Dragons continue!

Seamless was the word that occurred to me. An avid reader of McCaffrey from when Dragonflight burst onto the scene I was so surprised and delighted by another Pern story told from the perspective of the once singer Piemur. His readjustment to life with the changes to his voice, his disappointments and quest to find a different place within the dragon halls form the background from which the action springs.
The time is in the now but the challenges face date back to the oldtimers living on the Southern continent. A situation is set in motion that could have dragon fighting dragon. Plots are hatched that arise from old situations.
We meet old friends and come more into step with the most recent characters and their doings on Pern. Masterharpers, singers, dragon riders are all represented.
Gigi McCaffrey has certainly echoes the voices of Pern without a hitch.
A pleasurable homecoming indeed!

A NetGalley ARC

Anne McCaffrey was the reason I began reading fantasy/science fiction. I have always been a great fan and have read most of her books. When I heard about Gigi's book in the Pern series, I was intrigued. I was hopeful but uncertain if Gigi could carry on the legacy of Anne and write a compelling and fun read. My hopes were fulfilled. From the beginning, Gigi has shown a remarkable ability to tell a story as well as her late mother and I truly enjoyed this reading from Piemur's point of view. Gigi has done well in following the timeline set by Anne and providing insights into the other characters in the world of Pern. The book was fun to read and took me back to those early years when I first began reading about the Dragonriders of Pern. I highly recommend this book. I was a joy to read.

Gigi McCaffrey continues Anne McCaffrey's saga of Dragonriders of Pern with Dragon's Code. Piemur, journeyman harper, has lost his singing voice and now spends his time undercover among the displaced and disaffected oldtime Dragonriders who came uptime to help present day dragonriders to fight thread. Intrigue and complications ensue. Piemur has to balance his own needs with those of the dragonriders and the other groups in Pern. Read this excellent fantasy novel to find out how the story unrolls.

Anne McCaffrey was one of my all time favorite writers as a youngster. I grew up dreaming of becoming a dragonrider, flying around Pern and protecting the world. So, naturally, when I saw that her daughter had written a book in the world of Pern, I knew I had to read it. And for the most part, I really enjoyed it. But it was hard at first because I went in expecting another Anne McCaffrey book (even though I knew it wouldn’t be exactly the same). Gigi has a bit of a different writing style than her mother. Once I stopped expecting it to be the same, I ended up having a lot of fun!

I have a few Dragonrider books written by Anne McCaffrey, although it has been quite a while since I have read them. This new book by her daughter, Gigi McCaffrey, was a lot of fun to read. It features a good storyline in which a group of Dragonriders has come to current time, from 400 hundred years in the past , to aid the current group of Dragonriders. Not all is well between these two groups. Piemur, who used to be a master vocalist prior to losing his beautiful singing voice, is now aiding the Masterharper by serving as a spy. The story features intrigue and adventure. Looking forward to future books set in this world!

I haven't read Pern, but I've heard good things about it. That said, if it's anything like this book, I'll steer clear of it in the future, as clearly it's not for me.

This book was a tough read for me. I found that there was a lot of exposition and that the characters were sadly a little flat compared to what they were in the past. Overall the story was a good one at heart, it was just hard getting through to that story and following it along. For people who haven’t jumped into the world of Pern before, they might face a story with no real reason to keep reading as there is little detail that makes you love the characters in this book alone. As a returning reader to the Pern series, you have a bit more buy-in and want to see what will happen with well loved characters...only to be a bit let down. Overall this was a dense read and there wasn’t much payoff in the end.

I truly enjoyed this vacation back to Pern especially since it is set in a time I am enamored with! We have Master Harper Robinton, Mellony, mentions of Ruth and Jaxom and so many more that made my heart soar with longing to visit these old friends. I enjoyed this different take on Piemur's story.

This book made me want to revisit Pern! If you are a fan of Pern give this book a try!

Fans of Anne McCaffrey's original series should really enjoy this new book! Of course, anyone hoping to read this installment should read the previous books (Dragonsong, Dragonsinger, and Dragondrums) first in order to understand and appreciate this one.

While this story definitely had a different feeling than the original series, it reminded me a lot of the previous books in a good way. This book was written by Anne McCaffrey's daughter, Gigi. I think Gigi really had a good grasp of her mother’s world, but you can tell in the reading that her writing style and storytelling is not the same. Gigi’s storytelling is a bit less emotional, and her portrayal of the original characters was a bit off for me (but I still liked it).

Overall, I liked this new addition, and I am interested to see where Gigi McCaffrey will go next with her writing.

I really wanted to love this book. I've been reading Anne McCaffrey since 1985.
Unfortunately, the plot itself adds little to the lore of Pern. Also, action scenes frequently take place offscreen.
The writing is very good but the plot frequently lacks urgency.

I received an advanced copy from Netgalley in return for a fair review. I have read almost all of Anne McCaffery's books and love the world of Pern, however, this one fell flat for me. I would love to see a story set in a different time, with different characters and a different crisis that has to be overcome in the world of Pern. I feel like retellings of the same story lines with Lessa, Master Robinton, Menolly, etc. have been told from so many different character perspectives they no longer hold any excitement or interest to me. I also agree with another reviewer who said there was a lot of "showing vs. telling".

Many, many years ago, I read a couple of the first books in the Dragonriders of Pern series but then life got in the way and I never finished reading any further in the series. I recently chanced upon this book and was interested in reading it because I was curious to see how the author carried the series forward.

The story is engrossing and well written, and from what I can tell, builds upon the earlier story lines but does not expect that the previous series to have been read. This book provides enough back story necessary to understand the world of Pern without spoiling what has happened in all of Anne’s original books.

New characters and a fresh new story line are the focus of this book which is centered around Piemur, Piemur is a young man in Pern, who ends up as the protagonist in this book at least.

“Dragon’s Code” is a great read and I am looking forward to continuing reading this new series as additional books are written. Reading this book has also had the effect of luring me back to Anne’s original Pern series. I now plan to go back and read her entire Pern series of books over time.

As a long time fan of the Pern series, I remember anxiously awaiting the next arrival, then begging to go to the book store to purchase it. I didn’t want to borrow them, I wanted to own them all to be able to reread them at my whim. When Ms. McCaffrey’s son took up the torch, it was much enthusiasm that I was able to share the news with my dad and others that “Pern was back!”. Now that her daughter has joined the fray, I’m hoping that Pern will be with us for the next generation and more! She is a gifted storyteller, like her mother before her. Well done!

Such fun to visit Pern again :-)
Piemur, a young harper, is the narrator of this story so you see things from the harper hall perspective. Some of your favorite characters are only present tangentially, referred to but not main characters in the story, like F'lar & Lessa. However, I still enjoyed this book and found it true to the Pern stories but updated a bit (aside: the older books can feel kind of dated in the way relationships are described). I don't think I read any of the Todd McCaffery Dragonrider books so I can't compare those to this one- I enjoyed Gigi's writing style and it didn't seem to be a big departure from the way most Pern stories are told. The familiar language (By the First Egg! Shards!) and familiar themes of noble dragons and their strong bonds with their human riders was fun to revisit. A definite must read for lovers of Pern.

I received a digital copy of Dragon's Code from NetGalley.

Piemur has always been one of my favorite characters, in this we have his side of things when Southern dragonriders plot to take a queen egg and would be holder ambition upon the lands of Ruatha Hold meet. Piemur's anxiety over his changing voice and urgency to prove his value to Harper Hall as something of a spy, map maker and teacher amidst it all too.

Through Piemur's eyes we see Benden's queen egg was stolen and mysteriously returned. Piemur unravels this mystery and sees the Dragon queen hatch and impress, it's nice to put that small mystery their names to rest when I don't believe we knew them before. Perhaps we'll see Nimath and Mikay again in the future?

Piemur, with Menolly, Sebell, N'ton, his dragon Lioth, and J'hon and his dragon Mirth help keep a eye on Jaxom. It gets Sebell badly hurt so Piemur takes his found family home to meet his foster family in Crom. Home to Ama, his foster mother, her death and the likeness to her name with Anne's made my heart ache for Gigi and her family. I seem to read McCaffrey when I find loss in my own life, my own mother's passing just at the end of July is still a fresh wound in my heart only a few months old.

Piemur finds the strength to use his changed voice to sing his foster mother on, her death brings into focus his will to live for something - to bring the Old Timers of Southern Weyr into the present Pass, to offer to use his voice for them, so they can come to accept how time changes people, even if they are blinded by perceived faults.

I hope that Gigi McCaffrey does again soon write in the "sandbox" of Pern (which I can't help but think of as Weyr hatching grounds).
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It has been a long time since I have visited the world of Pern and it was great being back. I liked how the mix of old and new drove the story. Piemur, a journeyman harper, is as lost as the Oldtimers. They are not adjusting to how Pern changed and Piemur is looking for a direction for his life after his voice broke and he can no longer sing. The danger and adventure keep the story moving as both finally find a direction and place in their life. Nice addition to a old and familiar world.

I received a free copy of the book in return for an honest review.

Gigi McCaffrey has taken up her mother’s story of the dragonriders of Pern series. Unfortunately, unless you continued to read Anne McCaffrey’s series long after the last one was written, you will be lost from page one onward as she introduces characters from her mother’s series without telling a new reader who, what, where, when, why. Gigi McCaffrey gave us a brief overview of her mother’s series, but didn’t tell new readers, or even old readers who may have forgotten, any details of the series.

Gigi McCaffrey was unable to bring the dragonrider story alive. Rather, she spent too much time telling us things, but did not show us much – it was one long paragraph after another. Not very exciting, not very readable.

Release date: 2 October 2018
Author: Gigi McCaffrey
Publisher: Penguin Random House/Del Rey
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: 4/5
One sentence review:  A coming of age story that brings the magic of Pern back into the imaginations of readers of all ages.

Summary: A young, unlikely hero stumbles into a plot that could tear Pern apart. 

I only lightly ventured into the world of Pern as a young adult. (Three or four books, maybe?) I think my lack of clear memory of Pern really helped me enjoy this story. Rather than comparing Gigi's voice to that of her mother's, I read a story about dragonriders and a magical world that I recalled vaguely from high school. 

Gigi did a wonderful job building the world of Pern to a newcomer to the series. She opened the world often visited by her mother and brother to a new generation of readers without requiring prior entry. Her invitation is written with love and that translates to the reader. 

Gigi's writing shines with the character development of the protagonist of the story. The characters feel very human and very real. While they are not quite as...complex?... as I typically enjoy, they are wonderful and stick with you after you've finished reading. (Let's be honest, I like a bit of darkness in my heroes. I call it complexity, but it might just be a touch of shadow. Given this is a Noble-bright sort of fantasy,  the characters are as natural for the genre.)

I think fans of Pern and newcomers, alike, will enjoy this addition to the Pern world.

Gigi McCaffrey does a fine job of continuing Anne McCaffrey's Dragons of Pern series. The society on the planet Pern is endangered when someone steals one of the queen eggs from the hatching ground. This violation could result in dragons fighting dragon and Craft fighting Holders. The young journeyman Harper Piemar is tested as he finds himself in the middle of this crisis.

The quality of writing in this book is so much lower than the originals that it is embarrassing. I will not review online.