The Skies of Pern

By: Anne McCaffrey

Narrated by: Dick Hill

Length: 15 hrs and 30 mins

Publisher's Summary

Now that Pern can look forward to a future without the threat of Threadfall, the people are free to leave their protective stone holds and spread across more of the planet, as well as improve their lives with the newly discovered ancient technology. Not everyone is happy, though. Some resist the change, and consider anything new to be an "abomination". And the dragonriders are uncertain: without Thread, what will their purpose be in Pernese society?

Then a new danger - again from the skies - looms. Once again, the people must pull together...And turn to the only ones who can solve the crisis: the dragonriders of Pern!

©2007 Anne McCaffrey (P)2007 Brilliance Audio

Critic Reviews

"Superb storytelling and engaging characters. . .McCaffrey's most popular series takes on a new dimension with the latest installment, as familiar characters feel the weight of their years, giving way to a new generation of humans and their dragon companions." ( Library Journal)
"Multifaceted as the eyes of their dragons, these novels offer romance, adventure, medieval pageantry, intrigue . . . [and] a satisfyingly complex society." ( SciFi Weekly)

minor irritants, otherwise loved it

I enjoyed listening to this book again (have read it before), but the narration became irritating to me when the narrator tried to pitch his voice higher to read the women's voices- he just couldn't carry it off. It sounds better reading it all straight. Also, I noticed a few mispronunciations- earlier in the book, Menolly was pronounced with the emphasis on the second syllable, whereas later in the book, it was emphasized on the first. I have read it with the pronunciation on the first syllable (in MY head). I noticed it with one or two other names, also. It makes me wonder, do the readers find out from the authors how to pronouce certain names, or just wing it?

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

missing audio

Where does The Skies of Pern rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

It ranks among the top 40 of the books I have listened to.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Skies of Pern?

When Golanth gets back into the sky with the help of the other dragons.

Which character – as performed by Dick Hill – was your favorite?

It is a tie between Tai and her dragon. Unfortunately there were too many times where the voice of F'lessan changed too much.

Any additional comments?

there is some audio missing towards the end. it skips from the middle of a sentence to the middle of another that I know very well having read the book multiple times.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Not My Favorite

I SO wanted to give this book five stars. Five stars because I miss Anne McCaffrey and she showed a different way to depict women in science fiction. Five Stars because I got to go back to Pern and enjoy the dragons and dolphins. But I just couldn't.

Had I read this a long while ago when my eyes were still good, I might have given a higher rating. I wouldn't have had to listen to the narrator, Dick Hill's version of the story. Ugh! He makes all the women sound like weak whiners. Even Lessa, who is supposed to be a strong leader, Mr. Hill diminishes with his vocal characterization. But there was no text-to-speech so I was stuck with his voice. And there is no loanability for these books. What the Heck! Poor people want to read, too!

But maybe Dick was only working with what was there? Did our dear Ms. McCaffrey write the book with the male heaviness I felt? I just wasn't happy with how it progressed. It took me much longer to read, just because it didn't pull at me like, say, her Harper Hall books did. Okay. I did read most of this series about twenty-four years ago. Whew! That is a long time ago!

It was only near the end of reading this book that I realized that this was the last solo book of the series. I will now have to look up the continuation written with her son, Todd or those he wrote alone. I have a few sitting here, but I will have to find the Kindle versions and Audibles to get by.

SO as much as I miss our dear Anne McCaffrey and her love and talent, I have to stay truthful. This just wasn't my favorite Pern.

6 of 7 people found this review helpful

Lovely stories I go back to time and again.

I read the series when I was a child recovering from surgery, always go back.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

narrator

did a poor job when voicing women's voices, AND all the women sounded the same.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Dragonmen continue as Perns guardians.

Would you consider the audio edition of The Skies of Pern to be better than the print version?

No. But much easier for me than to reread it again.

Who was your favorite character and why?

F'lessan: Who was born with it all and wanted just to be the best rider he could be and succeeded. Then he lost it all after the lion attack and had to rethink his life. True to his heritage he found a way through to a new life while also finding the love of his life.

Which character – as performed by Dick Hill – was your favorite?

F'lessan

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

When F'lessan realized his life as a dragonrider was over.

Any additional comments?

Anne McCafferey neatly folded up and ended the dragonrider saga of the last pass of the Red Star with this book. It was a brilliant and emotionally satisfying ending but also left the question of whether dragonriders may go to Earth some day...Just to DO it.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Could have been so much better

What made the experience of listening to The Skies of Pern the most enjoyable?

I enjoy Anne McCaffery's Pern and visiting it is always an interesting experience.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Dick Hill?

Anyone. I think my cat might have done better, and English is not her first language.

Any additional comments?

I have never before heard Dick Hill read a book. I detested the way he read this one. I have read the book and a great deal of what he did was totally random. Where did those accents come from? I have no objection to accents. They just made no sense here, the way he did them. I may have to stop listening to it. I have heard many books read differently from the way they sounded in my head. It was interesting. This is aggravating.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Love Pern, always.

Any additional comments?

Good narration for a great story. Anne McCaffrey's work will last forever. Very much enjoyed this.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

The Skies of Pern

This was the final book in the my reading/listening of the Dragonriders of Pern series in chronological order. I did enjoy going through these books this way from the settling of Pern until the last which gives you a glimpse of what they plan for the future. This was a pretty good ending, but there are some things left without much of a conclusion. That was a bit frustrating as there is one character that I wanted to know his end. Other than those little things, the characters in this final book were fantastic. There is always a lot going on in each of these books, so following the story line was intriguing and I definitely had characters that I bonded with throughout. It was a good mix of what was currently happening and of them looking to the future and what will become of them as people of Pern and mostly as Dragonriders now that thread will no longer fall.

This is such a great series and I am really happy I chose to read them chronologically this time around.

Excellent, Emotional

Excellent writing. I didnt particularly like the first few chapters about the plotting of the Abominators but I recognize that it was a facet of the story that needed to be told so I went on. After that, it was quite awesome. Love the Ty & F'Lessan story, especially in creating such a unique Green Dragon & her rider LOL I was laughing out loud & crying. It was an emotional rollercoaster at certain points. Mrs McCaffrey outdid herself in bringing out this part of the story & allowing us to imagine the new shape of the future of Pern & that it was in capable hands/dragon wings. Narrator did a good job, except for the voice of Toric. Loved listening to this book!