Dragon’s Time-Anne McCaffrey & Todd McCaffrey

Dragon’s Time
Anne McCaffrey and Todd McCaffrey
Del Rey, Jun 28 2011, $26.00
ISBN: 9780345500892

On the planet Pern, plague was killing the dragons just as the deadly Thread began falling from the red orb. Lorana found a cure at the cost her beloved queen dragon, but the toll is devastating as the surviving dragons cannot even fill up a weyr. Since all the dragons and their riders of Telgar Weyr were lost in between, Fiona and T’mar become the new Weyr leaders. Understaffed and under-skilled, each time they go out to fight thread, more die or are crippled. Unless they come up with a solution soon, human and dragon life on Pern will be extinct.

Although pregnant and without her dragon, Lorana borrows the Bendon weyr dragon to go to the future to plead for help. The Brendan Weyrwoman provides her with coordinates as to where she should land. When she arrives at the location she meets Trader Tenniz who is dying. She remains at his side until he passes, but now knows she must figure out what he hinted at. Lorana returns to Fiona two times from her location and she brings F’Jan to be with Terin in her hour of need butt F’Jian does not explain how or why since he was killed fighting Thread. As they put together the clues, they begin a plan to save the planet by hopefully cheating time

In this final of the latest Pern miniseries (see Dragon Blood, Dragonheart and Dragongirl the threads (no pun intended) come together to create a stirring exciting sci-fi thriller. Readers will admire the characters especially Fiona, a natural leader lacking experience and firepower at a time of dire straits yet gets riders to follow her in spite of what appears is a suicide mission. McCaffrey mother and son team up smoothly wit the latest entry in a classic epic saga.

Harriet Klausner