A GIFT OF DRAGONS

By: Aaron W Shale
Review Date: Friday, December 06, 2002

The legendary Anne McCaffrey, creator of the DRAGONRIDERS OF PERN books, has compiled three rare PERN short stories and one original PERN tale into an illustrated small hardcover volume called A GIFT OF DRAGONS.

To put this review into context, it was only with sharp hesitation that I approached the book. In the early nineties, during a visit to DragonCon, the south's biggest SF and gaming convention, this reviewer had his first and only encounter with the conquering horde that is Anne McCaffrey fans.

McCaffrey was the guest of honor and her "riders" were out in droves. They seemed to dominate the whole convention, constantly singing loudly and blocking all the fire exits. Almost all of them had these obnoxious little stuffed dragons on their shoulders, and probably one out of four brought their cat to the convention. Cats were everywhere! They would put their cats into these little harnesses with leashes, and then stick prosthetic dragon horns or tales or wings on them. They named their cats with dragon names and talked to them in overloud baby-talk.

Having never once read a PERN book, I became poisoned to the idea of ever doing so for fear that I too would soon be chatting to a cat-dragon.

The reason for bringing up my reservations is this: McCaffrey's book overcame them. Despite my prejudice, I was taken in by the enchanting atmosphere that McCaffrey establishes, and by the heart in each story.

The first story, "The Smallest Dragonboy" has a sweet little plot about a child who, because of his unusually small size, is constantly ridiculed by the other children and not allowed to play their reindeer games. He goes to the area where the dragons are hatched in order to try to impress the new generation of dragons, thinking that this will bring him respect. The similarly set "Ever the Twain", the only never before published story in the volume, recounts the adventure of a brother and sister team and their hopes to one day achieve the status of Dragonrider. But the best story in the volume is the slightly darker "The Girl Who Heard Dragons" about a little girl with telepathic powers and the ability to communicate with dragons. Underground outlaws pursue the child, hoping to harness her ability and bend it to their own ends.

All four stories are consistent in theme and atmosphere and create a solid overall presentation. The book is also seriously enhanced by Tom Kidd's many wonderful illustrations. GIFT can be recommended to PERN regulars as well as interested newcomers.


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