The Chronicles Of Pern: First Fall (1994) - Plot & Excerpts
First book of the wonderful saga of the Dragonriders of Pern, written by Anne McCaffrey this collection of 5 short novels is really a pleasure to read. Survey P.E.R.N - the really beginning of the saga - allows us to discover how Pern was discover, why she received her name and why it was a blessing for her futur residents to have been qualified as P.E.R.N. The Dolphin's Bell set during the First Pass, at the same time as "Dragonsdawn", explains how the dolphins interact with the humans on Pern after they went to the Northern continent. The Fort of Red Hanrahan tells us how Red Hanrahan, father of Sorka Hanrahan first queen rider of Pern, builts a new fort named afterwards Ruatha where he breeds quality horses and wants to re-established horse racing. The Second Weyr - my favorite - explains how Benden Weyr was created. It tells us too the beginning of Torene - Alaranth's rider - and Mihall's ( M'hall) - Brianth's rider and eldest son of Sean and Sorka - story, characters we meet again in "Dragonsblood". Rescue Run is the last novel of "First Fall" collection. It narrates us how the rescue team came after receiving the warning sent by Ted Tubberman when Threads fell for the first time. This collection is important because it helps us to know better of the first human's steps on this so beautiful but mysterious planet. If you didn't already read it, don't hesitate to do it, you will not be disappointed.Quotes:"The Second Weyr", P. 175 (Ballantines Book Edition)Torene is caught dreaming about how she loves butter by Alaranth: You like me better than butter?Of course, I do, but there's absolutely no doubt that you couldn't be spread on hot bread!"The Second Weyr", P. 190 (Ballantines Book Edition)Mihall and Torene discussing about the future Alaranth's first rising fly:"The question is, how does Alaranth feel about Brianth?""Isn't it more how I feel about you?" The words tumbled out before she could stop them, and she shook her head and stamped her foot in annoyance: That wasn't at all what she had intented to say.Mihall rose slowly until he was looking down at her, an intense expression on his face. "Now, it's ultimately the dragons who decide: the one who decides how to fly this queen, and the one who decides who she'll let catch her.""The Second Weyr", P. 209 (Ballantines Book Edition):We both have what we wanted, said a dragon in a sleepy satisfied tone.Try though she would in all the years she and M'hall were the Weyrleaders of Benden, Torene was never sure which dragon had spoken. Or to whom.
I have been a follower of The Dragonriders of Pern since the 1970's. I fell behind in my reading, but always had the books on the shelf, waiting until I got around to them. McCaffrey wove a good tale, and the books are filled with interesting characters. A combination of fantasy (dragons) and sci-fi (space flight, other planets, alien life forms) form an intriguing mix. The stories center on the planet Pern (which took me until this book to see where the name came from) and an alien life form called Thread, which devours all organic matter upon contact. The dragons are the main line of defense. This is the underlying theme throughout the books, but stories are built around it. There is politics, greed, love, and anything else McCaffrey could dream up. It is an interesting world that has been passed on to her son. I have a few books to go before I get a chance to see what he has done with his mother's beloved world. Pick up the first book in the series. If you enjoy it, expect similar but enjoyable stories from the rest. A good diversionary read when you just want something light and fun.
What do You think about The Chronicles Of Pern: First Fall (1994)?
Pretty fairly decent collection of longish short stories. Wha? I mean that there's only 4 stories, so a couple of them are more like novellas. Main criticism is that if you haven't already read a ton of the books in the series, you'll be pretty lost here. (Minor criticism is a boring love story that hijacks an otherwise interesting story about fleeing a massive volcanic eruption.) The stories do technically stand on their own, but if you don't realize what kind of context they're supposed to fit into, I strongly doubt you'll give a shit about any of them. I had to make a Wikipedia run during one of the stories, because I had no idea why it was supposed to be significant.Anyway, overall pretty good. If you like the Pern series (especially the more sci-fi elements), you'll probably like this.
—Nick
As this is another book of short stories, I will do a review of each story.1. THE SURVEY: P.E.R.N. (2 stars) This is the story of the survey team that first evaluated the planet now known as Pern for human colonization. It explains how such a major threat (thread) was missed. Not bad. Not good either.2. THE DOLPHIN'S BELL (1 star) This was over 40 pages of an incredibly slow moving and boring story. It chronicles the sea voyage to move people and supplies from the southern continent to the north to escape the volcanic eruption. This voyage is aided by talking dolphins.3. THE FORD OF RED HANRAHAN (5 stars) This was a longer short story telling of a group of settlers headed by Red Hanrahan leaving Fort Hold to establish a Hold of their own. There is a river and a difficult to locate ford involved, as well as some contact with dragons and dragonriders. I adored this story.4. THE SECOND WEYR (5 stars) Fort Weyr has full to the rafters and beyond. The dragons have bred true and now new weyrs need to be established to accommodate them all. This story tells how that came to be, how weyrleaders and weyrwomen are chosen, as well as the second weyr being established.5. RESCUE RUN (3 stars) Remember Ted Tubberman, the cowardly moron from Dragonsdawn that send out the distress beacon? This is the story of that beacon being found and the rescue mission to save the "only survivors" left on Pern.
—Gere Lewis
I read most of the Dragon books as they were being written in the late 60', and early 70's and I remember it as being very frustrating having to wait an entire year for the next one though incredibly exciting when they were published. If I remember correctly the Merlin series (Mary Stewart) was being written about the same time and equally as frustrating waiting for them too, though worth the wait. Then my life changed and I missed about a decade of everyone's books. Thankfully, I can now go back and fill in the ones I missed. I thoroughly enjoyed these stories about early Pern, and how the weyrs were built and how their society handled problems like overcrowding and lack of arable land. Fascinating, with a little romance thrown in! If you've not read any of the other books I think it would have been hard to follow these stories but thankfully I'd read them. The story about the bell was just sweet, the dolphins are new to me. The founding and building of Benden weyr and getting to know the founders was excellent! I look forward to reading more of the series.
—Sharon
