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NEW CHARM COMMEMORATES ANNE McCAFFREY

by Hazed

I was very sad to read of the death of author Anne McCaffrey earlier this week. To commemorate her life and the amazing books she wrote, I have produced a new charm which is now on sale at Gallagher's for the usual 1 slithy tove. It is a white dragon - the inspiration taken from her best-known series, the Dragonriders of Pern books. You can buy it with 'BUY DRAGON' and then activate it with 'STROKE DRAGON CHARM'.

I first came across McCaffrey's books when I was a teenager, and I fell in love with her series about dragons (Dragonflight, Dragonquest). What appealed to me wasn't just the dragons (although who doesn't love dragons) but the fact that they contained strong women characters, which was rare for the time. They also focussed on the politics of the society she invented. The second set of books from this universe involving the harpers Menolly and Robinton are among my favorite books ever (Dragonsinger, Dragonsong and Dragondrums).

Some of her other books were even better than the Dragonriders series. The Crystal Singer introduced us to another strong woman, who undertook the dangerous profession which sent most of her colleagues insane, mining for a rare and valuable crystal using music.

The Ship Who Sang, about a severely disabled girl who became the "brain" in a spaceship, was also a ground-breaking exploration of the non-physical relationship between Helva, the ship, and her male partners. The series was continued in collaboration with other authors, and the rest of the books are entertaining but none had the shock impact of the first that introduced us to the idea of brainships.

Anne McCaffrey shook up the field of science fiction and this allowed more women writers to shine, and it also lead to more exploration of the sociological and emotional aspect of technological changes, not just the gee-whiz shiny gadget side of things.

You can see a complete list of her works here.

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