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This will be a much loved book by all of Anne McCaffrey's Dragonriders of Pern fans. It is a fun romp through the woods with many of your old favorite characters and even more new ones. Rich in character development and a good story, this book is vintage McCaffrey. I know that I will read it many more times.

The book starts with the birth of Robinton, or Robie as he is called in his youth. The first part of the novel deals with Robinton's developing musical genius, and the difficult family dynamic that develops as a result. The book develops biographically as it follows Robinton through learning to play the pipe, and his first musical composition at the early age of three. It is also at this early age that Robinton discovers that he can speak to Dragons, and that they speak back.

At the age of nine Robinton moves, with his mother, to Ruatha. There he meets Falloner, later to become F'lon, father of F'lar and F'nor. The two of them become partners in a friendship that lasts throughout their rising careers. It is while in Ruatha that he visits Benden Wyer, and gains sympathies for the difficulties of wyer life, and hopes to become a dragonrider.

Robinton eventually becomes a Journeyman Harper and is sent throughout Pern teaching and training young voices. During these journeys you meet many of Pern's future leaders while they are still young and easily influenced, as well as some of Pern's notorious villains. Robinton grows and matures, loves and loses and generally shapes his character into the much loved Harper that he is in the earlier novels.

The story ends where the Dragonriders of Pern started, with F'lar finding Lessa on search. It leaves you feeling either like you've come full circle, or ready to read Dragonflight and Dragonquest all over again.

Rebecca Pausley is an avid reader of science fiction averaging 1-3 books a week depending on the length of the book and how her work week has gone. Recent treats include David Edding's Polgara the Sorceress, the entire Deryni series by Katherine Kurtz and Gregory Keyes two book series, The Waterborn and Blackgod. From time to time she'll re-read a number of books just to be sure she was right.