The Dolphins of Pern

by Anne McCaffrey

School & Library Binding, 371 pages

English language

Published Oct. 7, 1999 by Tandem Library.

ISBN:: 978-0-7857-9318-2
OCLC Number:: 61441894

(13 reviews)

When the first humans came to settle the planet Pern, they did not comealone: intelligence-enhanced dolphins also crossed the stars to colonizethe oceans of the new planet while their human partners settled the vastcontinents. But then disaster struck. The deadly silver spores calledThread fell like rain from the sky, and as the human colonists' dreamsof a new, idyllic life shattered into a desperate struggle for survival,the dolphins were forgotten.

Now, centuries later, as the dragonriders of Pern were preparing tocomplete the momentous task of ridding their world of Thread forever,T'lion, a young bronze rider, and his friend Readis, son of the LordHolder of Paradise River Hold, made contact with the legendary"shipfish." And as the dragonriders grappled with the ending of an era,T'lion, Readis, and the dolphins faced the start of a new one: revivingthe bond between land and ocean dwellers -- and resurrecting the dreamsof the first colonists of Pern! …

"McCaffrey here adds yet another dimension to her colorful and vividsaga by focusing on the attractive dolphins and their highly believablesociety." PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

11 editions

Pentapod reviewed The Dolphins of Pern by Anne McCaffrey (Dragonriders of Pern (13))

Review of 'The Dolphins of Pern' on 'Goodreads'

2 stars

Another book in the Pern series, this one exploring the dolphins that apparently accompanied the original settlers to Pern and who still remember the traditions of helping the humans, even though the humans have forgotten. In this novel, with help from the records recovered from AIVAS, young Readis gets reacquainted with the dolphins and resolves to restart the Dolphineer mastery.

It's a cute story and another tale of Pern - and a retelling of the colonization of Pern from another point of view - but it doesn't really make a lot of sense in some places and hastily glosses over details in others. For example, it doesn't make sense how violently and irrationally negative Readis's mother is about the dolphins. There's a whole subplot with Toric that seems irrelevant and doesn't really go anywhere. Readis runs off and finds a nice cave and somehow that makes it make sense for …