Dragon Harper

Dragonriders of Pern, Book 19

By: Anne McCaffrey, Todd McCaffrey

Narrated by: Susan Ericksen

Life in the Harper Hall is busy for best friends Kindan, Nonala, and Kelsa. As the only female apprentices, Nonala and Kelsa are the butt of jokes and easy targets for the bully Vaxoram and his cronies. But when Kindan springs to Kelsa's defense, he winds up in a fight for his life against the older, bigger Vaxoram - a fight that will lead to a surprising friendship.

Meanwhile, in nearby Fort Hold, a clutch of fire-lizard eggs is about to hatch, and Lord Bemin's beautiful young daughter, Koriana, is determined to Impress one of the delightful creatures. At the hatching, Kindan Impresses a fire-lizard of his own...and wins the heart of Koriana. But Lord Bemin mistrusts harpers and will not hear of a match between his daughter and the low-born Kindan.

Then fate intervenes in the form of a virulent plague as fast-spreading as it is deadly. Arising suddenly, as if out of nowhere, the contagion decimates hold after hold, paying no heed to distinctions of birth.

In this feverish crucible, friendship and love will be tested to the breaking point and beyond. For with Threadfall scant years away, the Dragonriders dare not expose themselves to infection, and it will fall to Kindan and his fellow apprentices to bravely search for a cure and save humanity.

The price of failure is unthinkable. But the price of success may be even harder to bear.

Pay another visit to Pern.©2007 Anne and Todd McCaffrey (P)2007 Brilliance Audio

Critic reviews

"The McCaffreys depict the crisis vividly, with enough detail to make the tragedy all too real and with enough hope to keep fantasy fans happy." ( Publishers Weekly)

Mid-history Pern

Beautifully written and narrated, this novel of Pern covers one of the terrible plagues from the perspectives of the Harpers and Holders. Great story!

personal interactions

story was a bit mundane and the plot was too easy to see what was coming.

Breath taking.

I've connected with this book more then the others simply because I've lost family and friends to covid
I,myself have had "the killer flu" and almost died. For this to have been written on 2008 long before covid is scary accurate.

Hits Different After CoVID...

Loved the story when I first read it back in the day. Still love it now.... that said - The book was really rough after living through CoVID. I kept thinking of the images of the mass graves they were digging in the early days of the pandemic and the refrigeration trucks because the morgues were too full.

Dragon Harper

Dragon harper was another book that was not out when I read this series the first couple of times. This was during the same time period as Dragon Kin and Dragon Fire. All of these have been exceptional reads.

There are some of the same characters in each of these books. Some of these characters are very likable. This one focuses on a plague that hits Pern. This a terrible plague and it takes the lives of so many. Kindan is an amazing character and he has been through all of these books. This one is mainly focused on him as a Harper apprentice and how he deals with so much.

This is just one more great addition to this wonderful collection of stories of Pern. I thoroughly enjoyed characters new and old. I wept for them and pulled for them. Another great work of art from Anne McCaffrey.