Dragonwriter

Read for the Genre Non-Fiction Challenge.

This is a tribute to Anne McCaffrey, author of the Pern series, the Acorna series, the Pegasus series, and the Crystal Singer series, among many others. McCaffrey has long been a personal favourite author of mine. Pern was one of my earliest introductions to science fiction. I saw a lot of myself in the character of Menolly and the impression stayed with me, so I was excited to read this biography, edited by her son and sometime co-writer, and the one to whom she left the legacy of the Pern books.

I was struck by this portrait of a woman and a writer with whom I have much in common. I was also struck with how her stories have touched the lives of so many. This tribute was pieced together by people who knew her personally and professionally, and people who served such roles as organizing her fan club and Dragon*Con, her illustrator, and her co-writers and peers.

I found it moving and engaging. It made me cry a couple of times.

So why did I only give it three stars? I guess it's because the writing styles varied so much that I found it a bit inconsistent, and I thought it was edited in a weird way. The story that I would have put last, the one I would have thought made the deepest impact on the most people, was near to the end but not last, for example.

Definitely worth reading if you want to know about Anne McCaffrey in particular or sci-fi writers in general. Anne McCaffrey was a key figure in the development of modern sci-fi, so it also has historical value.