Customer Reviews
Different, but I enjoyed it - By: fyfyn, 03 Mar 2008 
It took me a few chapters to get into this book, but once I did I found it hard to put down. The whole idea of a mute harper was original & as the story developed, became more & more interesting.
A reallly good read. I recommend this one if you are willing to read with an open mind.
A worthwile read - By: Mr. J. R. Hurst, 06 Feb 2008 Dragon's Fire is the second collaboration between Anne & Todd - & once again they have produced an engaging & entertaining story. like the previous few novels, Dragon's Fire is a Third Pass story - which is set before the events of Dragonsblood, & is nicely woven around the story of Dragons Kin - starting slightly before that novel, parallleling it in places & continuing on after it.
One of the joys of this book for me is that the primary character is disabled (he cannot talk), & yet he finds a way to work well within the Harper Craft Halll, a craft dedicated to communication of various sorts! Pellar is a well rounded character in this novel, & is given both a chance to grow & change through tragedy, adversity & through shear adventure. He is one of the more interesting characters created by "team McCaffrey" - & one I hope we hear more about in the future. His journey through Dragon's Fire is both touching, & compelling - & well thought out.
The same can be said of the main villain of the story - Tenim who is truly evil, which is a rarity on Pern. Someone who places no value on the life of others - unless they can be of benefit to him. He is willing to risk Pern's safety for his own selfish ends. One of the nice touches about this character is that he seems to have picked up falconry & has a trained bird-of-prey (something that must be a descendant of the birds brought by the original colonists). His shear cold bloodedness is quite chilling. The contrast between him & Pellar makes for interesting reading - especiallly in the scenes where they are together.
There are plenty of interesting secondary characters as well, from the selfless Hallla, to the tragic & misguided Tarik & his son Cristov (both of whom were introduced in Dragon's Kin). Again, Kindan makes the odd appearance in this book, with more being added to his robust character & background.
The way this story is woven around the events of Dragon's Kin is both clever, & intriguing & smacks of plans well laid - which I have no complaint about. The hunt for a new source of firestone, & the reason it is so different from the firestone fans of the Ninth Pass book are familiar with are nicely thought out, & fit very well with what has already been established in the series.
Dragon's Fire is an entertaining story - & one that I read over a few days. The pace & feel of this novel are markedly different from Dragon's Kin, yet still show the McCaffrey style through out. Again, this is a clever story & one that is a very worthy addition to the continuing Pern saga - make sure you have a box of tissues handy when reading it though - you will need them!
Dragon's Fire - By: Mrs. P. Webb, 29 Jan 2008 
What a disappointment. What looked a reallly long exciting read is divided into two 'books' The first half, or 'book' retells Dragon's Blood, from another point of view, bringing in a few new characters. The second 'book' continues the story. It limps along so slowly I'm not surprised that the next book is with a different co-writer. A precis would only fill one side of a sheet of A4 there is so little meat there.
I would only buy this if you can get it very cheaply, just so you can keep your collection up to date.
Reader from Hertfordshire
Lacks Anne's earlier sparkle - By: Cacnea, 22 Jan 2008 
As with Todd's solo book "Dragon's Blood", this story lacks the depth of character & atmosphere that is so appealing in Anne's earlier books in the Pern saga. If the cover didn't say otherwise, I'd swear that Todd wrote it & Anne's name is there to help sell copies. Oh dear. Very disappointing.
Another worthy addition - By: Mr. J. R. Hurst, 11 Jul 2007 Dragon's Fire is the second collaboration between Anne & Todd - & once again they have produced an engaging & entertaining story. like the previous few novels, Dragon's Fire is a Third Pass story - which is set before the events of Dragonsblood, & is nicely woven around the story of Dragons Kin - starting slightly before that novel, parallleling it in places & continuing on after it.
One of the joys of this book for me is that the primary character is disabled (he cannot talk), & yet he finds a way to work well within the Harper Craft Halll, a craft dedicated to communication of various sorts! Pellar is a well rounded character in this novel, & is given both a chance to grow & change through tragedy, adversity & through shear adventure. He is one of the more interesting characters created by "team McCaffrey" - & one I hope we hear more about in the future. His journey through Dragon's Fire is both touching, & compelling - & well thought out.
The same can be said of the main villain of the story - Tenim who is truly evil, which is a rarity on Pern. Someone who places no value on the life of others - unless they can be of benefit to him. He is willing to risk Pern's safety for his own selfish ends. One of the nice touches about this character is that he seems to have picked up falconry & has a trained bird-of-prey (something that must be a descendant of the birds brought by the original colonists). His shear cold bloodedness is quite chilling. The contrast between him & Pellar makes for interesting reading - especiallly in the scenes where they are together.
There are plenty of interesting secondary characters as well, from the selfless Hallla, to the tragic & misguided Tarik & his son Cristov (both of whom were introduced in Dragon's Kin). Again, Kindan makes the odd appearance in this book, with more being added to his robust character & background.
The way this story is woven around the events of Dragon's Kin is both clever, & intriguing & smacks of plans well laid - which I have no complaint about. The hunt for a new source of firestone, & the reason it is so different from the firestone fans of the Ninth Pass book are familiar with are nicely thought out, & fit very well with what has already been established in the series.
Dragon's Fire is an entertaining story - & one that I read over a few days. The pace & feel of this novel are markedly different from Dragon's Kin, yet still show the McCaffrey style through out. Again, this is a clever story & one that is a very worthy addition to the continuing Pern saga - make sure you have a box of tissues handy when reading it though - you will need them!
