Book description
Kindan is an apprentice harper at the Harper Hall but he is finding the
lessons very difficult and although he has his friends, Nonala, Kelsa
and Verilan, he also has enemies, such as the bully Vaxoram. Things
begin to improve for Kindan when he beats Vaxoram in a duel and Vaxoram
becomes first his servant and then gradually his trusted friend. Then
Kindan impresses a fire-lizard and becomes the proud owner of the
magnicent Valla. At the hatching he meets Koriana, daughter of Lord
Holder Bemin of Fort Hold. She also impresses and she and Kindan fall in
love, but her parents disapprove and she has to return to Fort Hold.
Then a plague begins to spread across Pern, killing nearly everyone
infected. Kindan and his friends search the harper records to see if
they can find a cure, but all they can find is mention of a similar
plague over a hundred Turns past. As the plague gets worse Kindan and
Vaxoram are sent to Fort Hold to help tend the sick. Kindan will be
reunited with Koriana, but will she be free of the plague, and will he
be able to find a cure before more people die?
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 licensed pilot and software
engineer living in Los Angeles. Todd took up writing full time in 2002
and hasn't looked back. He is the author of several books, including
Dragonsblood, his first solo Pern novel, and Dragon's
Kin and Dragon's Fire, which he co-wrote with his mother.
For more information on Todd McCaffrey and his books, see his website
at www. toddmccaffrey. org
