Honestly I feel like the three main things I gained from being such a huge fan of Anne McCaffrey's writings are:
- an introduction to intelligent spaceships, a.k.a. My Favorite Thing
- a solid groundwork for scifi psychic power systems
- an in-depth understanding of all of Anne McCaffrey's kinks
@InspectorCaracal man i should really give mccaffrey another chance
pern on paper seems like My Shit but for some reason whenever i've tried to read it, it's always been like gnawing on concrete.
i will say tho that if you've never read Black Horses For The King, it's the one book of hers that i genuinely really enjoy, and well-recommended
@wigglytuffitout I am fairly sure that at this point I've read every single book she's ever written except the Barque Cats series (somehow!! I have no idea how I missed those) but let me look it up real quick to see
@wigglytuffitout A quick synopsis review indicates that I have owned this book but somehow neglected to ever read it, which is somewhat confounding
@wigglytuffitout Also, as someone who has read A Lot of her books: which one(s) did you try that you couldn't get through?
@InspectorCaracal honestly i can't remember off the top of my head - mostly pern, way back in middle school, because everyone told me that i'd love them and i tried about three and just couldn't make it past the second chapter or so every time lol
Black Horses For The King was a book i got on vacation and gobbled up on the ride home, so i may also be viewing it with rose-tinted glasses of nostalgia LOL
@wigglytuffitout There's also a wide range of stand-alone Pern novels and stories if you wanted to try picking up one of them instead.
@wigglytuffitout Personally I loved Moreta's Ride but it is not a happy-ending book, you have to be on board for lots of sadness at the end or you'll either regret reading it or won't be able to get invested.
@wigglytuffitout I dunno what your general reading preferences are but in Pern alone there are several different series of differing reading levels and narrative dynamics
- Dragonriders of Pern, the "most popular" but also my least favorite, I never liked the protags. Very heavy on McCaffrey's more dubious relationship kinks.
- Harper Hall, which are a lower reading level and I think feature her age-gap kink, few dragons
- White Dragon trilogy, my favorite, ace protag, more scifi than fantasy