Showing results by author "Anne McCaffrey" in All Categories

Because he is too young, Lord Jaxom is not allowed to fight the dreaded Thread, so he and his white dragon—Ruth—train themselves in secret. Their delightful, illicit flight leads them into danger—and the chance to prevent unimaginable disaster.

Anne McCaffrey, winner of the Hugo and Nebula Awards, co-writes this sequel to the popular first Twins of Petaybee book, Changelings, with fellow Nebula Award winner Elizabeth Ann Scarborough. As the series continues, Maelstrom follows Murel and Ronan Shongili, telepathic 10-year-old twins who have the special ability to turn into river seals.

Nancia's vision of human nature was shattered on her first voyage. Now she's bound for NX-928, and the last thing she needs is a "brawn" partner like Forister - he's the epitome of cynicism. Nevertheless, the idealistic Nancia and the worldly-wise Forister must band together to save the galaxy. This tale is narrated by television and stage actress Constance Towers ( Capitol).

A new "shellperson"—someone born with grave physical disabilities that required her human body to be encased in a massive titanium column—is provided a direct link between her mind and the computer of her ship, XN-935. Nancia is now a brand-new member of the elite Courier Service of the Central Worlds, the “brainship” of the most advanced interstellar ships around. But her innocent vision of human nature is shattered on her first voyage. Nevertheless, the idealistic Nancia and her worldly-wise new “brawn” partners must band together to save the galaxy.

Nebula Award-winning duo Anne McCaffrey and Elizabeth Ann Scarborough add another thrilling chapter to their sweeping Petaybee saga with Changelings. Yana and Sean are beside themselves with joy over the arrival of their twins Ronan and Murel. But the children's shape-changing abilities attract unwanted attention from an off-world scientist. Now Yana and Sean will do anything to protect their precocious youths from danger.

In Catalyst, award-winning authors Anne McCaffrey and Elizabeth Ann Scarborough introduced listeners to the beguiling Barque Cats: spacefaring felines who serve aboard starships as full-fledged members of the crew. Highly evolved, the cats share an almost telepathic bond with their minders, or Cat Persons — until, suddenly, there is no “almost” about it, and a particular Barque Cat, Chester, learns to ex- change thoughts with his human friend, Jubal. Other cats soon gain the same ability.

In the world of Pern, Harpers are more powerful than kings, for the music they play can control the minds of others. For young Menolly, her dreams of becoming a Harper have nothing to do with power, but rather her love of music. But as the Hall's first female apprentice, Menolly must contend with the Master Harper who gives her a difficult time because of her gender. As Menolly begins to despair, she finds help in the shape of nine bright allies and learns that her musical talents may prove more powerful than anyone could imagine.

Another Turn, and the deadly silver Threads begin falling again. So the bold dragonriders take to the air once more and their magnificent flying dragons swirl and swoop, belching flames that destroy the shimmering strands before they reach the ground.

In this sequel to Ride the Pegasus, Anne McCaffrey continues the story of the Talents—psionic beings who were once feared and despised, but have become necessary to the comfort and conduct of society. As director of a parapsychic center, telepath Rhyssa Owen coordinates the job assignments for the psychically gifted Talents in her group. She is always ready to welcome new Talents. When an extraordinary man with no measurable Talents appears, however, Rhyssa realizes that she will need to reassess the potential of all Talentkind.

Like Helva, The Ship Who Sang, Carialle was born so physically disadvantaged that her only chance for life was as a shell person. And again, like those others, Carialle decided she would strap on a spaceship. Her brawn is a guy named Keff. Their mission: to search the galaxy for intelligent beings.

In the world of Pern, there are few things more important than the ability to sing and write songs. But when Piemur's voice changes, he is given a new task. Pern is in danger once again, and Piemur is assigned a bold mission to the Southern Hold. He must learn the Oldtimers' secret and help Pern rediscover its lost heritage.

Ecosystems always exist in fragile balance, but imagine a planet that is sentient! On icy Petaybee, the planet itself seems to be orchestrating its own evolution - but the planet is also rich in exploitable resources, and the ruthless company Integral is poised to take advantage. Yana, an ex-company soldier with strong ties to the native Petaybeans - and the planet itself - tries to mediate with the company, but it isn't enough.

As the Weyrs and Holds prepare for the first pass since the loss of Landing and the knowledge of their ancestors, one Lord Holder is refusing to co-operate - denying the existing in thread and damning his people to ignorance and, ultimately, death.

The exhilarating adventures of Anne McCaffrey's bestselling Crystal Singer series continue with Killashandra, a story that mixes interplanetary political intrigue with passionate romance. In this installment, Killashandra Ree's crystal claim has been exhausted, forcing her to take a new assignment and leave her new lover back on their native Ballybran. She goes undercover on a distant, desolate planet, searching desperately for the crystal that will save her—and, quite possibly—determine the fate of the entire universe.

Killashandra, one of the most gifted singers on Ballybran, is drawn like a magnet to the song of crystal. In order to work with crystal, singers are infected with a symbiotic life form that heals them and gives them near eternal life—but slowly destroys their memories. Since crystal singing brings Killashandra ecstasy, she doesn't mind the initial small annoyances of memory loss. What she hadn't counted on was the loneliness she felt when her heart still remembered what her mind had forgotten—the names of her friends and lovers.

A huge space station on the fringes of human space, SSS-900 is controlled by the brain of Simeon, a shellperson who relieves his daily monotony by replaying computer simulations of great battles. When a battered, jury-rigged ship appears to threaten the station, they rescue the people who are fleeing from the vicious Kolnari pirates. As the Kolnari take over the station, the stationers and the Bethelites from the rescued ship must devise ways to work together to fight the invaders. Will Simeon become the only thing standing between ruthless alien pirates and total destruction?

Petaybee was growing up. Day by day the sentient planet was learning to recognize and understand the meaning of outside stimuli, to respond to those stimuli, to communicate its own needs and desires...even to use human speech. But few outsiders truly cared for the feelings and intelligence of what they perceived to be a giant hunk of rock or a mere oddity to be gawked at. Some came to worship the newly awakened soul.

It has been seven years since Lessa's heroic journey through time to bring the five lost Weyrs of Dragonriders into Pern's future to save their world. Now, the deadly silver Threads are falling again. F'lar, the Weyrleader at Benden Weyr, knows he must find a better way to protect his beloved Pern. F'lar's brother, F'nor, and his brown dragon, Canth, hatch a bold plan to destroy the alien scourge at its source—the baleful Red Star that fills the heavens and promises doom to all. The bold Dragonriders take to the air once more.

From Anne McCaffrey comes a collection of captivating short stories that focuses on everything from spaceship adventure and shifting time-storms to ghosts and romance. The title story, set in the world of the Dragonriders of Pern series, tells of Aramina, a teenage girl who hears dragons and is relentlessly pursued for her ability. Aramina's mother fears losing her daughter completely to the life of a dragonrider, but McCaffrey has another fate in mind for her young heroine.

Hypatia Cade—a headstrong, smart, and spunky 7-year-old girl—falls ill after contracting an alien virus that renders her a quadriplegic. Robbed of her mobility, Tia's only hope to be free of the prison of her body is to train to be one of the legendary star travelers, a brainship—a cyborg human being and interstellar spacecraft. After training, she must find the right partner to be her brawn. When the disease that debilitated Tia threatens thousands more, selecting a brawn who is her true soul mate may allow Tia to find the origin of the terrible plague—and perhaps even a cure.