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Sci Fi Focus > Encyclopedia > Todd McCaffrey
Todd J. McCaffrey (1956-) is the youngest son of Anne McCaffrey. He is best-known for continuing his mother's Dragonriders of Pern series, and has produced works both in collaboration with his mother, and on his own.
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By Todd J. Mccaffrey
Del Rey Released: 2008-11-11 Hardcover (560 pages)
 | List Price: $27.00 Lowest New Price: $16.80 Lowest Used Price: $17.11 Usually ships in 24 hours (As of 15:11 Pacific 19 Nov 2008 More Info)
Click Here | Product Description: Todd McCaffrey’s first solo novel in the classic Dragonriders of Pern series, Dragonsblood, was hailed by critics and embraced by the countless devoted readers of the landmark science fiction saga created by his mother, Anne McCaffrey. Now the chronicles of Pern take another captivating turn as the embattled planet, the brave pioneers who call it home, and the magnificent flame-breathing creatures who fly high to protect it confront a dire new challenge. The grim specter of sickness looms over the Weyrs of Pern, felling fire-lizards and posing a potentially devastating threat to their dragon cousins, Pern’s sole defense against the deadly phenomenon that is Thread. Fiona, the youngest and only surviving daughter of Lord Bemin, is just coming of age, and about to assume the duties of a Weyrwoman, when word spreads that dragons have indeed begun succumbing to the new contagion. With the next season of Threadfall quickly approaching, and the already diminished ranks of the dragons once more under siege, every Weyr across Pern is in crisis mode. It is hardly the time for disturbing distractions–such as the strange voice Fiona suddenly hears in her mind at the darkest and most urgent moments.
Circumstances and the mood of the weyrfolk worsen when advance patrols relay the dreaded news that black dust–the unmistakable herald of falling Thread–has been sighted. As more dragons sicken and die, leaving only a new generation of weyrlings too young to succeed them, Weyrleader B’Nik and queen rider Lorana arrive from Benden Weyr to comb Fort Weyr’s archives in a desperate search for clues from the past that may hold the solution to the plague.
But could the actual past itself prove the pathway to salvation for Pern’s stricken dragons and the entire imperiled planet? Guided by a mysterious ally from a wholly unexpected place, and trusting in the unique dragon gift for transcending time, Fiona will join a risky expedition with far-reaching consequences for both Pern’s future and her personal destiny. |
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By Anne Mccaffrey
Del Rey Released: 2008-09-30 Mass Market Paperback (384 pages)
 | List Price: $7.99 Lowest New Price: $3.60 Lowest Used Price: $3.82 Usually ships in 24 hours (As of 15:11 Pacific 19 Nov 2008 More Info)
Click Here | Product Description: For millions of readers the world over, the name Pern is magical, conjuring up grand vistas of a distant planet whose blue skies are patrolled by brave dragons and their noble riders, a paradise threatened by the periodic fall of deadly Thread. But not all dangers descend from the skies. Now, in their third collaboration, Anne McCaffrey and her son, Todd McCaffrey, spin a tale of a mysterious illness that may succeed in doing what centuries of Threadfall could not: kill every last human on Pern.
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.
From the Hardcover edition. |
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By Anne Mccaffrey
Del Rey Released: 2007-11-27 Mass Market Paperback (432 pages)
 | List Price: $7.99 Lowest New Price: $3.71 Lowest Used Price: $2.66 Usually ships in 24 hours (As of 15:11 Pacific 19 Nov 2008 More Info)
Click Here | Product Description: Bringing fresh wonders and dangers to light in the skies of Pern, Anne McCaffrey and her son, Todd, who demonstrated his writing talents in the bestselling novels Dragon’s Kin and Dragonsblood, return with their second collaboration: a thrilling adventure of discovery and fate.
Pellar is an orphan taken in by Masterharper Zist. Though born mute, Pellar is a gifted tracker, and when Zist sets off to take over as harper for Natalon’s coal-mining camp, Pellar–along with his fire-lizard, Chitter–joins him on a secret mission of his own: to find out if reported thefts of coal are the work of the Shunned, criminals condemned to a life of wandering and hardship.
Halla is one of the children of the Shunned. Though innocent of their parents’ crimes, these children have inherited their cruel punishment. Lack of food, shelter, and clothes is their lot; hope is unknown to them. And what future would they hope for? Without a hold to call their own, there will be no protection for them when the lethal Thread inevitably falls again. Life is even tougher for Halla. Her family gone, she must fend for herself. Yet despite the brutality of her surroundings, Halla is kind and gentle, devoted to those more helpless than she. As depraved as Halla is good, Tenim is in league with Tarik, a crooked miner from Camp Natalon, who helps him steal coal in exchange for a cut of the profit. But Tenim soon realizes there is a lot more to be made from firestone, the volatile mineral that enables the dragons of Pern to burn Thread out of the sky. Tenim doesn’t care what he has to do, or whom he has to kill, in order to corner the market.
Cristov is Tarik’s son. Dishonored by his father’s greed and treachery, the boy must make amends somehow, even if it means risking his life by mining the volatile firestone, which detonates on contact with the slightest drop of moisture.
When the last remaining firestone mine explodes in flames, a desperate race begins to find a new deposit of the deadly but essential mineral, for without it there can be no defense against Thread. But Tenim has a murderous plan to turn tragedy to his own advantage, and only Pellar, Halla, and Cristov can stop him–and ensure that there will be a future for all on the world of the Dragonriders.
From the Hardcover edition. |
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By Todd McCaffrey
Brilliance Audio on CD Value Priced Released: 2006-01-28 Audio CD
 | List Price: $16.99 Lowest New Price: $10.76 Lowest Used Price: $5.99 Usually ships in 24 hours (As of 15:11 Pacific 19 Nov 2008 More Info)
Click Here | Product Description: In Dragon's Kin, bestselling author Anne McCaffrey did the unthinkable: for the first time ever, she invited another writer to join her in the skies of her most famous fictional creation. That writer was her son, Todd McCaffrey. Together, they penned a triumphant new chapter in the annals of the extraordinarily popular Dragonriders of Pern. Now, for the first time, Todd McCaffrey flies alone. And Dragonsblood is proof that the future of Pern is in good hands. After all, dragons are in his blood...
Never in the dramatic history of Pern has there been a more dire emergency than that which faces the young dragonrider Lorana. A mysterious fatal illness is striking dragons. The epidemic is spreading like wildfire . . . and the next deadly cycle of Threadfall is only days away. Somehow, Lorana must find a cure before the dragons - including her own beloved Arith - succumb to the sickness, leaving Pern undefended.
The lyrics of an all-but-forgotten song seem to point toward an answer, an answer from nearly five hundred years in the past, when Kitti Ping and her daughter Wind Blossom bred the first dragons from their smaller cousins, the fire-lizards. No doubt the first Pern colonists possessed the advanced technology to find the cure Lorana seeks, but over the centuries, that knowledge has been lost.
Or has it?
For in the distant past, an aged Wind Blossom worries that the germs that affect the fire-lizards may one day turn against larger prey - and unleash a plague that will destroy the dragons, Pern's only defenders against Thread. But as her people struggle to survive, Wind Blossom has neither the time nor the resources to expend on a future that may never arrive - until suddenly she uncovers evidence that her worst fears will come true.
Now two brave women, separated by hundreds of years but joined by bonds transcending time, will become unknowing allies in a desperate race against sickness and Threadfall, with nothing less than the survival of all life on Pern at stake.
"The torch has been passed and burns more brightly than ever in this latest chapter of the venerable Pern saga, the first of what one hopes will be many solo efforts by the son of series creator Anne McCaffrey." - Publishers Weekly (starred review)
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By Todd J. Mccaffrey
Del Rey Released: 1999-11-23 Hardcover (128 pages)
 | List Price: $19.95 Lowest New Price: $24.65 Lowest Used Price: $4.15 (As of 15:11 Pacific 19 Nov 2008 More Info)
Click Here | Product Description: Here there be dragons . . .
Since the first unforgettable appearance of Pern's remarkable dragons and their brave human riders in the novella Weyr Search, winner of a Hugo award in 1968, millions of readers the world over have thrilled to Anne McCaffrey's bestselling saga of men, women, and dragons united against the deadly fall of Thread. Thanks to McCaffrey's bold and generous imagination, we have known what it is to fly. We have touched the fiery hearts and minds of the great fighting dragons, witnessed their passionate loves and violent hates, and felt the deep, unbreakable bonds that join them to their riders. McCaffrey's creative magic has made Pern real--a home to hold in the heart. Its inhabitants are more than characters in a book. They are family.
Now a member of Anne McCaffrey's family--her son Todd--gives us a candid and inspiring glimpse into the mind and soul of one of the greatest science fiction and fantasy writers of all time--an extraordinary woman who has influenced a generation of writers and readers and left an indelible mark on the field.
From Anne's birth on April Fool's Day in 1926, her girlhood encounters with the strange power of second sight that gifts the McCaffreys, her trailblazing efforts to balance the roles of wife, mother, and writer in the turbulent sixties, through a painful divorce and the years of success and acclaim that followed, Dragonholder is a labor of love that will enrich every reader's appreciation of the world of Pern . . . and its equally unique creator. |
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By Anne McCaffrey
Del Rey Released: 2003-11-25 Hardcover (304 pages)
 | List Price: $24.95 Lowest New Price: $2.89 Lowest Used Price: $0.83 (As of 15:11 Pacific 19 Nov 2008 More Info)
Click Here | Product Description: Beginning with the classic Dragonriders of Pern, Anne McCaffrey has created a complex, endlessly fascinating world uniting humans and great telepathic dragons. Millions of devoted readers have soared on the glittering wings of Anne’s imagination, following book by book the evolution of one of science fiction’s most beloved and honored series. Now, for the first time, Anne has invited another writer to join her in the skies of Pern, a writer with an intimate knowledge of Pern and its history: her son, Todd.
DRAGON’S KIN
Young Kindan has no expectations other than joining his father in the mines of Camp Natalon, a coal mining settlement struggling to turn a profit far from the great Holds where the presence of dragons and their riders means safety and civilization. Mining is fraught with danger. Fortunately, the camp has a watch-wher, a creature distantly related to dragons and uniquely suited to specialized work in the dark, cold mineshafts. Kindan’s father is the watch-wher’s handler, and his son sometimes helps him out. But even that important job promises no opportunity outside the mine.
Then disaster strikes. In one terrible instant, Kindan loses his family and the camp loses its watch-wher. Fathers are replaced by sons in the mine–except for Kindan, who is taken in by the camp’s new Harper. Grieving, Kindan finds a measure of solace in a burgeoning musical talent . . . and in a new friendship with Nuella, a mysterious girl no one seems to know exists. It is Nuella who assists Kindan when he is selected to hatch and train a new watch-wher, a job that forces him to give up his dream of becoming a Harper; and it is Nuella who helps him give new meaning to his life.
Meanwhile, sparked by the tragedy, long-simmering tensions are dividing the camp. Far below the surface, a group of resentful miners hides a deadly secret. As warring factions threaten to explode, Nuella and Kindan begin to discover unknown talents in the misunderstood watch-wher–talents that could very well save an entire Hold. During their time teaching the watch-wher, the two learn some things themselves: that even a seemingly impossible dream is never completely out of reach . . . and that light can be found even in darkness. |
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By Anne McCaffrey
Easton Press Leather Bound (366 pages)
 | Lowest New Price: $150.00 (As of 15:11 Pacific 19 Nov 2008 More Info)
Click Here | Product Description: This is Anne and Todd's second collaboration since Dragon's Kin in 2003. A wonderful dragon tale for all ages. This first edition, limited (900 copies made) signed, leatherbound volume by Easton Press is a must-have for any serious fantasy collector. Beautifully appointed with gilt-edged pages and satin placemarker. A truly gorgeous book. |
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By Todd McCaffrey
Heyne Verlag Paperback (380 pages)
 | Lowest Used Price: $67.44 (As of 15:11 Pacific 19 Nov 2008 More Info)
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By Jody Lynn Nye, Todd Johnson (McCaffrey) & James Clouse
Del Rey Released: 1989-11-05 Hardcover (178 pages)
 | List Price: $19.95 Lowest New Price: $11.94 Lowest Used Price: $0.37 (As of 15:11 Pacific 19 Nov 2008 More Info)
Click Here | Product Description: An indispensable handbook to the wonderful world of Anne McCaffrey and her dragons. Lavishly illustrated, officially sanctioned, THE DRAGONLOVER'S GUIDE TO PERN brings to light the fantastic facts behind the bestselling stories. No Pern pilgrim will want to be without it. |
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By Todd Mccaffrey
Del Rey/Ballantine Hardcover
| Lowest Used Price: $18.50 (As of 15:11 Pacific 19 Nov 2008 More Info)
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