Cropped Will Cardini artwork

November 30th, 2011

Belated Thanksgiving Post: An Appreciation of Anne McCaffrey

Filed under: SF Reviews — Tags: , — William Cardini @ 12:56 am

I know this is the week after Thanksgiving, and thanks are traditionally spoken beforehand, but I’d like to offer some gratitude to the recently departed Anne McCaffrey: Thank you for giving me an escape from the bullying and loneliness of my chubby nerd middle school life.

Dragonflight cover by Michael Whelan
The cover for the first book in the original Dragonriders of Pern trilogy, Dragonflight, artwork by Michael Whelan.

I still distinctly remember the day I first encountered a book by Anne McCaffrey. I was in middle school. I’d read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings but not much else science fiction or fantasy. I was a total dinosaur nerd. I was complaining to my Dad about not having a good book to read, and he said, “I think I can help you.” We went to my brother’s room, and my Dad pulled down several cardboard boxes from the closet full of his old science fiction and fantasy paperbacks from the 60s and 70s. There were books by Isaac Asimov, Cordwainer Smith, Philip K Dick, Clark Ashton Smith, Arthur C Clarke, Algis Budrys, Larry Niven, Stanislaw Lem, many others (these boxes of books supplied me with reading material until I moved out of my parents’ house), and Anne McCaffrey. My Dad dug through the boxes, flipping through each book and discarding them until he uncovered Dragonflight and Dragonsdawn. He said, “You like dinosaurs, read these. They’re about dragons.” I was hooked. I stayed up all night reading them.

Dragonquest cover by Michael Whelan
The cover for the second book in the original Dragonriders of Pern trilogy, Dragonquest, artwork by Michael Whelan.

I read about Pern and other Anne McCaffrey universes for years. I bought every new Pern book when it came out. I got teary eyed when major characters died. But my favorite Pern book, by far, was The White Dragon.

The White Dragon cover by Michael Whelan
The cover for the third book in the original Dragonriders of Pern trilogy, The White Dragon, artwork by Michael Whelan. My favorite.

I read The White Dragon over and over again until it fell apart. I got a white sweater with the cover art. I felt like I was the main character, Jaxom, riding the titular white dragon. I was a chubby nerd – I definitely would’ve gotten the runt dragon (if I got one at all). But like Jaxom and his dragon, I had a secret power – the fantastic worlds that I would imagine, bolstered by Anne McCaffrey’s books, gave me some respite from teasing and alienation and let me experience the soaring flight of a good read. Thank you Anne McCaffrey. I think it’s time I got another copy of The White Dragon to reread.

6 Comments »

  1. I love the cover art for those books. I’ve never read any of McCaffrey’s work before, but ever since I saw a few of her books in a store, the Dragon Riders of Pern trilogy has been on my “to read” list.

    Your white sweater sounds so awesome. Do you still have it?

    Comment by Madeleine — November 30th, 2011 @ 10:15 am

  2. Yeah Whelan’s artwork is awesome! I think the Dragonquest cover is my favorite of those three.

    I don’t have the sweater anymore (doesn’t fit) but I’m going to see if I can find any pictures of me wearing it when I go back to my parents’ house for the holidays.

    Comment by Mark P Hensel — November 30th, 2011 @ 11:12 am

  3. I’m sure I’m not the only one who would enjoy seeing a picture of Lil Hypercastle in a dragon shirt.

    Comment by Madeleine — November 30th, 2011 @ 2:15 pm

  4. If I find one (and it’s not too embarrassing) I’ll post it.

    Comment by Mark P Hensel — November 30th, 2011 @ 10:06 pm

  5. i really gotta read the pern books now! i also saw this remembrance of anne mccaffrey today: http://chocolateandvodka.com/2011/11/23/anne-mccaffrey/

    Comment by stina — December 1st, 2011 @ 6:53 pm

  6. Christina, that’s a great remembrance, thanks!

    Comment by Mark P Hensel — December 2nd, 2011 @ 2:02 pm

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