All the Dragons Keen

A relative gave me a paper grocery sack full of books when I was 12. Most of them were Pern novels–old mass markets. I inhaled them all, starting with Dragonsdawn. Back then, I had little idea of what "fantasy" was (books that were kind of medieval?), much less "science fiction." But I loved her books–not just Pern, but the Brainship books and Crystal Singer books and Planet Pirate books, too. Soon I was reading more SF: Douglas Adams and Frederick Pohl and so many others.

I joined Pern...