Fiona, Heir of Lord Holder Bemin and a plague survivor, does not expect to Impress a dragon when she attends the Hatching, but she does. One of three Weyrwomen at only eleven, she has barely arrived when the dragons start to succumb to a terrible, fatal plague. As Thread begins to fall and all over Pern dying, while not only Fiona—but also the other Weyrlings and their new mounts—are too young to face the dangers of fighting. The only option is to send them back in time.

I’ve loved and read this series since the first book was published back in the 80s, and am pleased that Todd’s writing style is so much like his mother’s. Following seamlessly on from the events in the other Dragonriders books, this is very much Fiona’s story as she copes with all her new responsibilities. We get to meet up again with old characters like Nuella and Kindan (one of the joys of a long-running series) and get to know many new characters as well.

My only gripe about this book is its awesome length; one of the many, many things I have always loved about this series is that unlike most other fantasies each book is a comparatively modest length. This fat paperback is over 700 pages, and could do with some editing. There is a lot in here it is true, but at times it gets lost among the sheer volume of words.