A review by mal_eficent
Nerilka's Story & The Coelura by Anne McCaffrey

adventurous dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

About 70% of this book is Nerilka's Story, which is the main reason I picked this up, so it was a nice surprise to see how long the story was. 

I was not, however, expecting it to be a first person narrative in the style of a diary. The premise is that Nerilka is recording her view of the events in Moreta: Dragonlady of Pern after the fact as a record for the future. I liked Nerilka far more than Moreta, and the perspective made the ending much more of a satisfying read. If you can, I really recommend picking this up after reading the first book in the 'duology'!

The Coelura is a story set in the Crystal Singers universe, which at the time of reading I know nothing about. It's more along the lines of what I was expecting from a McCaffrey short story. The politics, setting, and characters were all a bit vague, and the romance was insipidly instant. While not the most memorable, it was a nice read ahead of picking up the Crystal Singer books.  The weirdest thing is that it was reviewed back in '87 in an edition of White Dwarf, Games Workshop's gaming magazine.

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