talented their right to lead happy and productive lives . . . and Amariyah, an orphan girl who loves two things in the world above all others: gardening and Peter Reidinger. And woe to anyone who harms either one of them - for the young girl’s talent may prove to be the most amazing of all.
Dinosaur Planet Series was also with Jody Lynn Nye and Elizabeth Moon. Can you see who some of Anne’s favorite people to work with are? Honestly, I do not think I have read the two Dinosaur Planet books. I do make up for that for having read the Planet Pirates compilation about 30 times. The Mystery of Ireta is the compilation of Dinosaur Planet and Dinosaur Planet Survivors, which are both out of print on their own.
The Planet Pirates is the compilation of Death of Sleep, Sassinak, and Generation Warriors, written by J.L. Nye and E. Moon from outlines by and discussions with Anne McCaffrey.
Here is a quote from Planet Pirates,
How together Sassinak and Lunzie save first a world, and then a confederation of worlds — and almost in passing establish amity between the genetically engineered Heavy Worlders and normal humanity — is the story of The Planet Pirates.
Last for the series I will be talking about is that of Acorna, the Unicorn Girl. The Acorna Series
was written with Margaret Ball, Elizabeth Ann Scarborough, and then there is a compilation with various other authors. It begins with Acorna, with Margaret Ball in 1997, and continues through, Acorna’s Quest, with M. Ball. The rest of the series is written with E. A. Scarborough. This includes Acorna’s People, Acorna’s World, Acorna’s Search, Acorna’s Rebels, and Acorna’s Triumph. This is another series that is ongoing as well. And surprisingly, a quote!
She was just a little girl. With a tiny horn in the center of her forehead, funny-looking feet, beautiful silver hair, and several curious powers: The ability to purify air and water, make plants grow, and heal scars and broken bones. A trio of grizzled prospectors found her drifting in an escape pod amid the asteroids, adopted her, and took her home to sizzling controversy. Officious bureaucrats wanted to put Acorna in a home and cut off her “deformity.” Ambitious scientists wanted to isolate and study the “unicorn girl.” Which was worse?
So I have given you a wide variety of her titles. I have not included everything of course. Her website (though not as updated as I would like) gives lists of all of her works, including other genre titles and full information about her other science fiction and fantasy titles. Do give her a go. All of her stuff has a wonderful feel and if you like science fiction, she has a lot of hard core stuff. Even her general fantasy, like Pern, has science fiction involved, and she makes it fun and interesting. I hope you enjoyed this review, and if you have not tried Anne McCaffrey yet, I hope this helps you to figure out with one to start with.
Also…. as to my own favorite… With each section, I kept saying, “This is my favorite,” “No… this is my favorite.” If I had to choose, it would be the Freedom series, but some of my favorite ALL TIME characters live on Pern, plus Acorna is awesome, and I love The Planet Pirates. I hope you will tell me who your favorite it, and have a lovely day.
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Tags: acorna, and Jody Lynn Nye, anne mccaffrey, authors, bjornson, books, Brain & Brawn Ship, catteni, coldsleep, crystal, crystal singer, crystals, decision at doona, dinosaurs, doona, elizabeth ann scarborough, embargo, empathic, fantasy, fiction, freedom, hardcover, laydown, margaret bell, Mercedes Lackey, out of print, paperback, pern, Petaybee, Peter Reidinger, planet pirates, Rowan, S.M. Stirling, science fiction, Talent, telekenetic, telepathic, todd mccaffrey, unicorn
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