Customer Reviews

Nerilka's Story

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

With the publishing of Nerilka's Story, Anne McCaffrey took a bold and potentially dangerous step, leaving the proven success of concertrating on dragons and dragonriders to offer the reader a revealing and poignant insight into the equally dangerous but more mundane world of the common holder.

This book gives us a feel for what the average citizen of Pern must endure; privation, sickness, a medieval culture governed by far-from-enlightened nobles, and the desperation of facing endless drudgery with little hope of ever improving one's lot in life.

The entire Pernese series is greatly enriched by the grass roots knowledge revealed in this story. Nerilka faces daunting challenges from a variety of sources, eventually proving that both tragedy and triumph are the domain of all people, and that indomitable spirits are not limited to those whose lives are spent in the Weyrs.

Ms McCaffrey goes to great lengths, including illustrations, to emphasize how physically plain and unappealing Nerilka is. Regardless, nothing can keep the beauty of her spirit and personality from bursting through. She is as true a heroine as any who ever rode a dragon.

Nerilka's Story may be a saphire in a world of diamonds, but it is still a jewel in the crown of the Pernese Saga. Without this volume, the tale of the Dragonriders of Pern is incomplete.

I had read reviews for Nerilka's Story most of which gave the impression that Ms. McCaffrey's time and effort had been wasted writing the book. I however beg to differ. This book told a truely unique story of a girl who is nothing speicial other than the fact that she is the Lord Holder's daughter. Nerilka is a middle daughter of a large family and she has no one who really cares for her except her mother and a few siblings. When her mother dies and her father takes his mistress for a wife she is pressed into labor for a woman she despises, sewing dresses for her stepmother. She finally runs away to help the over worked healers fighting the Great Plauge. Her journey leads her to Rautha Hold where Lord Alessen is trying to salvage his distruaght hold. She works for a month making serum to innoculate all the people and animals of Pern when a devistating thing happens, making Lord Alessen more miserable, to the point when she agrees to make him a cup of poison after leaving a heir to Hold Ruatha. With her loving patience she is able to salvage a life, make a distraught man tentativly happy, and create a place for herself in a world where her father didn't even know her name.

Readers of Anne McCaffrey's "Dragonriders of Pern" series will undoubtedly be familiar with the background and setting of this book. The planet Pern, in the Rukbat Sector, is perpetually under seige from a mindlessly voracious lifeform known as Thread. The Dragonriders are the planet's only hope, searing the silvery rain as it falls from the sky.

Ms. McCaffrey has spun many a wondrous tale of these heroic figures, creating a world rich with a culture all it's own. This story, however, does not feature a dragonrider, nor does it feature Ms. McCaffrey's other favorite Pernese subject, the Harpers. Instead, both of those groups play secondary parts to the main character, Nerilka. Rill, as she's known, is a new type of character for fans: she is an ordinary person. A middle child, a daughter in a culture that favors sons, and an average human being with jealousies as well as compassion, Rill stands out amongst the characters that the author has created as she becomes the 'average Rill' who rises above tragedy and finds strength deep inside to do what must be done.

The book stands best as a companion volume to Ms. McCaffrey's "Moreta: Dragonlady of Pern", though it can be read on it's own. There is a greater richness of understanding and unsaid detail available if the reader is familiar with the storyline and characters populating "Moreta", though.

The writing style is a bit more simplistic than usual for the author, and the book is a very quick read, not taxing in either length or complexity. The illustrations are interesting, though I have to admit that the characters looked very different in my own mind's eye, but that is probably to be expected.

All in all this book is good for a quick 'dip' into the world of Pern. The characters are engaging, Nerilka and those that the reader comes across at Ruatha Hold are the most clearly delineated. It has an enjoyable, simple plotline with no real shocks or unexpected twists and turns. An excellent read for times when the reader just wants something light.

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 have enjoyed all of Anne McCaffrey's books, especially the crystal singer series, and although i did enjoy this book i found the style to be that of a childrens' book, the edition i had even had illistrations, how cute! I think Ms. McCaffrey may have been under pressure to produce more Dragonriders of Pern books and got this one out as quickly as possible. Good book to buy for your young relatives, nieces and daughters should be your target.

I found this to be a most poignant portrayal of Nerilka. In some places it moved me to tears, not only through the description of the devastation, but the emotions so well described.

It has made me wish over the years since I first read the tale that Ms. McCaffrey would expand on the themes touched upon in this particular time in Pern's past.

The characters are vivid and one can understand just how the events would come to pass.

Probably a better read for women than men, as most men don't like to be told they don't notice "plain" women :-)

This book is almost a extension of "Moreta Dragonlady of Pern".
In "Moreta Dragonlady of Pern" I first met Nerilka or Rill for short. "Nerilka's Story" is a slightly different novel, it is talks about a hold girl, a ordinary holder, not a dragonrider. Anne McCaffery really emphasize on how plain and physically unattractive Nerilka is. She never recieved many affections or attention. She decided to run away to start a new life. She ends up in Ruatha where she meets Lord Holder Alessan. As you might remember from the previous novel in the serious, Alessan is deeply in love with Moreta. This novel goes through the plague and how Alessan deals with Moreta's death.

I think that Alessan was really mean when he marries Nerilka when he doesn't realy love her. He says that as soon as Nerilka bears his child, he would kill himself. Nerilka is a really tough person because she goes through such a hard relationship with Alessan.

This novel is more of a subtle, not-so-moving plot. Yet it is a important part of the Pern series and it is worth reading. Think of it as a light read but it isn't a very romantic novel, so don't expect too much romantic parts.

I love the PERN series and especially the separate stories about the characters. It's like you're reading about a neighbor you never really got to know but wished you had. Nerilka is only one of the many PERN character stories I love to read and re-read. It never gets old.

This book covers the same events as 'moreta' from the perspective of Lord Tolocamp's daughter Nerilka. You'll want to red this to complete your Pern experience, but it isn't one of the better Pern Novels. This book assumes some knowledge of the events in 'Moreta', so I'd recommend reading it first to lessen possible confusion.

Anne McCaffrey is the quintessential writer of fantasy books pertaining to dragons. These books are always wonderful, well written, and perfectly characterized. All of her series are great but the ones that take place on Pern are the best of all.