The Girl Who Heard Dragons
Author: Anne McCaffrey
Illustrator: Michael Whelan
Book 15 in the Pern series
Pages: 352
Published: 1996
Age: 11+
A compilation of 15 interlinked stories, with twenty-four beautiful black and white illustrations by award-winning artist Michael Whelan.
In the title story, Pernese teenager Aramina has the unusual ability to hear dragons, all the dragons, even though she has not impressed herself. Her family, however, are "holdless", on the run from bandits, and afraid Aramina will desert them if she impresses and becomes a dragonrider. Instead, Aramina finds that she can exploit her unique talent without sacrificing the family she loves.
This collection of stories includes: The Girl Who Heard Dragons, Velvet Fields, Euterpe On a Fling, Duty Calls, A Sleeping Humpty Dumpty Beauty, The Mandalay Cure, A Flock of Geese, The Greatest Love, A Quiet One, If Madam Likes You..., Zulei, Grace, Nimshi, and the Damnyankees, Cinderella Switch, Habit is an Old Horse, Lady-in-Waiting, and The Bones Do Lie.
Note: The short story, 'The Girl Who Heard Dragons' can also be found in a later collection, 'A Gift of Dragons' (Book 20), together with three other short stories that form part of this series but are also published in other books.
About the Pern Series
Books in series order
- 1.Dragonflight(1968)
- 2.Dragonquest(1971)
- 3.Dragonsong(1976)
- 4.Dragonsinger(1977)
- 5.Get Off the Unicorn(1977)
- 6.The White Dragon(1978)
- 7.Dragondrums(1979)
- 8.Moreta: Dragonlady of Pern(1983)
- 9.Nerilka's Story(1984)
- 10.Dragonsdawn(1988)
- 11.The Dragonlover's Guide to Pern(1989)
- 12.The Renegades of Pern(1989)
- 13.All The Weyrs of Pern(1991)
- 14.The Chronicles of Pern: First Fall(1993)
- 15.The Girl Who Heard Dragons(1996)
- 16.Dragonseye(1996)
- 17.The Masterharper of Pern(1998)
- 18.Legends(1999)
- 19.The Skies of Pern(2001)
- 20.A Gift of Dragons(2002)
- 21.Dragon's Kin(2003)
- 22.Legends II: Dragon, Sword, and King(2004)
- 23.Dragonsblood(2005)
- 24.Dragon's Fire(2006)
- 25.Dragon Harper(2007)
- 26.Dragonheart(2008)
- 27.Dragongirl(2010)
- 28.Dragon's Time(2011)
- 29.Sky Dragons(2012)
Reading age: 11+ years
This series should be read in order.
This fantasy series tells the story of inhabitants of Pern, a pristine and beautiful planet colonised when earth became too polluted and overcrowded. The suitability of the planet is marred by periodic attacks from space by the destructive Thread, a space-borne spore that destroys organic substances – and hence, humans - on contact. The settlers discover that a native life form, the fire-lizard, has developed adaptations against Thread.
The first book in the series starts when the society is well-established, and focuses on the character Lessa, who is working disguised as a kitchen girl, but is on the brink of reclaiming her stolen birthright. Everything changes, however, when she meets a queen dragon. They develop a strong bond which provides vital protection when, for the first time in centuries, Lessa's world is threatened by Thread. Dragons and their Riders once regularly protected the planet from Thread, but there are very few of them left these days. Now Lessa must risk her life, and the life of her beloved dragon, to save her beautiful world...
Note: The books in this series, also known as 'Dragonriders of Pern', are listed in order of publication. For a list of the books in chronological order, please refer to the series website.