Anne McCaffrey, Dragonlady
|As the Pern saga unfolded, she revealed herself not only as a true science fiction writer, a reputation solidified in her extended body of work, but the creator of carefully planned and extended worlds. Later novels in the sequence introduced other “hard” SF elements, such as the artificial intelligence AIVAS in Renegades of Pern which confirms that Pern is in fact a colony world, and the “historic” novel Dragonsdawn that tells the story of the founding of the world and the creation of the dragons, genetically engineered from the native fire lizards. Even the fire breath of the dragons is rationalised as highly volatile gas which is produced by the reaction of ingested firestone, a phosphine bearing rock, with the acid in the dragons’ second stomach.
From her very first novel, 1967’s Restoree, her writing encouraged women to join what had up until then been largely a boy’s only club, and she went on to become a prolific and unique voice in science fiction. But it was not only downtrodden women, such as Lessa, survivor of the massacre of Ruatha Hold who went on to ride the queen dragon Ramoth, or Menolly, outcast child of a fishing village who became an apprentice at the Harper Hall of Benden Weyr, she championed.
It was in this period that McCaffrey, in her midsixties, began partnering herself with a variety of collaborators, Margaret Ball, Mercedes Lackey, Jody Lynn Nye among them, easing the burden of her workload and offering them a leg-up to a wider audience. In later years, her major collaborator on the Pern saga was her son Todd, who had long been a companion of his mother’s in the world of science fiction, accompanying her on her frequent convention attendances and in meetings with editors and publishers.
Among those who have been moved by the work of Anne McCaffrey was writer and producer Ronald D Moore, who was in the final stages of preparation on a televised version of the Dragonriders of Pern when he and the network parted company over their vision of the show that was at odds with the original concept. It was reported in 2011, not for the first time, that a film version of Dragonflight was in preparation, but no further development has been confirmed, nor of how faithful it would be.
Winner of both the Hugo and Nebula award, she was rightly named a Grand Master by the Science Fiction Writers of America in 2005, and while her style might seem dated, even quaint, to modern readers, her characters, settings and the strength of her stories are timeless, and her voice will continue to be enjoyed by generations to come.
Anne Inez McCaffrey 1 April 1926 – 21 November 2011