Anne McCaffrey: A Life with Dragons

by Robin Roberts

"Anne McCaffrey: A Life with Dragons" is the biography of a writer who vividly depicted alien creatures and new worlds. As the author of the "Dragonriders of Pern" series, McCaffrey (b. 1926) was one of the most significant writers of science fiction and fantasy. She was the first woman to win the Hugo and Nebula awards, and her 1978 novel "The White Dragon" was the first science-fiction novel to appear on the New York Times hardcover bestseller list.

This biography reveals a fascinating and complex figure, one who created and re-created her fiction by drawing on life experiences. At various stages, McCaffrey was a beautiful young girl who refused to fit into traditional gender roles in high school, a restless young mother who wanted to write, an American expatriate who became an Irish citizen, an animal lover who dreamed of fantasy worlds with perfect relationships between humans and beasts, and a wife trapped in an unhappy marriage just as the women's movement took hold.

Author Robin Roberts conducted interviews with McCaffrey, her children, friends, and colleagues, and used archival correspondence and contemporary reviews and criticism. The biography examines how McCaffrey's early interests in theater, Slavonic languages and literature, and British history, mythology, and culture all shaped her science fiction. The book is a nuanced portrait of a writer whose appeal extends well beyond readers of her chosen genre.

Genres: Fantasy, Dragons, Science Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy, Fiction

240 pages, Hardcover

First published August 15, 2007

Reviews

[Helen · Rating 1 out of 5]

A book about my absolute fovorite author--couldn't wait to read it. What a waste of a week!!! as interesting as watching paint dry. Robin Roberts is not a fan I suppose. Anne Mccaffrey has amazing talent and her life has been so interesting---how could anyone write such a BORING book about it??

[Ramoths Own · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved learning facts about one of my favorite authors, and this book does help us to know a bit about her. I did find it a bit of a dull read in places though. The subject matter is not dull but the writing I guess. I can't put a finger on it. I was glad to have read it and happy to own it. I just wish that it was a different type of read.

[Lorraine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this biography of my favorite science fiction author, Anne McCaffrey. Roberts has done an excellent job of researching McCaffrey's career, and provides insights into the relationships (both personal and professional) that influenced her.

Although I have been a McCaffery fan for over 1/2 my life, I was delighted to learn many new things from this biography. Examples include her influence on the sci-fi genre, raising its status from pulp fiction to literature, and adding a feminist dimension previously missing. McCaffrey herself is a ground-breaker, being the first woman to win the Nebula award and one of only 3 women to be given the Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, an organization that she helped to establish.

There were also many personal anecdotes to enjoy, including a couple of salacious ones! (e.g., turning down a sexual advance from Marion Zimmer Bradely, but accepting one from Issac Asimov.)

Roberts' writing style is engaging, although I found some of her prose repetitive; she often repeats certain facts from previous chapters in parenthetical phrases later in the book. Overall, a good book that I would recommend to fans of McCaffrey, and also to fans of science fiction in general.

[Flewts · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is less a biography than a thoughtful analysis of her work and how her life experiences are reflected in that work. Having read just about everything Anne McCaffrey ever wrote, I very much enjoyed this approach. One odd thing that I found very annoying was the physical book pages. I had to turn them from the top or the bottom. The side edges were uneven, intentionally so, and this made it nearly impossible to use them to turn the page. Seems petty, but it came up with every page turn!

This book was hard to find, I had to go through Inter-library Loan to get a copy, which came from a nearby university library.

[Susan Baez Randleman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ruth was one of my very favorite dragons! His story and rider story unique! Anne's writing g style so refreshing! A great dragon fantasy novel that just keeps the story and this universe alive. I looked forward to reading more about this planet, the people, their struggles to survive and overcome all obstacles whether man made or natural disasters!!

[Kathy Broyles · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was obviously written by a fan, but it was worth the read. I wish it had a bibliography of Anne's books in it.

[Shirley Hill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love all of Ann McCaffrey books. The Dragon books are so engrossing. You just want to be there.

[Sherry · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read the Dragonriders of Pern series over and over at least 5 times since 1977. Anything by Anne McCaffrey is well worth the read.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Anne McCaffrey is a cool person. This biography is a bit repetitive but you can tell that every page was written with love.

[Ian Banks · Rating 4 out of 5]

A literary biography written with love. Anne McCaffrey was a huge influence on me when I was a teenager and this book just confirms that I wasn’t the only one. There’s a lot of detail that only someone who knew McCaffrey would have access to, but there’s also a fair amount of discretion involved as well: there’s a couple of pages written about McCaffrey’s positive portrayal of gay characters (the Pern books were pretty much the only novels I read for a long time that portrayed gay characters as part of the scenery or as doing anything that didn’t involve the arts or performance), but there’s nothing about her infamous “tentpeg” comments.

I probably could have done with a little less repetition of facts but Ms Roberts is first and foremost an academic and is writing for an audience that likes to dip into books for a reference or to factcheck something so it is understandable.

Overall, though, I really enjoyed this: it’s an intelligent, honest and thorough book which is also written by a fan.

[Kathy Klinge · Rating 3 out of 5]

The subject was fascinating, the writing seemed a bit dull and heavy handed.

[Anna Romanov · Rating 1 out of 5]

boring read

[Theresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anne McCaffrey: A Life with Dragons
Roberts, Robin'
collection of short stories from Anne Mccaffrey

[Karen-Leigh · Rating 3 out of 5]

An easy read and okay but really Anne was a nice, very talented lady who led a good life and did good things for others but it was not an exciting biography for a reader.

[Virginia Ann Korleski]

I like it need to re-read it.