The White Dragon by Anne McCaffrey
I was thirteen when this bestseller came out in paperback. The cover caught my attention in the bookstore - Michael Whelen creates amazing covers! I turned it over, expecting the story to have nothing to do with dragons. However, it really WAS about dragons! The story of Lord Jaxom and his rare white dragon, Ruth, intrigued me.
That book was destiny, because it fueled my desire to be an author.
McCaffrey’s stories of a distant planet called Pern sparked my imagination. I fell in love with her style of writing and focus on character development. Her Dragonrider series may be sci-fi, but the struggles of Pern’s people mirror our own. Some of the books focus on just a few characters while others follow numerous people. Each one is so unique though that I’ve never had trouble keeping up. The White Dragon is also the third in the main trilogy, but there’s just enough back story (and a prologue) that I never felt lost. I’ve also read her Dragonrider books many, many times.
More than anything, I wanted my own dragon! Or at least a firelizard.
If you love a good character story, I highly recommend The White Dragon!
My chat discussion at 9am today is on Essential Marketing Materials for Book Promotion and I’m doing a week-long forum discussion on Developing Contacts to Promote Your Book. Hope to see you there!
25 comments:
Aww, what a sweet blogfest! My problem is that I don't remember which book captured me. I've been writing since God knows when. Chronicles of Narnia and Roald Dahl grabbed but I can't remember which one was first and even then I still read them after I started to write.
Jai
I've read one of her books, but not this one. And I'd take a pet dragon, too.
I also loved this series as a young reader! But my absolute all time favorite series was the Gandalara Cycle by Randall Garrett. Never mind riding dragons, this series involves riding big cats! Truly, it blew my mind.
I'll have to go check you out at the Muse.
Jai, I love the Narnia books as well!
Terry - yeah!! Another McCaffrey fan. And riding big cats would be awesome.
I haven't read this, but love to hear why people were inspired to become authors. Also, I'd love a pet dragon.
Ahhh, I started McCaffrey's books with the Dragon Harper trilogy. I think it was the first book I'd ever read that wasn't historcical/gothic romance. Still love her books to this day. LOL I still want to be just like Menolly and have half a dozen little dragons as pets :D I've read The White Dragon and the other Pern novels more times than I can count. Although, now that I think of it, it's been a while...might have to pull them out again :D
Have you seen the movie Multiplicity with Michael Keaton. He clones himself to help with his busy schedule.
Stephen Tremp
Michelle, it's funny how those who love her books reread them countless times!
Stephen, since my clones would drive my husband insane, I'll just opt for more hours in the day!
Diane, I absolutely LOVED White Dragon. It was the first of Anne McCaffrey's books I read but not the last. I went back and got every book she wrote and Pern is my favorite. It's a series I can visit every few years with no problems.
The first Sci-fi that rocked my world as a teen was a series by Andre Norton I checked out of the library about telepathic witches. I can't even remember the name of it right now, but I know I devoured all Norton's book and moved on to Asimov,Heinlein, etc.
I had no idea idea these books were sci-fi! I'd heard of them on numerous occasions, but for some reason the dragons automatically rang the fantasy bells in my head. I must read them some time.
Thanks for sharing, Diane! I enjoyed your chat this morning but unfortunately had a doctor appointment and had to cut it short. Thanks for the great information!
Sia, that's wonderful! I love all her books.
Kelly, they are indeed sci-fi. Book blogger Alyce and I have discussed several times how many miss her books because they think they're fantasy.
I saw you in the chatroom, Connie! I believe they said the transcript will be available later.
Oh I remember that! Loved the White Dragon! :D
I hope you have a great discussion at the conference. I didn't sign up this year, so I'm hoping you'll do a wrap-up here on your blog. (hint, hint)
I can't remember a time when I didn't love to read. The book that first turned me on to fantasy reading was 'A Wrinkle in Time.' It was a special thrill when my daughter read the same book and fell in love with fantasy books also.
I wish I'd had some fantasy exposure as a kid! I think I would have loved something like that, but I thought I was all that... I'm sure it's because I didn't have the first clue how to look for what to read...
Marieke - yeah!!
Helen, by next week, I should be able to wrap my brain around it all.
Susan, that's wonderful!
I haven't read this book, I am a slow reader these days as so much is going on in my life especially this week.I really enjoyed your post,
Yvonne.
Thanks for the tip on the story! Sounds up my daughter's alley. I'm curious - why did you not expect a book titled "White Dragon" to have nothing to do with dragons?
Writers conference and book promoting and all...sounds busy, but good busy! Best of luck on it all.
With that cover, I bet a lot of kids were asking Santa for dragons for Christmas instead of ponies. It’s been too many years and I’m really not sure what book inspired me the most, but as I said on another blog that Tale of Two Cities was the book that first popped into my head when I read the question.
Isn't it awesome to look back and wonder what triggered you into wanting to be an author?
It sounds like your Anne McCaffrey, was MY Piers Anthony :)
Nicki, because I'm always picking up books with 'otherworldly' titles and even images on the cover - only to discover it's some boring drama or spy thriller or something!
Jane, don't you just want to climb on and ride Ruth?
Sara, sounds like it! I didn't discover Piers Anthony until I was much older.
Excellent choice! Gosh, it's been years since I've read this...
Thanks for participating!
I can not stress enough how much this woman really became a part of my every day life. Her stories were so very captivating! I've yet to read White Dragon but I have read a good portion of her Pern series and I couldn't agree more, she is a huge reason why I was(still am) so excited to write.
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