sarah_bear's review
3.0
I feel weird about not loving this, since Anne Mccaffrey is usually one of my favourite authors. Some of the stories where very good; a few where too confusing and strange to form an opinion about; and far too many where so horrifically sexist that I had to do a double take to see if I had really just read what I thought I had. There is a certain amount of sexism (or racism) in fiction that I'm willing to attribute to "that was the era it was written", but this went far beyond the worst that I expected from 60-70s, and a female author at that. I have never noticed this from her books before, and hope that future reading shows this one collection of early works to be the anomaly.
zoes_human's review
3.0
This collection of short fiction is great pick for a McCaffrey fan. There are many stand-alone tales along with stories from the Pern and Brainship series as well as the two shorts which preceded The Tower and the Hive series. The Brainship short should most definitely be read by those who already have some familiarity with the series, though the others hold their own regardless. While I could have lived and died without reading "The Thorns of Barevi", the rest of the stories were enjoyable to some degree or another.
lone_reader's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
belovedsnail's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I owned this book as a kid, though I have not read it in many many years. It definitely is not a good template for relationships. Some of the stories made a huge impression, I could remember them nearly word for word. Others I had forgotten then and found forgettable now.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death and Rape
trike's review
3.0
This collection contains one of my favorite short stories ever, “A Proper Santa Claus”. It’s not a feel-good story, but rather one about trying to be your own self even when no one else gets you or your art.
I don’t clearly recall some of the other stories, but a few stand out, such as the Pern short “The Smallest Dragonboy”
I don’t clearly recall some of the other stories, but a few stand out, such as the Pern short “The Smallest Dragonboy”
mal_eficent's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
While I didn't get along with most of the stories in this collection that were set in a the early future/time of writing (I like McCaffrey's fantastical worlds far more than the almost real ones) it included a short Pern story about a boy Impressing a dragon and a sequel to The Ship Who Sang so I'm considering this a win on the whole.
A lot of these were romance stories, so be warned if you're not a fan of the way McCaffrey writes relationships – gay or straight, as one story (Changeling) is about a woman being a surrogate for a gay man who's the centre of her polyamorous relationship.
I especially enjoyed the little blurbs she provided that explained each one's provenance – getting a little bit of author insight is always interesting, and it's much harder to find those tidbits now a lot of older forums have closed down.
A lot of these were romance stories, so be warned if you're not a fan of the way McCaffrey writes relationships – gay or straight, as one story (Changeling) is about a woman being a surrogate for a gay man who's the centre of her polyamorous relationship.
I especially enjoyed the little blurbs she provided that explained each one's provenance – getting a little bit of author insight is always interesting, and it's much harder to find those tidbits now a lot of older forums have closed down.
vermidian's review
1.0
This book is terrible. TERRIBLE. You may not think so - maybe nostalgia for her books has clouded your mind - but these stories are boring, offensive, and frankly have characters in them that seem incomplete and wooden. Dear God, save yourself. I got to page 120 and stopped. I don't know what the next story was about, but it was boring me to death.
Allow me to display the thing that I read that bothered me the most. "How could she have blundered around so, looking for a mind that was superior to her, completely overlooking the fact that a woman's most important function in life begins with physical domination?" Page 57. That's a direct quote. There's also another story three stories later about surrogate mothers for gay people and it essentially implies they're all repressing the urge to have a relationship with a woman and have a child with them, since that's their true masculine need.
Other than those two, the stories were not overly terrible. Sure, the characters were a little one dimensional for each, but they could have been worse. (See above.) The story about the little girl from the farming family was decent enough, but it bothered me that she had no female peers aside from her mother, who was repressed and content to quietly pull strings from behind the scenes. And the story about the Rowan, which was changed into a full novel from what I understand, is simply referred to as "The Rowan" the entire story. Why that is is never explained. Why didn't they just call the woman Rowan and leave off the article?
Allow me to display the thing that I read that bothered me the most. "How could she have blundered around so, looking for a mind that was superior to her, completely overlooking the fact that a woman's most important function in life begins with physical domination?" Page 57. That's a direct quote. There's also another story three stories later about surrogate mothers for gay people and it essentially implies they're all repressing the urge to have a relationship with a woman and have a child with them, since that's their true masculine need.
Other than those two, the stories were not overly terrible. Sure, the characters were a little one dimensional for each, but they could have been worse. (See above.) The story about the little girl from the farming family was decent enough, but it bothered me that she had no female peers aside from her mother, who was repressed and content to quietly pull strings from behind the scenes. And the story about the Rowan, which was changed into a full novel from what I understand, is simply referred to as "The Rowan" the entire story. Why that is is never explained. Why didn't they just call the woman Rowan and leave off the article?
jovvijo's review
4.0
Oooh, I all but cut my baby teeth on this book!
I totally loved it as it gave me little nibbles into the different types of books A.M. writes, like little samples for me to decide what I might like and what I certainly wouldn't!
(And one or two where I was just like, "Whaaaa'?")
The great canine chorus was my favourite!
Yours?
I totally loved it as it gave me little nibbles into the different types of books A.M. writes, like little samples for me to decide what I might like and what I certainly wouldn't!
(And one or two where I was just like, "Whaaaa'?")
The great canine chorus was my favourite!
Yours?
una_10bananas's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
amalyndb's review
3.0
A selection of assorted short story, one of Pern included in the mix. A few (Dull Drums comes to mind) felt incomplete, but they were interesting to read, especially as I have not read her other series.