Never got around to reading this one but I love to see McCaffrey's legacy living on, particularly with the renewed fervor for dragons and romance. I hope to see more in the world of Pern being published!

I did not finish this title but realized I did want to leave a review. As a long time Pern fan it was hard, despite really wanting to love Gigi’s work. If she had chosen perhaps her own characters and a different time to follow and kept true to her mother’s canon in a story of her own, perhaps it could be something good. But this one did not work for me as Todd’s do not work for me, either. Unfortunately recreating my love for Anne’s work didn’t happen with this one either.

I enjoyed this book quite a lot. I would have liked to read more about the interactions between dragonriders and their dragons but with a main character not a dragonrider himself, that wasn't a focus of this book. I would quite like to read another book in this series written by Gigi McCaffrey because she has heightened my interest in the whole Pern subject.

When I chose this, I didn't realize it was not written by the original author, and it shows. Thanks anyway, but I couldn't finish it.

I don't know how I missed it, but I hadn't even realized until I started reading this that it was a Dragonriders of Pern book, written by Anne's daughter! I love Fantasy, and dragons, so this seemed to be a good one to read.

Being familiar with the world already, I feel like this one is a seriously fantastic addition to it. Gigi really does do her mother's fantastic world proud, with deep and colorful characters, and lots of excitement!

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed the novel, but....the novels by her mother are better.

Review of Dragon's Code: Anne McCaffrey's Dragonriders of Pern by Gigi McCaffrey
Reviewed by Sam Lubell

People inherit property from their parents all the time. So it is not surprising that children can similarly inherit fictional property. For instance, Christopher Tolkien has edited his father’s drafts into posthumous books. Brian Herbert teamed up with author Kevin J. Anderson to write new Dune books after the death of Frank Herbert. And Gigi McCaffrey’s brother Todd collaborated with their mother on additional Dragonriders of Pern novels and also wrote a few solo. Considering this, it may not be surprising that Gigi (Georgeanne Kennedy) would pen her own adventures on her mother’s planet of Pern.

Most of Dragon's Code is the plot of Anne McCaffrey’s The White Dragon told from the point of view of Piemur, the former child singer (and friend of Menolly) who appeared in Dragonsinger and was the main character of Dragondrums. In Dragon’s Code, Piemur is a spy for the Masterharper, keeping tabs on the Oldtimers, dragonriders who came from the past to help fight Thread, in the Southern continent. So Piemur reports on conversations between disaffected Oldtimers and wonders why one is so insistent that a picture of a cove include the stars above it (not realizing that the stars are a convenient way for time-traveling dragons to navigate). When an Oldtimer steals a queen dragon egg from Benden Weyr, Piemur does suspect the cove may be used to hide the egg, but it is returned before he can do anything. Piemur also investigates a plot to kill Jaxom, the young Holder of Ruatha hold and rider of the white dragon Ruth and efforts by the kin of lords who want land of their own.

Gigi McCaffrey does a very credible job writing in her mother’s voice and the book reads like an Anne McCaffrey novel (which was not always true for the books by her brother Todd). The author echos both the virtues and flaws of her mother’s style. The characters are likable, but there is a tendency here to tell rather than show, especially when Piemur reflects on his changes since he lost his singing voice and wonders what he will do with his life.

The real problem with the novel is that The White Dragon was already written and seeing the same events from Piemur’s perspective does not add much that is new. So this book is really only for those who really like Piemur from the earlier books. I’d be interested to see what Gigi can do with a new adventure.

This book does a credit to the Pern series. Any fan Anne's work will love Gigi's new book in the series. Good characters, a compelling plot, and more dragons than you can shake a stick at.

This book struggled to have to same tone as previous Pern titles. All in all, it wasn't badly written, but it chose to cover characters and territory already covered very well by Anne. I would very much prefer to see her legacy continue with new characters and new stories in Pern, the better to avoid unfair comparisons. 3.5 stars for the writing, 1.5 stars missing for retreading old ground and characters that didn't feel the same as their original portrayals, which was my biggest issue.

Wondering if this book was not labeled as an extension of the original series if it would be more exciting and original and not just a continuation of a series that was fairly dated and not picked up by current young readers. The readers that are older and read the originals might enjoy this as an additional novel in the series, but younger readers do not tend to read a novel introduced so much later than the original series.

I Loved this book. It was a real treat visiting old friends in Pern and finding out what had happened since the last book. .

I was worried I wouldn't know what was going on in this book as it is the 25th Pern book on Goodreads. I have not read any of this series before. That being said it was a good story. I enjoyed it. I have seen a lot of dislikes from the people who have read the original version of this as it is a remake of the original for the 15th anniversary I believe.

I can still vividly remember reading Dragonriders of Pern. I gasped and cried at the end of the first book and was hooked for life. This book, while not as affecting as the first Dragonriders, is an excellent continuum to a legacy series. I was happy to see a new book by a McCaffrey and hope she enjoys a long life writing many more excellent books.

Reading this book was like coming home! If you loved Anne's voice, you'll love Gigi's voice as they are similar. Knowing that Pern continues to evolve makes me eager for her next book.

I had never read the original Pern books and thought this might be a way to find out why they were so loved. This does provide a window into the realm her mother created, but I found it a bit hard to pick up on with no previous background. While I have read that readers of the original stories were disappointed in the inconsistencies in the details; I think the story stands alone as a good story.

A fun new book in the dragon riders series. It was very good but I still love the dragon singer series and the first dragonrider books the best.

Having grown up reading about the dragons of Pern, Dragon's Code wasn't a tough sell. However, despite my familiarity with the characters and the background of the world, this book turned out to be one of perhaps 20 books in my life (I read between 200-300 books every year and have done so for the last 25 years) that I did not finish. The writing was so incredibly poor that I simply could not stand to read it after fighting through the first half. Honestly, it deserves less than a star and the publisher should be embarrassed to have this on their lists. Having an author for a mother does not an author make. The characterizations were half-formed at best and the plotting was absolutely plodding. It all comes back to poor writing skills. It felt like I was reading something written for a middle school or high school assignment. Completely missing soul and skill, Dragon's Code falls flat on all counts, and would need a complete overhaul by an exceptionally skilled editor (or even a ghost writer) to be at all worthy of the paper it's printed on.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing this ARC.

Dragon’s Code by Gigi McCaffrey, 272 pages. Del Rey, 2018. $27.

Content: G

BUYING ADVISORY: ADULTS – ESSENTIAL; HS - ADVISABLE

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE

Piemur once had the most coveted soprano voice in the Harper Hall. When his voice changed, however, he became lost and now he goes wherever Robiton, the MasterHarper of Pern, sends him. At the moment he is in the south, keeping an eye on the OldTimers and Southern Hold. Something strange is definitely going on – but Piemur has nothing concrete to report that might stop something bad from happening. When Ramoth’s egg is stolen, Piemur springs into action, even if he has to put his own life on the line, he will keep dragon from fighting dragon.

Gigi McCaffrey seems to have the magic touch when it comes to her mother’s world of Pern. While we are seeing familiar events, she manages to make them feel fresh and adds depth to them with skill. I am very much hoping that she has some other new Pern books planned. However – this is a stretch to buy for schools. If you already have the Pern series, then go right ahead. If you don’t, this is not the place to start. There are at least a dozen other books you need to have first.

Cindy, Middle School Librarian, MLS

I discovered Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonriders of Pern books sometime in the mid-1980s.* These were some of the first science fiction books that I had read after first becoming enthralled with the genre by Heinlein, Asimov, and Tolkien. I believe that I found the first few Pern novels on my parents’ bookshelves. I re-read my Dragonrider books (and The Lord of the Rings) because I wasn’t aware that there were other books with dragons and fantastical places out there. My library kept the science fiction and fantasy section in the adult area of the library, so I hadn’t discovered this on my own yet.

With every trip to a book store, I asked for the next Dragonrider book, gradually collecting the entire series. By the time that All the Weyrs of Pern was released in 1991, these were my favorite books, and Anne McCaffrey my favorite author.

I read through everything else that McCaffrey had written, with her Crystal Singer books and Planet Pirates series some of my other favorites. After reading All the Weyrs of Pern, I think I read maybe two more of the Dragonrider books. But after the way that Weyrs ended, the books were no longer the same to me. Weyrs had ended the series in a satisfying way as far as I was concerned.

I have been hesitant to delve back into any books set in Pern since then, but when I see a book offered on Net Galley, sometimes I can’t resist requesting it. Dragon’s Code is written by Anne McCaffrey’s daughter Gigi and is set in the same time period as the original six Dragonrider books.

More specifically, this book is told from the point-of-view of journeyman harper Piemur, a favorite secondary character, and is set alongside the events in The White Dragon. As I read Dragon’s Code, many details of the books resurfaced in my memories. I think that this would not be the best entry point to the series, but anyone not familiar with Pern could still read it and follow most of the story.

Piemur has lost his childhood soprano voice, and with that, a portion of his identity and confidence. Harpers in Pern do more that provide music and entertainment, however, and Piemur is sent to the Southern Continent to spy on the exiled Oldtimers, a group of dragonriders who have clashed with the rest of their people. Piemur knows that a few of the Oldtimers are up to no good, but he can’t get close enough to figure it all out.

As Piemur reports his suspicions, we get to see some old favorites once more: Masterharper Robinton and Menolly, in particular. This book is more about Piemur’s journey to regain his self-worth than it is the details of the plot that unfolds in The White Dragon. Readers of the other books will know what has taken place, and in the scope of Dragon’s Code, that crisis is over fairly fast. The plot meanders, with some exciting action segments, obligatory Threadfall and dragons, and a sentimental conclusion that is appropriate for this type of story being told.

Despite my reservations about returning to Pern, I truly enjoyed this book. I don’t think that it will be for everyone, but I feel that Gigi McCaffrey has done her mother’s legacy proud with this one.

* I remember having Dragonsdawn in hardcover, which was published in 1988, so I must have read Dragonflight, Dragonquest, The White Dragon, and the Harper Hall Trilogy (and probably Moreta: Dragonlady of Pern) all before that time.

Dragons continue!

Seamless was the word that occurred to me. An avid reader of McCaffrey from when Dragonflight burst onto the scene I was so surprised and delighted by another Pern story told from the perspective of the once singer Piemur. His readjustment to life with the changes to his voice, his disappointments and quest to find a different place within the dragon halls form the background from which the action springs.
The time is in the now but the challenges face date back to the oldtimers living on the Southern continent. A situation is set in motion that could have dragon fighting dragon. Plots are hatched that arise from old situations.
We meet old friends and come more into step with the most recent characters and their doings on Pern. Masterharpers, singers, dragon riders are all represented.
Gigi McCaffrey has certainly echoes the voices of Pern without a hitch.
A pleasurable homecoming indeed!

A NetGalley ARC