To Ride Pegasus [Paperback]

Anne McCaffrey (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Del Rey (1986)
• ASIN: B000OVP9S8
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)

More About the Author

Anne McCaffrey, the Hugo Award-winning author of the bestselling Dragonriders of Pern® novels, is one of science fiction's most popular authors. With Elizabeth Ann Scarborough she co-authored Changelings and Maelstrom, Books One and Two of The Twins of Petaybee. McCaffrey lives in a house of her own design, Dragonhold-Underhill, in County Wicklow, Ireland.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Thought provoking, March 22, 2001

By 

Michael L. Dennis "mitchdennis" (West Des Moines, IA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: To Ride Pegasus (Mass Market Paperback)

This is an interesting group of four stories which explore the explosion of psychic "Talents" in a not-so-distant future Earth. Talents range from telepathy, telekinesis (moving objects with the mind), healing, clairvoyance, precognition, empathy, telempathy, and others. In a time when psychic phenomenon can be proven scientifically, Darrow must direct the course for the safety and use of these talents.

McCaffrey explores ideas such as: * How would "normal" humans act in a society where some people have more abilities than others? * How would society protect the Talented from wrongful legal suits? * Can the Talented police themselves?

While the stories were originally written as short stories and, as such, are somewhat disjointed, there is a logical progression with recurring characters propelling the Talented into the future.

An engrossing book, it is followed by Pegasus in Flight and Pegasus in Space. These novels are the bridge between modern Earth and the universe of "The Rowan" when the Talents help colonize space.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Page Flipper, July 26, 2001

By 

Ian Cruickshank (Victoria, B.C., Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: To Ride Pegasus (Mass Market Paperback)

Every now and then you come across a book that you had to continue to read. That by the time you finished the book you were thanking the author for writing such a good book, yet cursing her for not writing a longer book. Well that is how it was for me; the problem being that I have neglected my homework over the past two days. If Anne McCaffreys other series (Pern, etc) are like this, I will have to be careful that I have no essays due then. This novel deals with a group of people who have different telepathic Talents. The strength of the book, besides the smooth writing style, is how the book was divided and the stories they told. The first story is more or less an introduction, then a generation later the other three stories tell us about Ruth and her latent but most interesting power, about the Maggie 'O tragedy and last about Amalda, a broadcasting empath. The only hitch to the book is that it was written in 1973 so for us who have been swamped be the X-Files, the lack of government conspiracy may not seem just right. Remember when you open the book to set aside a day or two.

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Deserves more attention than it receives, September 28, 1997

By 

Jeff Lee - See all my reviews

This review is from: To Ride Pegasus (Mass Market Paperback)

It is a shame that To Ride Pegasus has been shadowed by the dynamic Crystal Singer, Pern, and Rowan series. Set years before the Rowan, this book is an early indicator as to how powerful a writer Anne McCaffrey is.

The reader is immediately captured by the wild plans of Henry Darrow and the discovery of psionic "Talent". This far-off future world isn't as alien as one would expect: familiar allusions and settings only make the story even more real.

What is the greatest part of the tale is that Anne McCaffrey chose to focus mainly on women protagonists. Charity, Amalda, Dorotea, Molly-they all have the grace and character that would later characterize the Rowan books. Anne's male figures aren't too bad either-there is less of that macho bashing-type of sci-fi person and more of the sensitive and logical side.

But amidst love and war come even more surprises. An incredibly powerful Gypsy woman leaves a path of death and theft across the city as she struggles with her life, which ends tragically. A hard man has his eyes set on ruling the world, and to bring that dream about he uses Amalda, a simple girl with the power to control thousands of people. And from death comes life: the newborn Dorotea has the power to find hidden Talents.

Throughout this book the reader is immensely thrilled and satisfied. To Ride Pegasus truly deserves to be given the attention other McCaffrey books get.