The Girl Who Heard Dragons

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: I bought this book when it was new, so i didn't know that it is a collection of short stories. I wanted to read more about 'Mina and her family. Instead i got stories of people on other worlds than Pern and the story i already have from another book i bought.
If you are looking for Pern, this is not the book to buy.
Don't start reading Anne Mc Caffrey with this book!

Rating:
Summary: Don't be decieved by the title
Review: I bought this book when it was new, so i didn't know that it is a collection of short stories. I wanted to read more about 'Mina and her family. Instead i got stories of people on other worlds than Pern and the story i already have from another book i bought.
If you are looking for Pern, this is not the book to buy.
Don't start reading Anne Mc Caffrey with this book!

Rating:
Summary: A Collection of Stories
Review: I had never read a book by Anne McCaffrey. I remember a friend letting me borrow "Dragonriders of Pern" as a teenager because they thought I would like it, but I wasn't a big fantasy reader then like I am now so I never made it through the first chapter or so. I picked this book up thinking it was a Pern book and not knowing that it's actually a collection of short stories. I'm glad that I picked this book because it gave me several shorter examples of her work.

The first longest story is "The Girl Who Heard Dragons" and is a Pern story. It made me want to learn more about Pern and I plan on reading more of McCaffrey's work. Aramina is a girl with her family, and they are on the run so that people won't find out about and take advantage of Aramina's ability to talk to dragons. "Velvet Fields" is about people that have found a planet to colonize with no people, only vacant cities, and it isn't until too late that they realize that the fields of plants on the planet are the missing people. "A Sleeping Humpty Dumpty Beauty" is about doctors of the future that fix soldiers after battle. The medical field has advanced in leaps and bounds and they can heal wounds that would kill someone today. One of the doctors, Bardie Makem, feels inexplicably drawn to one of her patients that hasn't come out of a coma, despite all his injuries being fixed. "The Greatest Love" is one of the few non-futuristic stories, and is about a female OB-GYN in the 50s and her research into in vitro fertilization. The process had never been performed on humans, but when a woman comes to her volunteering to carry her brother and his wife's child to term it's the perfect opportunity try it, and the repercussions, among which is charges of incest and adultery. Those are just a few examples of the stories found in this collection of short stories. McCaffrey is a talented writer, and if you're only familiar with the Pern series, this collection is a wonderful opportunity to experience her other work, or if you're new to her work, like myself, it's a great introduction to Pern and McCaffrey's writing.

Rating:
Summary: A Collection of Stories
Review: I had never read a book by Anne McCaffrey. I remember a friend letting me borrow "Dragonriders of Pern" as a teenager because they thought I would like it, but I wasn't a big fantasy reader then like I am now so I never made it through the first chapter or so. I picked this book up thinking it was a Pern book and not knowing that it's actually a collection of short stories. I'm glad that I picked this book because it gave me several shorter examples of her work.

The first longest story is "The Girl Who Heard Dragons" and is a Pern story. It made me want to learn more about Pern and I plan on reading more of McCaffrey's work. Aramina is a girl with her family, and they are on the run so that people won't find out about and take advantage of Aramina's ability to talk to dragons. "Velvet Fields" is about people that have found a planet to colonize with no people, only vacant cities, and it isn't until too late that they realize that the fields of plants on the planet are the missing people. "A Sleeping Humpty Dumpty Beauty" is about doctors of the future that fix soldiers after battle. The medical field has advanced in leaps and bounds and they can heal wounds that would kill someone today. One of the doctors, Bardie Makem, feels inexplicably drawn to one of her patients that hasn't come out of a coma, despite all his injuries being fixed. "The Greatest Love" is one of the few non-futuristic stories, and is about a female OB-GYN in the 50s and her research into in vitro fertilization. The process had never been performed on humans, but when a woman comes to her volunteering to carry her brother and his wife's child to term it's the perfect opportunity try it, and the repercussions, among which is charges of incest and adultery. Those are just a few examples of the stories found in this collection of short stories. McCaffrey is a talented writer, and if you're only familiar with the Pern series, this collection is a wonderful opportunity to experience her other work, or if you're new to her work, like myself, it's a great introduction to Pern and McCaffrey's writing.

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing...
Review: I have to agree with many other people in the disappointment they expressed upon reading this book. I am a huge fan of the Pern series and, as such, I expected this book to be just as thrilling as others in the series. I must say that I was sadly mistaken. "The Girl Who Heard Dragons" is a rich and captivating tale, and I was thoroughly looking forward to its continuation in what I assumed to be the next chapter. However, as many before me have stated, it was a completely different story. There is NOWHERE on the book that indicates it to be a collection of short stories, which, quite frankly, ticked me off. I felt cheated because of this lack of information, and simply because I believed (and still do) that "The Girl Who Heard Dragons" would make an amazing novel. There is so much that could be built around it, and it simply disappointed me that the full potential of the story had not been met. I don't mean to insult or try to pretend that I could write such captivating works, but I felt the need to express my feelings about the book, or lack there of.

Rating:
Summary: Could you please tell me what's going on?!
Review: I just finished the first chapter and like the story very much. But I don't understand! Why did it just switch from third person to first? Who are all these new people? What happened to Aramina? I thought the whole book was about her! I want to know more about her! Could someone please tell me what happened and does the first chapter have anything to do with the rest of the book?

Rating:
Summary: The best Pern book ever!
Review: I love the plot of this book!

Rating:
Summary: Fraud
Review: I must admit, I like the majority of the stories in this collection. Why one star? Because it is a case of outright fraud. Having read the reviews on Amazon.com, I now see it is a collection of stories. However, my wife purchased the book as a gift thinking it was a novel, and after reading all the back cover and front cover material--I can't imagine anybody thinking it was anything but a novel. I had read The Girl Who Heard Dragons in another anthology, and I believed this to be a full length novel based on that short story. When I got to the second story I was quite confused. There was no hint that I was beginning a totally unrelated story. I then reviewed the cover material, table of contents, etc., again, and was still left with the impression that it was a novel. The only reasonable conclusion is that Tor Fantasy (publisher) intentionally set out to deceive Pern fans.

P.S. Had my wife shopped for this book on Amazon.com, she would not have been taken in by the publisher's deceptive practices. Might have bought the anthology anyway, but her purchase would be based on accurate information rather than deception.

Rating:
Summary: Very Disappointing
Review: I read this book about a year ago and then picked it up again and tried one more time...no luck...I just don't get it. I've really enjoyed Anne McCaffrey's other books, such as the Pern Series, the Crystal Singer books and the "Talented" series. I was very frustrated with "The Girl Who Heard Dragons" because I wanted to read more of THAT story...not the others in the book. I felt like I was left hanging.

Rating:
Summary: I was dissappointed!!!!!
Review: I really didn't like the book, as "A reader from GA" said.. i wanted to continue the first short story... i was very upset!!! Anne can do a better job at books than this! I loved her trilogy with Dragonsong, Dragonsinger, and Dragondrums, but this is not the best work she has written, maybe even the worst!