Book description
When Masterharper Zist takes over as Harper for Natalon's coal-mining
camp, he takes with him his apprentice, the orphaned, mute Pellar, and
Pellar's fire-lizard Chitter. Pellar has become a gifted tracker and
Zist gives him his own mission - to find out if the recent thefts of
coal are the work of the Shunned, criminals condemned to a life of
wandering and hardship. Halla is one of the children of the Shunned.
Though innocent of their parents' crimes, these children have
inherited their cruel punishment. With no shelter when the lethal
Thread falls again they will have no protection against it. Life is
even tougher for Halla, all her family are dead and she must fend for
herself. Yet Halla is kind and gentle, devoted to helping those more
helpless than she, unlike Tenim, a fellow child of the Shunned. Tenim
is in league with Tarik, a crooked miner from Camp Natalon, who helps
him steal coal in exchange for a cut of the profit. But Tenim soon
realizes there is a lot more to be made from firestone, the volatile
mineral that enables the dragons of Pern to burn Thread out of the
sky. Tenim doesn't care what he has to do, or whom he has to kill, in
order to corner the market. Cristov is Tarik's son. Dishonored by his
father's greed and treachery, he decides he must make amends
somehow... even if it means risking his life by mining the volatile
firestone, which blows up at contact with the slightest drop of moisture.
When the last remaining firestone mine explodes in flames, a
desperate race begins to find a new deposit of the deadly but
essential mineral, for without it there can be no defence against
Thread. But Tenim has a murderous plan to turn the tragedy to his own
advantage, and only Pellar, Halla and Cristov can stop him - and
ensure that there will be a future for all on the world of the Dragonriders.
Anne McCaffrey was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She graduated
cum laude from Radcliffe College, majoring in Slavonic
Languages and Literatures. A prolific bestselling author, she is best
known for her handling of broad themes and the worlds of her
imagination, particularly in her tales of the Talents and the novels
about the Dragonriders of Pern. Anne McCaffrey lives in a house of her
own design, Dragonhold-Underhill, in County Wicklow, Ireland.
Visit the author's website at www. annemccaffrey. net
Todd McCaffrey, Anne's son, is a computer engineer living in Los
Angeles. The approved heir to Pern, his first solo Dragonriders of
Pern novel, Dragonsblood, will be published by Bantam Press in
2005. Visit his website on www. toddmccaffrey. org
