The Chronicles of Pern: First Fall, By Anne McCaffrey

The plot for this one is a bit hard to lay out, mostly because it is a collection of short stories about the early days of Pern. They fill in some of the gaps that some readers always wondered about, and are just plain fun at other times. We get to see the EEC survey team take the first look at Pern, Jim Tillek pilot an oddball flotilla of ships away from Landing after the Volcanoes blew, Red Hanrahan start a new Hold, and the beginning of Benden Weyr. There’s another story also included, but I’ll just leave that one up for a surprise. As is, there’s an embarrassment of story riches to look through and linger over.

I personally loved to have more time with Jim Tillek. Or should I say, any time. We’ve never gotten a good look at the Captain before, and now we see him in his element: the sea! It’s a crazy ride from Landing to Fort Hold, what with tropical storms, the Western Current, and threadfall. But with the sea-savvy of Tillek, and the abundant help of the dolphins, impossible tasks are done, and history is made! At least, it should have been, if anyone had ever remembered to record it for later times. This particular story might be my favorite of them all, for many reasons. Tillek’s awesome, the dolphins are great, and there’s a love story. Come on, you know you like it too.

I’m not going to give a description for every story, but I am going to give a piece of advice. You can read this in chronological order like I am, or you can wait till later to read this book. It really doesn’t matter at all, but if you wait till later, some of these stories feel like they have more significance because of the way they connect to later times. It just depends on how you like it. Oh, and another warning that I should have given last time: McCaffrey likes sex. It’ll be in mostly all of her books. She’s not as graphic as some writers, but it is present and prevalent. Just a word to the wise if you’re going out to recommend these books to people. I like the books a lot, the sex I could do without. Some people mind it more than others.