Letter from Jeanne
Hi Todd,
I have to say I devoured your newest book Dragonheart. Then again I have devoured every book with the McCaffrey name on it! My comments are thus, though:
1) I feel, sometimes, that there are some disparities bewteen the Pern of your mother’s world, and yours. Example: The dragons seem to speak in more complete sentences, even as hatchlings, in your world, whereas in earlier books they seem to be much more limited in speech.
2) I don’t know how to say this, but it almost feels to me, that the books under your name are more like BASED on the Pern books, rather than a continuation of the series. I feel some familiarity but some things just feel .. how do I say it.. OFF.. somehow. It may well be that it’s simply the transition from one author to another, but it’s not just the same! I’ve read the Pernese books since, geez, (counting back now) I was a freshman in high school which was A LONG time ago anyway *laugh*. Heck I still have some of those original books believe it or now! Yay me. Anyway, as a longtime reader, I guess I’m getting the ‘oh no a new author is trying to feed off the original’s glory’ jitters, but given that you ARE her son, yer like one of the most legit folks around!
3) With the above said, I have to admit, as a follow-on to Dragonsblood, this was an outstanding story. I normally read a 500+ page book in 2 days. This one took me 3. Why? because I FOCUSSED on the story rather than just my normal skimming-speed-reading thing I have done for years. For that, I thank you 🙂
4) I have a question though. Given that I read Dragonsblood about a year ago, I am still feeling a bit of dislocation somehow in trying to relate Fiona to Kindan versus T’mar, as well as the relationships between M’tal and the Wherfolk/Weyrfolk, (and I get a feeling he’s due for some sort of romantic relationship coming up!) There just somehow seems to be some unsaid/unheard things that the reader is sort of expected to catch up on, that never get said! Are we supposed to remember these things in the next book? Are they revisited in Dragongirl? That’s sort of where I feel like I’m left hanging!
Not to mention… So we have Fiona and T’mar’s relationship sort of started with lots of tension and the ‘first time’, and Tenith and F’jian’s relationship just starting to grow. There’s SO many questions relating to those two sets of people, and I’m going insane to find out more! (write faster) So I ask….. are they all going to be in the next book? Or is that a pipe dream and a leftover dangling in the breeze?
Thanks for reading my rambles,
Jeanne
devoted, longtime Pernese reader, Lover of all things Draconic
Dear Jeanne,
Thanks for your long letter!
Your comments are interesting. When I started with Dragonsblood one of my goals was to write more in the style of the original Dragonflight. I wanted to regain that sense of grittiness that I felt when I read the original novella Weyr Search in Analog all too many years ago.
The books of the Third Pass — both those I write solo and those I write in collaboration with Mum — will be different from those written in the Ninth Pass with F’lar and Lessa. Part of that is that we’re dealing with different characters and different events. Part of it is because, starting with Dragonheart, I embarked on a long arc story which Mum hasn’t done before.
The basic question of this long arc is: “How does Pern survive with too few dragons?” That question won’t be fully answered until Dragon’s Time. The question itself is just a natural extension of the circumstances that exist at the end of Dragonsblood but the telling of the tale required me to introduce a new person — Fiona — in a ‘sidequel’ that establishes her character and lets us dive into the meat of the question in Dragongirl.
Also, remember please that the Third Pass happens over 2000 Turns before the Ninth Pass of Lessa and F’lar. Pern’s got to be somewhat different just as Europe in the time of the Roman Empire was much different from the Europe of today. Some of that difference you feel relates to that.
There will be more of the T’mar/Fiona relationship — some of it surprising and possibly controversial — in Dragongirl and also more of Terin/F’jian as well. At the end of Dragongirl, you’ll be desperate for Dragonrider and, I hope, at the end of Dragonrider you’ll be eager for Dragon’s Time. Mum jumped on board in writing Dragonrider and Dragon’s Time because she enjoyed Dragongirl so much that she wanted to see if I’d “share.” We had fun with Dragonrider and I’m eager to see how the fans like it.
Cheers,
Todd