Nerilka's Story (Pern Book 8)

The main character, Nerilka, is not the usual strong, beautiful Dragonrider we see in the other books. She is a very interesting character that gives us a glimpse of life outside the Weyr. I think this character also has more depth than many others. Well written as expected, with no actual fighting. Nice change of pace..

Nerilka is a hardworking rather plain daughter of the Lord Holder of Fort Hold. She spends most of her summers gathering and laying up medicines and other stores. She spends the rest of her time helping in the kitchens and sewing or whatever other work needs doing. When her father decides to take some of her younger, unmarried sisters to the Ruatha Gather in hopes of snaring Lord Alessan as a husband, she believes that she will get to go too, but her father leaves her behind. Nerilka thinks that this is very cruel because her best friend was Lord Alessan's first wife before she was killed in a tragic runnerbeast accident and she used to write to Nerilka about Ruatha. Nerilka would give just about anything to see it.When Fort Hold hears the terrible news about the sickness spreading across Pern, Nerilka immediately takes as many stores to the Harper Hall as she can, knowing full well that her father would never give them anything. Her father forces one of the dragonriders to bring him back to Fort Hold, flagrantly disobeying the rule of the Masterhealer to stay where you were when the sickness started to spread. Nerilka soon learns that her mother and all of her sisters died of the plague. Her mother is barely in the ground before her father brings his mistress and her family into the Hold. Nerilka cannot bear to serve someone younger than herself who lords it over everyone at the Hold. When she overhears her father denying the Masterhealer and Masterharper medication and other supplies, Nerilka sneaks out several large sacks of the essentials and leaves with them. She starts treating the illness at a camp just outside of the Fort Hold and then travels to small holdings that are far away from Hold and Weyr.Nerilka soon hears that Ruatha Hold is all but desolate, she knows that she is needed most there. She arrives to discover that Lord Alessan has lost all of his family, but his sister Oklina. As she struggles with the few survivors of Ruatha Hold to develop a vaccine that can save all of Pern's livestock, she finds herself falling in love with Lord Alessan. She knows that he will never care for her, especially since he loves Weyrwoman Moreta, but when news of the terrible tragedy of Moreta's death reaches Ruatha, it changes everything...Nerilka's Story is essentially the same story contained in Moreta: Dragonlady of Pern, but told from a different perspective. This is the first time in the series that Anne McCaffrey wrote a book about someone other than a dragonrider or a Harper so it was very interesting to see life on Pern from a completely different perspective. I liked Nerilka - she kept trying to stand up for herself and to do what was right even when everyone else was trying to hold her back and keep her down. I also enjoyed seeing the story of Moreta from an outsider's point of view and learned a lot about Pern at the time of Moreta that I didn't know before. My only real complaint about the book is that it is so short! I was able to read it in about 1 hour (I am a fast reader, though). If you have enjoyed any of Anne McCaffrey's other books in the Pern series, I know that you will enjoy this one!

I liked the intense emotions developed by this story. I think of it being a great story for teenagers who are trying to find their way in their story of Earth! I really like this book!

You have no heart.This is the only one of the Dragons of Pern to be in the first person, so we see Nerilka's joys and sorrows first hand instead of filtered through a third person narrative .IWe see many of the matters covered in Moreta from a different perspective . We see the selfishness of Lord Tolocamp and its affect on his surviving offspring, along with his disgusting reaction to the few good things to come out of the pandemic.I have read this book before. But reading it when our own world is in the grip of a pandemic -- happily not as severe as the one on Peen --

This concerns a minor character in the Moreta storyline given as first person narrative, kinda like reading a diary or personal journal. The story line acts as a "what is going on outside the Weyr" that fills in the gaps of what is going on in the rest of Pern. Fills in what is happening after Moreta's death flight and explains how Lord Alessan copes with Moreta's death and rebuilding of Ruatha after the plague. This is a good follow-on reading to complete the Moreta storyline. The complaint I have is that it doesn't tell you what "punishment" was given to Telgar Weyr for M'tani's denial to provide dragonriders to deliver the vital serum to Keroon's plains and led to Moreta/Holth 's flight to save Pern; it would also would have been a fit ending to recite the teaching ballad of Moreta's ride (the full ballad is never recited in the other books- Lessa recites part in Dragonflight).

The Sickness brought by a thoughtless Ships Captain in the form of a feline beast from the Southern Continent devastates Human, Dragon and runner beast. A lone and lonely unwanted daughter sets out to find her place on Pern. An amazing adventure takes her to her rightful place.

Paired with Moreta's story, this quick read gives a second point of view of the terrible toll on Pern and it's people when plague hits during the years of a fall.To be honest, I'm not sure why the author decided to make this a separate book as it could have been Incorporated into Moreta's story without having to rewrite parts of the storyline.That said, this quick read tied up some lingering questions and that was worth that bit of duplicated reading.

A disease that was thought long gone. That appeared again. Thou the disease was a problem , it could be deadly if no one. Ever had it. It's was a different name. It's basically the same. So how to cure a disease that no one had in countless years. Is this disease as deadly as the threads, yes. But you know how deadly they are. But how you fight, something, you can't see. So the pern doctors must find a cure for it, or the disease would destroy a culture that they forgot about!

Enjoyed the story. Only reviewing because Amazon won't let me continue reading the ebook I purchased, until I do. So stars for story. Amazon gets a negative rating.

Two stories both completely different. One is a tale of Pern. It is Nerilka's story. The other is a story of a completely different culture.

I like the series but I have only completed one story.

I followed the whole "Dragon" saga avidly, many decades ago, and regularly re-read my favourite stories. Nerilka's story is a stand alone novella, but runs parallel in time with another story, half-way through the saga. It's a delight on it's own. Anne writes about human relationships, in fantasy settings, but her perception of human nature remains accurate, and her characters are clearly either to be loved, despised, or understood. This is also true about a mysterious small lifeform, the Coelura, which our heroine this time is desperate to protect, and her father wants to control and benefit from. It's a lovely short fantasy tale

Nerilka's Story - A view of the same storey from a different point of view... Let me make this absolutely clear; if you haven't read Moreta - Dragon Lady of Pern, go and do so before ready this one as you will get much more out of the experience.Anne McCaffrey's books generally start with a healthy review of the storey so far - something a churlish person could object too if it weren't for all the wonder that follows it - but in this instance only the entire preceding book will do!Although some parts of this book are complete echoes of the preceding one you soon learn pounce on those moments even more gripped in the words to draw out the alternate perspective which brings clarity to some aspects previously left questioning.This revisiting is however seamlessly blended with Nerilka's own storey elements making the book as a whole well worth the experience. There are a couple of parts you can even almost hear Anne saying to the reader, "we covered this gap, it doesn't need retelling" nor should they have been from Nerilka's perspective.In short, read them both, you won't be sorry...