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| Dragonlady used to be a derogatory term, but Anne McCaffrey has redefined it. The Dragonlady of Pern is a white-haired storyteller with a love of romance.
Author Anne McCaffrey talks about her 'critters' and other things… | 
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| Other McCaffrey book pages: Pg 1: Pern (Dragonriders) Pg 2: Crystal Singer Pg 3: Brain Ships Pg 4: Talents (psychic, rowan, tower) Pg 5: Petaybee Pg 6: Freedom Pg 7: Acorna Pg 8: Collections and other works
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| Anne McCaffrey has caught the imagination and hearts of fans everywhere with her magnificent dragons. She writes a particular brand of fiction - Science Fiction/Fantasy romances - a definition she is proud to acknowledge. Her work spans the galaxy and time. Ms McCaffrey's short stories are fantasies, they feature romances, they even cross the boundary to become SF porn, but at their best they have more substance than mere entertainment. |
| Author pages Authors answer the usual questions Author interviews The Series Series |
Anne McCaffrey's psychic 'Talents' tread the dangerous ground between luxuries, necessary privileges, and socialism in the overcrowded world of near-future Earth. Her characters deal with child abuse, rape, itineracy, prejudice and political intrigue. Hardly the stuff of Fantasy? |
| Like the best of comedy-satires that leave you thinking, McCaffrey's 'little romances' can be deeply disturbing. She stands back from the angry tones of Harlan Ellison et al and illustrates with pragmatic accuracy the reality of problems, leaving the readers to express their own outrage.
Wherever or whenever her stories take her, she is never divorced from the influences of contemporary life. Ms McCaffrey points out, "I do write in what's happening around us." |
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| But why write about dragons? Stories, especially SF stories start with an idea (or a character). Anne McCaffrey needed a 'critter' and dragons, she says, "had had a bad press." |
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| The result is an extraordinarily popular series, one of a number that Ms McCaffrey has developed, and such popularity has brought its own rewards, and its hazards. "You know the planet and the people - but critics hate series and you rarely get good reviews." but as for the characters, "They're old friends now." |
| A lot of books such as those about 'shell people' are now co-written, but Anne McCaffrey is careful who visits her universes. "I choose who writes in my worlds. So I control the subject of the books." (when collaborating) "we plot first, write later. I never work to an outline." | 
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| Indeed, when the subject turned to the portrayal of women in McCaffrey stories, she was adamant that even the recent downplaying of adventures in her female characters' past is the "the way the story wrote" She denies that this is a conscious pattern. "Not every woman wants to rule outright, or even 'rule' men.! Both (Lessa of Pern and the Talent Rowan) work in co-operation with their men." Wherever her stories may take her, there will be many glad to follow this teller of stories.
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See also: Anne McCaffrey answers the usual questions Anne McCaffrey book page Other people's answers to the usual questions Books at Festivale The Bookroom Festivale book reviews Sally's Reading Corner online book stores Authors at Festivale Author pages Authors answer the usual questions Author interviews The Series Series |
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Last updated: 20-Sep-1999
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