I always find myself wondering whether an author of a series like this has mapped it all out beforehand. Certainly, we are taught that we must write the backstories of all characters, even the most minor ones, before getting any novel off the ground. And that we may not ever use most of the detail. So I suppose, if you've written (for yourself) all the backstories, and then your original novel is popular, and so is your second and third, ... then you could well decide to take one of the hitherto unnecessary backstories and make it into a novel of its own.

Moreta is referred to in the first books - a ballad was written about her, and generations later still learn and sing it. This novel lets us know why she had that honour.

I notice that some McCaffrey fans liked this as much as the originals, and others didn't. I'm one of the latter, though not by a lot. I think it didn't have quite as much dragon/human interaction as I would have liked, and perhaps a few too many incidental characters. But no matter - I enjoyed Moreta's character, and I enjoyed her love affair, and I enjoyed the other key characters. No disappointments here.