My Life in Books: Anne McCaffrey
I don't particularly recall when my reading turned toward science fiction and fantasy, but I know that transition was well under way before seventh grade. Seventh grade was the year of my bar mitzvah, and I received piles of gift certificates for the two bookstores that were in the nearest mall: B. Dalton and Waldenbooks. A big chunk of those gift certificates were used to purchased copies of most of the books in The Dragonriders of Pern series by Anne McCaffrey. I did this because I had read every Dragonrider book that the Grand Forks library had in its collection, and because I had a particularly completist mindset back then.
I'm pretty sure I got into McCaffrey because of my mother, who had a big omnibus edition of Dragonflight, Dragonquest and The White Dragon. From there I quickly moved into all the other Dragonrider books available, and to the new books that came out through the end of my time in college. Many of those books still take up space rent-free inside my head, particularly the original trilogy and the Harper Hall Trilogy.
I didn't limit my reading of McCaffrey to the Dragonriders. I (and my mother) read all of the The Brain and the Brawn books, most of the Talents books and assorted other titles from her extensive bibliography. I read most of her collaborations with other artists, and the stand alone books those artists created in her universes. The Acorna series is the only one of McCaffrey's major works that I don't recall ever having tapped into.
Almost all of this reading was done before I graduated from high school. I read an occasional title by her after college, but I mostly lost interest around 2001. As a result, there are many of her newer books that I've not touched, nor do I plan to. I lost interest once the main storyline for the Dragonriders was resolved with a little manipulation of the planetary system, and most of the other series were only had 3-5 books.
When I was a kid, my mother owned a shelf of Witch World novels that she rarely if ever opened. The Dragonrider books are my Witch World. To this day I still own all of my Dragonrider books, about 15 or so. Most those were purchased in 1991, and I picked up the books that came out after that date via gift and discard pile. I haven't opened them in many years. I don't honestly expect to open them again any time soon or even ever, but they were such a big part of my life for so long that I can't imagine getting rid of them. It must be said that I also cannot imagine going back to read the books I missed along the way, nor can I imagine going out of my way to read the books written by McCaffrey's son Todd.
I'm pretty sure I got into McCaffrey because of my mother, who had a big omnibus edition of Dragonflight, Dragonquest and The White Dragon. From there I quickly moved into all the other Dragonrider books available, and to the new books that came out through the end of my time in college. Many of those books still take up space rent-free inside my head, particularly the original trilogy and the Harper Hall Trilogy.
I didn't limit my reading of McCaffrey to the Dragonriders. I (and my mother) read all of the The Brain and the Brawn books, most of the Talents books and assorted other titles from her extensive bibliography. I read most of her collaborations with other artists, and the stand alone books those artists created in her universes. The Acorna series is the only one of McCaffrey's major works that I don't recall ever having tapped into.
Almost all of this reading was done before I graduated from high school. I read an occasional title by her after college, but I mostly lost interest around 2001. As a result, there are many of her newer books that I've not touched, nor do I plan to. I lost interest once the main storyline for the Dragonriders was resolved with a little manipulation of the planetary system, and most of the other series were only had 3-5 books.
When I was a kid, my mother owned a shelf of Witch World novels that she rarely if ever opened. The Dragonrider books are my Witch World. To this day I still own all of my Dragonrider books, about 15 or so. Most those were purchased in 1991, and I picked up the books that came out after that date via gift and discard pile. I haven't opened them in many years. I don't honestly expect to open them again any time soon or even ever, but they were such a big part of my life for so long that I can't imagine getting rid of them. It must be said that I also cannot imagine going back to read the books I missed along the way, nor can I imagine going out of my way to read the books written by McCaffrey's son Todd.