Anne McCaffrey.

I recently heard that Anne McAffrey died on 21st November 2011. She was 85 and suffered a stroke at her home in Dublin. That probably explains why an earlier post about her received so many page-views around that time.

I think I've only read one of her books, Dragonflight the first in her Dragon riders of Pern series. I read it in the 80s and loved it. I later read it as part of my university studies and, having forgotten the story, enjoyed it again. I do have two or three of her other books but never got around to reading them. They came later in the series and I didn't want to read them before I'd read the earlier books.

Several years ago my wife bought me a limited edition reprint of the book, autographed, numbered and enclosed in a slip case, it was a very unexpected find in a local bookshop. Although I read so little of her work there was something I found appealing about McCaffrey and I always intended to read more of her stories. I wonder if I'll get around to doing it or whether my tastes in books has changed too much to return to Pern.