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News & ArtsTuesday, November 22, 2011
Death / Books Anne McCaffrey
Posted by Paul Constant on Tue, Nov 22, 2011 at 2:22 PM
The beloved fantasy novelist, who is best known for the Dragonriders of Pern series, has died at age 85. I'm willing to bet a lot of Slog readers first came to love reading through her novels.
2
The urge to be snarky is strong, but I'll resist: I unironically loved her terrible, terrible books when I was too young to know any better, and I imagine my daughter will as well when she's 13. Godspeed.
3
Awww. Those were some of the first books I remember reading. Thanks for sharing your imagination with us. :\
5
Dragonriders of Pern was my gateway drug to the addictive worlds of science fiction and fantasy, and I used them to hook my nieces into reading. She will be missed.
7
I read the second sentence as "I bet a lot of Slog readers came to love [reading through her novels]." As in, yeah, reading through her novels was pretty great, I loved it.
10
I never got into the Pern books but read a few of her others. The few about the psychic folks were great fun when I was young (To Ride Pegasus was one). I loved those books as a teenager. She made me want to read more sci-fi/fantasy - what more can you ask from an author?
12
Awww.
Perhaps not top notch literature, but her books were engaging, and I happily read a bunch of them when I was younger.
Sad day. Thank you Anne McCaffrey.
Perhaps not top notch literature, but her books were engaging, and I happily read a bunch of them when I was younger.
Sad day. Thank you Anne McCaffrey.
13
Aww dang it.
Pern was an answer on Jeopardy just last week! There's cultural relevancy for you!
I second what everyone else has said. A sad day, indeed.
R.I.P. Ms McCaffrey - Long May Your Dragons Fly!
Pern was an answer on Jeopardy just last week! There's cultural relevancy for you!
I second what everyone else has said. A sad day, indeed.
R.I.P. Ms McCaffrey - Long May Your Dragons Fly!
14
I own most of her books and love the worlds she created... her personal politics were an issue, but the escapism she created was totally worth it.
16
They were not my introduction to sci-fi/fantasy, but they encouraged my appreciation. Her books still act as a security blanket today when I'm sick or a bit down and need to escape for a bit.
I'm thankful for her life and writing. RIP
I'm thankful for her life and writing. RIP
17
AKTheresa: sorta, but you're not gonna get the same thing out of them as an adult as you would have if you'd discovered them at age 12-14. They're not really good, but if you got to them at the right time, they were awesome.
18
In related news, I am saddened to report that Piers Anthony is still alive and producing more books.
19
I remember devouring every McCaffrey novel in my junior high library over the course of a month (and then, @18, moving on to Piers Anthony because you have no taste at 12). Her books still take up a significant portion of my bookshelves, and are the perfect escapist Saturday afternoon reading. (At least until her son started writing them, I just couldn't get into his work.) Sure, I haven't read any of her work in a couple years, but I think tonight is the night I'll dig out the Harper Hall trilogy.
20
@19: it's okay, I read the hell out of Anthony when I was in middle school. Some things are just inevitable when you're young and nerdy.
21
How sad. She was the first author to introduce me to science fiction, and I'm currently in the middle of her third book in the Pern series.
22
When I joined the Science Fiction Book Club, they sent me a copy of Dragonriders of Pern along with whatever other books I picked. I was quite fond of it back in the day.
23
Damn, y'all are seriously harsh on popular fantasy authors.
(I mean, yeah, I know, Pern is technically sci-fi, kinda)
I'm just saying, by writing at an accessible, young-adult level, McCaffrey and Anthony have brought a whole lot of kids into sci-fi and fantasy and maybe into reading in general. Don't be hatin'.
Anyway, yeah, I loved me some Pern back in middle school. I never knew anything about McCaffrey personally but we'll miss her.
(I mean, yeah, I know, Pern is technically sci-fi, kinda)
I'm just saying, by writing at an accessible, young-adult level, McCaffrey and Anthony have brought a whole lot of kids into sci-fi and fantasy and maybe into reading in general. Don't be hatin'.
Anyway, yeah, I loved me some Pern back in middle school. I never knew anything about McCaffrey personally but we'll miss her.
24
balderdash@23: I'm mostly not. I mean: I read them and like them at the time, and I won't stop my kid from reading them when the time comes. (If my kid is interested in books at all? I've won.)
But I think it's also okay to recognize that there's YA fiction that's authentically well-written and then there's stuff that's cranked out on an assembly line, and McCaffrey spent a lot more time punching the clock than, say, Lloyd Alexander, Ursula LeGuin or Madeline L'Engle just to name a few.
Also, she was batshit insane, but that's another story. (Google "mccaffrey tent peg" for the gory details, although if you retain fond memories of her books maybe you shouldn't.)
But I think it's also okay to recognize that there's YA fiction that's authentically well-written and then there's stuff that's cranked out on an assembly line, and McCaffrey spent a lot more time punching the clock than, say, Lloyd Alexander, Ursula LeGuin or Madeline L'Engle just to name a few.
Also, she was batshit insane, but that's another story. (Google "mccaffrey tent peg" for the gory details, although if you retain fond memories of her books maybe you shouldn't.)
25
@15- No, not really. I read a bunch of her Pern books and some of her other stuff (Crystalsinger stood out) and it was all OK. A little more romance-ish than a lot of scifi, which appeals to some. I'm actually not steering my daughter towards them because the rape fantasy elements squick me out in the context of my daughter's sexual education.
McCaffery was not an ideas kind of writer, just escapism. I'm not against escapism, but there are a lot of writers out there writing escapist fantasies of all genres.
McCaffery was not an ideas kind of writer, just escapism. I'm not against escapism, but there are a lot of writers out there writing escapist fantasies of all genres.
26
@24- I did google that and this was a front page result: http://imgur.com/W9IQb
I wonder if that's because Google is tracking where I came from?
I wonder if that's because Google is tracking where I came from?
27
@24-- You weren't overstating that. At all. I Googled it and...wowza.
Now I'm glad that my flirtation with Pern was short lived and that I discovered Le Guin only shortly thereafter. Her books pointed in me in a far, far better direction for good science fiction and fantasy at a (thankfully) early-ish age..
Now I'm glad that my flirtation with Pern was short lived and that I discovered Le Guin only shortly thereafter. Her books pointed in me in a far, far better direction for good science fiction and fantasy at a (thankfully) early-ish age..
28
On top of everything else about the books (and I loved them, too, and occasionally revisit them), they were among the first books I came across as a young gay boy that had gay characters in them that were treated as just regular people.
Looking at them today, they weren't terribly well written (as if her straight characters were), but they were in there, and that meant a hell of a lot to me.
Thanks, Anne.
Looking at them today, they weren't terribly well written (as if her straight characters were), but they were in there, and that meant a hell of a lot to me.
Thanks, Anne.
29
So sad! I loved her Pern novels.
I don't like her misinformed "Tent Peg" Interview, but still like her!!
http://wiki.feministsf.net/index.php?tit…
I don't like her misinformed "Tent Peg" Interview, but still like her!!
http://wiki.feministsf.net/index.php?tit…
30
RIP, Anne.
I could never really bring myself to care about her weird and incorrect ideas about gay people and how they got that way. As Lymis said above, her stories contained people who just happened to be gay - they weren't handled in a titillating or scandalized way. And I am not aware of any information that she ever thought gay people should be treated badly or discriminated against; indeed her stories show them fully integrated into society will full rights and no discussion thereof, as though it were obvious. Her books also contain women and men acting outside of prescribed gender roles, and some interesting perspectives on sexual freedom.
Okay, the science is pretty sketchy and the writing not great, and I din't think she's produced anything interesting in a decade. Let us not compare her to the amazing Ursula LeGuin, whose death (long may it be delayed) will be a real loss of possible future work. But really I think her books have done way more good than harm - which is a lot to be able to say.
I could never really bring myself to care about her weird and incorrect ideas about gay people and how they got that way. As Lymis said above, her stories contained people who just happened to be gay - they weren't handled in a titillating or scandalized way. And I am not aware of any information that she ever thought gay people should be treated badly or discriminated against; indeed her stories show them fully integrated into society will full rights and no discussion thereof, as though it were obvious. Her books also contain women and men acting outside of prescribed gender roles, and some interesting perspectives on sexual freedom.
Okay, the science is pretty sketchy and the writing not great, and I din't think she's produced anything interesting in a decade. Let us not compare her to the amazing Ursula LeGuin, whose death (long may it be delayed) will be a real loss of possible future work. But really I think her books have done way more good than harm - which is a lot to be able to say.
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