Editing Anne McCaffrey

{{Short description|Irish science fiction writer (1926–2011)}}
{{For|the Canadian swimmer|Anne Marie McCaffrey}}
{{Use Hiberno-English|date=February 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}}<!--YMD Archived and Retrieved dates-->
{{Infobox writer
| name             = Anne McCaffrey
| image            = Anne_Inez_McCaffrey_Author_Photo.jpg
| caption          = Anne McCaffrey Author Photo
| pseudonym        = 
| birth_name       = Anne Inez McCaffrey
| birth_date       = {{birth date|1926|4|1|df=y}}
| birth_place      = [[Cambridge, Massachusetts]], U.S.
| death_date       = {{death date and age|2011|11|21|1926|4|1|df=y}}
| death_place      = Dragonhold-Underhill, [[County Wicklow]], Ireland<ref name="Murphy-2013"/>
| occupation       = Writer
| spouse           = Horace Wright Johnson (divorced)
| children         = 3, including [[Todd McCaffrey|Todd]]
| nationality      = American & Irish (naturalised citizen)
| period           = 1965–2011 <!--her timespan as a full-time writer -->
| genre            = Science fiction, romance
| notableworks     = ''[[Restoree]]'', ''[[Dragonriders of Pern]]'', ''[[The Ship Who Sang]]''
| website          = {{URL|pernhome.com/aim}}
}}

'''Anne Inez McCaffrey''' (1 April 1926&nbsp;– 21 November 2011)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://sf-fantasy.suvudu.com/2011/11/anne-mccaffrey-april-1-1926-november-21-2011.html |title=Anne McCaffrey: April 1, 1926&nbsp;– November 21, 2011 |publisher=suvudu.com |author=Pomerico, D |date=22 November 2011 |access-date=2011-11-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120217214121/http://sf-fantasy.suvudu.com/2011/11/anne-mccaffrey-april-1-1926-november-21-2011.html |archive-date=17 February 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="nytimes2011a">{{cite news | last = Fox | first = Margalit | author-link = Margalit Fox
| title = Anne McCaffrey, Author of 'Dragonriders' Fantasies, Dies at 85
| newspaper = [[The New York Times]] | location = New York City
| date = 24 November 2011
| url = https://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/24/arts/anne-mccaffrey-dragonriders-author-dies-at-85.html | access-date = 2011-11-24 }}</ref> was an American writer known for the ''[[Dragonriders of Pern]]'' science fiction series. She was the first woman to win a [[Hugo Award]] for fiction (Best Novella, ''Weyr Search'', 1968) and the first to win a [[Nebula Award]] (Best Novella, ''Dragonrider'', 1969). Her 1978 novel ''[[The White Dragon (novel)|The White Dragon]]'' became one of the first science-fiction books to appear on the [[New York Times Best Seller list|''New York Times'' Best Seller list]].

In 2005 the [[Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America]] named McCaffrey its 22nd [[SFWA Grand Master|Grand Master]], an annual award to living writers of fantasy and science fiction.<ref name=SFAwards/><ref name=SFWA/> She was inducted by the [[EMP Museum#Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame|Science Fiction Hall of Fame]] on 17 June 2006.<ref name=sfhof2006/><ref name=sfhof2006-b/><ref name=sfhof/> She also received the [[Robert A. Heinlein Award]] for her work in 2007.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.locusmag.com/SFAwards/Db/Heinlein2007.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080706084447/http://www.locusmag.com/SFAwards/Db/Heinlein2007.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=2008-07-06|title=The Locus Index to SF Awards: 2007 Robert A. Heinlein Award|date=2007|publisher=Locus Publications|access-date=2016-11-21}}</ref>

== Life and career ==
Anne McCaffrey was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the second of three children of Anne Dorothy (née McElroy) and Col. George Herbert McCaffrey. She had two brothers: Hugh ("Mac", died 1988) and Kevin Richard McCaffrey ("Kevie").<ref name="biog">{{cite web |url=http://www.pernhome.com/aim/index.php?page_id=17 |title=Anne's Biography |work=The Worlds of Anne McCaffrey |publisher=Pern Home |access-date=2011-07-07}}</ref>{{sfn|''Dragonholder''|pp=15–18}} Her father had Irish and English ancestry, and her mother was of Irish descent.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~battle/celeb/mccaffr.htm |title=(Anne Inez McCaffrey) |work=RootsWeb |publisher=Ancestry.com |access-date=2012-06-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160618200521/http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~battle/celeb/mccaffr.htm |archive-date=18 June 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref> She attended [[Stuart Hall School|Stuart Hall]] (a girls' [[boarding school]] in [[Staunton, Virginia]]),{{sfn|''Dragonholder''|pp=24, 31}} and graduated from [[Montclair High School (New Jersey)|Montclair High School]] in [[Montclair, New Jersey]].<ref>Sherman, Ted. [http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2011/11/fantasy_writer_former_nj_resid.html "Fantasy writer, former N.J. resident Anne McCaffrey dead at 85"], ''[[The Star-Ledger]]'', 23 November 2011. Retrieved 6 February 2012. "Born in Cambridge, Mass., McCaffrey was raised in New Jersey, where she graduated from Montclair High School."</ref> In 1947 she graduated [[cum laude]] from [[Radcliffe College]] with a degree in [[Slavonic languages]] and Literature.<ref name="biog" />

In 1950 she married Horace Wright Johnson (died 2009),<ref name="letter">{{cite web |last=McCaffrey |first=Anne |date=17 December 2009 |url=http://pernhome.com/aim/index.php?p=80 |title=A Letter From Anne |work=The Worlds of Anne McCaffrey |publisher=Pern Home |access-date=2011-07-12}}</ref> who shared her interests in music, opera and ballet.{{sfn|''Dragonholder''|p=36}} They had three children: Alec Anthony, born 1952; Todd, born 1956; and Georgeanne ("Gigi", Georgeanne Kennedy), born 1959.<ref name="biog" />

Except for a short time in [[Düsseldorf]], the family lived for most of a decade in [[Wilmington, Delaware]]. They moved to [[Sea Cliff, New York|Sea Cliff, Long Island]] in 1965, and McCaffrey became a full-time writer.{{sfn|''Dragonholder''|pp=10–11, 14, 36–37, 45–46}}

McCaffrey served a term as secretary-treasurer of the [[Science Fiction Writers of America]] from 1968 to 1970. In addition to handcrafting the Nebula Award trophies, her responsibilities included production of two monthly newsletters and their distribution by mail to the membership.{{sfn|''Dragonholder''|pp=57–58, 63}}

McCaffrey emigrated to Ireland with her two younger children in 1970, weeks after filing for divorce. Ireland had recently exempted resident artists from income taxes, an opportunity that fellow science-fiction author [[Harry Harrison (writer)|Harry Harrison]] had promptly taken and helped to promote. McCaffrey's mother soon joined the family in [[Dublin]].{{sfn|''Dragonholder''|pp=5, 68–69, 73}} The following spring, McCaffrey was guest of honour at her first British science-fiction convention ([[Eastercon]] 22, 1971). There she met British reproductive biologist [[Jack Cohen (biologist)|Jack Cohen]],{{sfn|''Dragonholder''|p=78}} who would be a consultant on the science of Pern.<ref>See forewords or acknowledgments in some Pern books.{{example needed|date=October 2011}}</ref>

=== Writer ===
McCaffrey had had two short stories published during the 1950s. The first ("Freedom of the Race", about women impregnated by aliens) was written in 1952 when she was pregnant with her son Alec. It earned a $100 prize in ''[[Science-Fiction Plus]]''.{{sfn|''Dragonholder''|pp=9, 13, 38}} Her second story, "The Lady in the Tower", was published in ''The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction'' by editor [[Robert P. Mills]] and published again by editor [[Judith Merril]] for ''The Year's Greatest Science Fiction''.{{efn|name=evidently}} McCaffrey said "she thought of the story when wishing herself alone, like a lady in an ivory tower".{{sfn|''Dragonholder''|p=13}}

Judith Merril matched McCaffrey with her long-time literary agent [[Virginia Kidd]] and invited her to the [[Milford Writer's Workshop]] (to which she returned many times), where participants each brought a story to be critiqued.{{sfn|''Dragonholder''|pp=8–10}} After her first Milford workshop in 1959 she worked on "The Ship Who Sang", the story which began the Brain & Brawn Ship series. At the story's end, the spaceship Helva sings "[[Taps (bugle call)|Taps]]" for her human partner. Decades later, McCaffrey's son Todd called it "almost an elegy to her father".{{sfn|''Dragonholder''|pp=13–14}} In interviews between 1994 and 2004, she considered it her best story and her favourite.{{sfn|Jamneck|2004}}{{sfn|''SFFWorld''|2000}}{{sfn|Karsmakers|1994}}{{sfn|''Locus''|2004}} "I put much of myself into it: myself and the troubles I had in accepting my father's death [1954] and a troubled marriage."{{sfn|''SFFWorld''|2000}}

McCaffrey then wrote two more "Ship" stories and began her first novel. Regarding her motivation for ''Restoree'' (1967), her son recalled her saying, "I was so ''tired'' of all the weak women screaming in the corner while their boyfriends were beating off the aliens. I wouldn't have been—I'd've been in there swinging with something or kicking them as hard as I could".{{sfn|''Dragonholder''|pp=45–46}} McCaffrey explained that it did not require a sequel; it "served its purpose of an intelligent, survivor-type woman as the protagonist of an s-f story".<ref name="FAQ">{{cite web |last=McCaffrey |first=Anne |title=Frequently Asked Questions |work=The Worlds of Anne McCaffrey |publisher=Pern Home |url=http://pernhome.com/aim/?page_id=40 |access-date=2011-07-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110715064515/http://pernhome.com/aim/?page_id=40 |archive-date=2011-07-15 |url-status=live}}. See questions 2, 10, 17, 19, 22.</ref>

Regarding her 1969 ''Decision at Doona'' (which she dedicated "To [[Todd McCaffrey|Todd Johnson]]—of course!"), her son recalled that he was directed to lower his voice in his [[Fourth grade|fourth-grade]] school play when his mother was in the auditorium. That inspired the Doona story, which opens on "an overcrowded planet where just talking too loud made you a social outcast".{{sfn|''Dragonholder''|pp=2, 50}} As a settler on Doona, the boy talker has a priceless talent.

McCaffrey made a fast start in [[Ireland]], completing for 1971 publication ''Dragonquest'' and two Gothic novels for [[Dell Publishing|Dell]], ''The Mark of Merlin'' and ''The Ring of Fear''.<ref name="isfdb">{{cite web |url=http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?Anne_McCaffrey |title=Anne McCaffrey&nbsp;– Summary Bibliography |work=Internet Speculative Fiction Database |access-date=2011-11-17}}</ref>{{sfn|''Dragonholder''|p=74}} With a contract for ''The White Dragon'' (which would complete the "original trilogy" with Ballantine), her writing stalled. During the next few years the family moved several times in the Dublin area and struggled to make ends meet, supported largely by child-care payments and meager royalties.{{sfn|''Dragonholder''|pp=71–101}}

The young-adult book market provided a crucial opportunity. Editor [[Roger Elwood]] sought short contributions for anthologies, and McCaffrey started the Pern story of Menolly. She delivered "The Smallest Dragonboy" for $154, and four stories which later became ''The Crystal Singer''.{{sfn|''Dragonholder''|pp=82–83, 95}} Futura Publications in London signed her to write books about [[dinosaur]]s for children.{{sfn|''Dragonholder''|p=101}} Editor [[Jean E. Karl]] at [[Atheneum Books]] sought to attract more female readers to science fiction and solicited "a story for young women in a different part of Pern". McCaffrey completed Menolly's story as ''[[Dragonsong]]'' and contracted for a sequel before its publication in 1976.
The tales of Menolly are continued in ''[[Dragonsinger]]: Harper of Pern'', and ''[[Dragondrums]]'' as the "Harper Hall Trilogy".{{sfn|''Dragonholder''|pp=103–04}} With a contract with Atheneum she was able to buy a home (named "Dragonhold" for the dragons who bought it).{{sfn|''Dragonholder''|pp=104–05}} Her son wrote, 20 years later, that she "first set dragons free on Pern and then was herself freed by her dragons."{{sfn|''Dragonholder''|p=113 (conclusion)}}

=== Dragons ===
The first Pern story, "Weyr Search", was published in 1967 by [[John W. Campbell]] in ''[[Analog Science Fiction and Fact]]''. It won the 1968 [[Hugo Award]] for best novella, voted by participants in the annual [[World Science Fiction Convention]].<ref name=SFAwards/> The second Pern story, "Dragonrider", won the 1969 [[Nebula Award]] for best novella, voted annually by the [[Science Fiction Writers of America]].<ref name=SFAwards/> Thus she was the first woman to win a Hugo for fiction<ref name=sfhof/> and the first to win a Nebula.<ref>{{cite web | title=Anne McCaffrey Named a Grand Master in 2004 | publisher=[[Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America]] | url=http://nebulas.sfwa.org/grand-masters/anne-mccaffrey/ | access-date=22 August 2017}}</ref>

"Weyr Search" covers the recruitment of a young woman, Lessa, to establish a telepathic bond with a queen dragon at its hatching, thus becoming a dragonrider and the leader of a Weyr community. "Dragonrider" explores the growth of the queen dragon Ramoth, and the training of Lessa and Ramoth. Editor Campbell requested "to see dragons fighting thread [the menace from space]", and also suggested [[time travel]]; McCaffrey incorporated both suggestions. The third story, "Crack Dust, Black Dust", was not separately published, but the first Pern novel (''Dragonflight'', published by [[Ballantine Books]] in 1968) was a [[fix-up]] of all three.{{sfn|''Dragonholder''|p=49}}
<!--Todd McCaffrey's account is confusing about the published stories and unpublished trials possibly including "Dragonflight" (four-story titles, one becoming the overall title) -->

Agent Virginia Kidd and editor [[Betty Ballantine]] provided advice and assistance for its sequel ''Dragonquest''. It was almost complete (and the contract for another sequel signed) before the 1970 move to Ireland. Both Ballantine and fellow writer [[Andre Norton]] made suggestions for the mutant white dragon.{{sfn|''Dragonholder''|pp=51–52, 54–55}}

Readers waited a long time for the completion of the original trilogy. Progress was not made until 1974–1975, when the [[New England Science Fiction Association]] invited McCaffrey to its annual convention ([[Boskone (convention)|Boskone]]) as guest of honour (which included publication of a novella for sale on-site). She wrote ''A Time When'', which would become the first part of ''The White Dragon''.{{efn|name=A-Time-When}}

''The White Dragon'' was released with new editions of the first two Pern books, with cover art illustrated by [[Michael Whelan]]. It was the first science-fiction book by a woman on the ''New York Times'' best-seller list, and the cover painting is still in print from Whelan. The artists share credit for their career breakthroughs.{{efn|name=Todd-explains}}{{efn|name=Whelan-identifies}}

=== {{anchor|Pern forever}}Collaborations ===
McCaffrey said of her collaborations with son [[Todd McCaffrey]] and [[Elizabeth Ann Scarborough]], "While I would dearly love to have the energy to tell a tale all on my own, I really cannot say that I am not ably represented with my collaborations". In the Pern collaboration with Todd, she was mainly "making suggestions or being a sounding board".<ref name="letter" /> McCaffrey also gave Todd and his sister Gigi permission to write their own stories set in the Pern universe.{{sfn|''Locus''|2004}}

McCaffrey collaborated with author [[Mercedes Lackey]] to write ''The Ship Who Searched'', the third of seven books in the Brain & Brawn Ship series by McCaffrey and four other authors. She wrote two books in the ''[[Planet Pirates]]'' trilogy with [[Elizabeth Moon]]

=== Death ===
McCaffrey died at age 85 on 21 November 2011 at her home in Ireland, following a stroke.<ref>{{cite web |date=22 November 2011 |title=Anne McCaffrey (1926–2011) |url=http://www.locusmag.com/News/2011/11/anne-mccaffrey-1926-2011/ |work=Locus online |access-date=2011-11-23}}</ref>

== Books ==
{{main|Anne McCaffrey bibliography}}

=== Classification ===
In August 1987, ''[[Locus (magazine)|Locus: The magazine of the science fiction & fantasy field]]'' ranked two of the eight extant Pern novels among the "All-Time Best Fantasy Novels", based on a poll of subscribers; ''Dragonflight'' was 9th and ''The White Dragon'' 23rd.<ref>{{cite journal |title=The Locus Index to SF Awards: 1987 Locus All-time Poll |journal=Locus |url=http://www.locusmag.com/SFAwards/Db/LocusAT1987.html |access-date=2011-10-12 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040113221818/http://www.locusmag.com/SFAwards/Db/LocusAT1987.html |archive-date=2004-01-13}} Originally published in the monthly ''[[Locus (magazine)|Locus]]'', August 1987.</ref> Commenting on the ''Locus'' list, [[David Pringle]] called them "arguably science fiction rather than fantasy proper"{{sfn|Pringle|1988|p=21}} and named McCaffrey a "leading practitioner" of the [[planetary romance]] subgenre of science fiction.{{sfn|Pringle|1985|p=17}}{{efn|name=about-Pringle}}

McCaffrey considered most of her work science fiction and enjoyed "cutting them short when they call me a 'fantasy' writer". All the Pern books may be considered science fiction, since the dragons were genetically engineered by the Pern colonists. Regarding science, she said "I don't keep up with developments, but I do find an expert in any field in which I must explain myself and the science involved".{{sfn|Jamneck|2004}} Astronomer Steven Beard often helped with science questions,{{sfn|Roberts|2007|p=5}} and McCaffrey acknowledged reproductive biologist Jack Cohen several times.{{example needed|date=October 2011}}

The [[EMP Museum#Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame|Science Fiction Hall of Fame]] citation of Anne McCaffrey summarises her genre as "science fiction, though tinged with the tone and instruments of fantasy", and her reputation as "a writer of romantic, heightened tales of adventure explicitly designed to appeal—and to make good sense to—a predominantly female adolescent audience."<ref name="sfhof">{{cite web|url=http://empmuseum.org/exhibitions/index.asp?articleID=944|title=Anne McCaffrey 1926–|work=Science Fiction Hall of Fame (Members)|publisher=EMP Science Fiction Museum|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120722084039/http://www.empmuseum.org/exhibitions/index.asp?articleID=944|archive-date=2012-07-22|access-date=2011-07-16}} Acknowledges content from ''[[The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction]]'' 1993, 1999; see also its [[#{{SfnRef|Clute|2011}}|online third edition]].</ref>

McCaffrey said in 2000, "There are no demographics on my books which indicate the readers are predominantly of an age or sex group. Dragons have a universal appeal!"{{sfn|''SFFWorld''|2000}} Formerly, it was another matter:

<blockquote>I started writing s-f in the late 50s/early 60s, when readership was predominantly male. And their attitudes unreconstructed. [...&nbsp;Women] began reading s-f and fantasy—and, by preference, women writers. My stories had themes and heroines they could, and did, relate to. I never had any trouble with editors and publishers. I had trouble getting male readers to believe I was serious, and a good enough writer to interest them.</blockquote>

In 1999, the [[American Library Association]] gave McCaffrey the 11th [[Margaret A. Edwards Award]] for lifetime achievement in writing for teens. The librarians credited her with "over 50 novels for young adults and adults" and cited seven published from 1968 to 1979 for the "significant and lasting contribution to young adult literature" that the award features: ''The Ship Who Sang'' (1969) and the first six Pern books (those sometimes called the "original trilogy" and the "Harper Hall trilogy"). The panel chair observed that "McCaffrey's focus on the personal and emotional need of human beings mirrors the quest of today's teens to find their own place in society."<ref name=edwards/>

=== {{anchor|Restoree}}''Restoree'' ===
McCaffrey's first novel was ''[[Restoree]]'', published by [[Ballantine Books]] in 1967.  Unlike most science fiction books of the era, ''Restoree'''s heroine is a strong-willed, intelligent woman who is willing and able to think for herself and act on her own initiative.  McCaffrey was widely quoted as saying that ''Restoree'' was intended as a "jab" at how women were usually portrayed in science fiction.<ref>[http://pernhome.com/aim/?page_id=40 Frequently Asked Questions] (2007). The Worlds of Anne McCaffrey. Pernhome.com (c) 2010 Todd McCaffrey. Question 21. Retrieved 2011-11-23.</ref>

=== Federated Sentient Planets universe ===
Several of McCaffrey's series (and more than half her books) are set in a universe governed by the "Federated Sentient Planets" ("Federation" or "FSP"). Although Pern's history is connected to the Federation, McCaffrey only used it as a backdrop for storytelling and did not consider her different "worlds" to be part of the same universe.

==== Dragonriders of Pern series ====
{{main|Dragonriders of Pern}}
{{Hatnote|See lists in [[Anne McCaffrey bibliography#Dragonriders of Pern series|publication order]] and [[List of Pern books|Pern chronological order]]}}
McCaffrey's best-known works are the ''[[Dragonriders of Pern]]'' series.  When colonists from Earth and other planets make a decades-long space journey to Pern (an acronym designating "Parallels Earth, Resources Negligible" stamped on the original exploration team report) to escape interstellar wars, their fledgling society is threatened by ''Thread'', a mindless organism that falls like a "hungry rain" to consume all organic material. The survivors of the original expedition create genetically engineered "dragons" from a native species of small fire-breathing, winged reptiles as self-propagating weapons to destroy the encroaching organism in the sky. The majority of the [[Dragonriders of Pern]] books take place approximately 2500 years after the planet's colonization, when new challenges face the now low-tech, agrarian society that depends on the telepathically linked dragons and riders for protection from their ancient menace, and their long-forgotten origins are ultimately rediscovered.

==== The Brain & Brawn Ship series ====
{{main|The Ship Who Sang}}
{{Hatnote|See [[Anne McCaffrey bibliography#The Brain & Brawn Ship series|list of books]]}}
The Brain & Brawn Ship series comprises seven novels, only the first of which (a [[fix-up]] of five previously published stories) was written by McCaffrey alone.<ref name="series">[http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pe.cgi?3081 The Ship Who Sang (series)]. The Internet Speculative Fiction Database.</ref> The stories in this series deal with the adventures of "shell-people" or "Brains", who as infants (due to illness or birth defects) have had to be hard-wired into a life-support system. With sensory input and motor nerves tied into a computer they serve as [[brainship|starship pilots]] (or colony administrators), seeing and feeling the colony or ship as an extension of their own body. They perform this job to pay off their debt for education and hardware, and continue as free agents once the debt is paid. To compensate for the Brains' inability to move within human habitats they are paired with partners known as "Brawns", who are trained in a wide array of skills (including the protection of their Brain counterparts). It was considered impossible for a person to adjust to being a shell after the age of two or three. An exception, in ''[[The Ship Who Searched]]'', was a shell-person who was seven when she became quadriplegic.

The Ship books are set in the same universe as the Crystal Singer books; Brainship-Brawn pairings were also characters in the second and third volumes of that series.

==== The Crystal series ====
{{Hatnote|See [[Anne McCaffrey bibliography#The Crystal series|list of books]]}}
The first book (and first of the trilogy), ''The Crystal Singer'' (1982) is a fix-up of four stories published in 1974–1975.<ref>[http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pe.cgi?12063 The Crystal Universe (series)]. ISFDB.</ref><!--Roger Elwood had solicited stories for children or young adults and McCaffrey's Dragon writing had stalled.-->

The Crystal Singer series revolves around the planet Ballybran. Under a permanent biohazard travel restriction due to a potentially-fatal symbiotic organism on the planet's surface, Ballybran is the source of valuable crystals that are vital to a number of industries, and home to one of the FSP's wealthiest (and most reclusive) organisations: the Heptite Guild. The Heptite Guild is known to require absolute, perfect pitch in hearing and voice for all applicants (especially those seeking to mine crystal by song).  Because Ballybran's weather is unpredictable and dangerous (Ballybran's windstorms will cause exposed crystal to 'scream' in a discordant, deafening cacophony), the Heptite Guild is prohibited from actively recruiting members.

==== The Coelura series====

'The Coelura' explores the theme of environmental abuse, as a precious animal is hunted to near extinction for the thread it spins for its net. The Lady Caissa must choose between protecting the Coelura or meeting her obligations to her father and mother.

'Nimisha's Ship' takes place in the same universe, as a woman in the First Families becomes a ship designer and on a test run her ship is captured by a wormhole. On exploring a nearby planet, she finds and befriends the remaining crew of a stranded ship who suffered the same fate years before, plus a new sapient species.

==== Ireta ====
{{Hatnote|See [[Anne McCaffrey bibliography#Ireta|list of books]]}}
The Ireta series (as catalogued by the [[Internet Speculative Fiction Database]]) comprises five novels published 1978 to 1991, the first two by McCaffrey as subseries "Dinosaur Planet" and three as "Planet Pirates" by McCaffrey and co-writers.<ref>[http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pe.cgi?3075 Ireta (series)]. ISFDB.</ref>

They share a fictional premise, and some characters and events overlap. ''[[Dinosaur Planet (novel)|Dinosaur Planet]]'' and its sequel follow the Exploration and Evaluation Corps team on the planet Ireta, which did not expect to find dinosaurs. In "Planet Pirates", all is not well in the FSP: pirates attack the spacelanes. Survivors on Ireta join forces with the survivors of space pirate attacks.

=== The Talents universe ===
{{main|To Ride Pegasus}}
{{Hatnote|See [[Anne McCaffrey bibliography#The Talents universe|list of books]]}}
"The Talents Universe" (as catalogued by the [[Internet Speculative Fiction Database]]) comprises two series: "Talent" and "The Tower and Hive" and share a fictional premise. Eight books (all by McCaffrey alone) tell the story of telepathic, telekinetic individuals that become increasingly important to the proper function of interstellar society.<ref name="talents">[http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pe.cgi?700 The Talents Universe (series)]. ISFDB. Subpages for all constituent stories and books. Retrieved 2011-08-01.</ref>

=== Doona ===
{{Hatnote|See [[Anne McCaffrey bibliography#Doona|list of books]]}}
Two civilisations in near-identical circumstances&nbsp;– an overlarge, lethargic population and a tragic history with sentient aliens&nbsp;– end up attempting to colonise the same planet by accident. What the humans do not know is that the people they have misidentified as nomadic natives are more technically advanced than themselves (and under no such illusions regarding the humans).  The books are set prior to the formation of the Federation of Sentient Planets; in this series, the ruling body is the 'Amalgamated Planets'.

=== Petaybee universe ===
{{Hatnote|See [[Anne McCaffrey bibliography#Petaybee universe|list of books]]}}
The Petaybee universe comprises two trilogies (''Powers'' and ''The Twins of Petaybee'') by McCaffrey and Elizabeth Ann Scarborough.<ref>[http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pe.cgi?11853 Petaybee Universe (series)]. ISFDB.</ref>

=== The Barque Cat series ===
{{Hatnote|See [[Anne McCaffrey bibliography#The Barque Cat series|list of books]]}}
This series introduces a new universe with space faring Barque Cats and their special telepathically linked humans.

=== The Freedom series ===
{{main|Catteni Series}}
{{Hatnote|See [[Anne McCaffrey bibliography#The Freedom series|list of books]]}}
The Freedom series (or the "Catteni Sequence") comprises one 1970 short story and four ''Freedom'' novels written between 1995 and 2002.<ref>[http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pe.cgi?4282 Catteni Sequence (series)]. ISFDB.</ref>

=== Acorna universe ===
{{main|Acorna}}
{{Hatnote|See [[Anne McCaffrey bibliography#Acorna universe|list of books]]}}

The "Acorna Universe series" comprises ten novels published between 1997 and 2007: seven sometimes known as ''Acorna'' and three sometimes known as ''Acorna's Children''. The series involve a group of intergalactic miners who adopt a mysterious alien foundling with [[unicorn]]-like [[physiognomy]] and apparent magical abilities. The first two were written by McCaffrey and [[Margaret Ball (writer)|Margaret Ball]], and the rest by McCaffrey and [[Elizabeth Ann Scarborough]].<ref>[http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pe.cgi?24134 Acorna Universe (series)]. ISFDB.</ref>

=== Other works ===
McCaffrey also published two [[Anne McCaffrey bibliography#Short story collections|short-story collections]], several [[Anne McCaffrey bibliography#Romances|romances]], and [[Anne McCaffrey bibliography#Children's books|children's books]].

Her nonfiction work includes [[Anne McCaffrey bibliography#Cookbooks|two cookbooks]] and [[Anne McCaffrey bibliography#Dragons|a book about dragons in general]].

== See also ==
* {{Portal inline|Speculative fiction}}

== Notes ==
{{notelist |25em |notes=
{{efn |name=evidently |1=
{{harvnb|''Dragonholder''|pp=8–9}}. Evidently Merril did not include the story. <br/>&nbsp;{{ISFDB name|id=Judith_Merril|name=Judith Merril}}. <br/>&nbsp;{{ISFDB name|id=Anne_McCaffrey|name=Anne McCaffrey}}.}}

{{efn |name=A-Time-When |1=
{{harvnb|''Dragonholder''|p=98}}. {{cite web |url=http://www.nesfa.org/press/Books/McCaffrey.html |title=A Time When by Anne McCaffrey |publisher=NESFA Press |access-date=2007-02-08}} }}

{{efn |name=Todd-explains |1=
{{harvnb|''Dragonholder''|pp=107–08, 113}}. Todd McCaffrey explains the reissue as a trilogy and says that the success gave his mother "a secure perch on the ground". With Menolly's story and the white dragon's she was "freed by her dragons". <br /> Hans van der Boom calls the painting, "The cover art that, according to Anne and many of her fans, lured many to the shelves of the bookshop to buy&nbsp;...". [http://www.pern.nl/art_gallery/official/whelan.html "Michael Whelan"]. Official Pern Art. Art Gallery. The Pern Museum & Archives. Hans van der Boom (2008). Retrieved 2011-07-20. <br /> According to a fan report of McCaffrey's address at her SF Hall of Fame induction (2006), "She first thanked Michael Whelan for the cover of White Dragon. ...&nbsp;that's exactly how I came to read Anne&nbsp;...". [http://forums.srellim.org/showthread.php?t=2738 "Anne McCaffrey Induction 6/17/06"]. Becky Coelura MoM Staff. A Meeting of Minds: An Anne McCaffrey discussion forum. Retrieved 2011-07-25.}}

{{efn |name=Whelan-identifies |1=
Whelan identifies his career turning point: "it was when I did the cover for ''The White Dragon'' by Anne McCaffrey. It was the first book with one of my covers to make the bestseller lists and 'everyone' noticed." [http://www.michaelwhelan.com/about/faq/illustration/ FAQ: Illustration: Early Years]. Michael Whelan. Retrieved 2014-02-05.}}

{{efn |name=about-Pringle |1=
Pringle does not rank any of McCaffrey's works among the "hundred best" recent English-language science fiction novels or fantasy novels. He concedes a blind spot regarding planetary romance. See {{harvnb|Pringle|1985|p=17}}.}}
}}

== References ==
{{Reflist |colwidth=25em |refs=
<ref name="Murphy-2013">{{cite web |last=Murphy |first=Caitriona |date=22 February 2013 |title=The luxury house 'that dragons built' |work=Independent.ie |url=http://www.independent.ie/life/home-garden/homes/the-luxury-house-that-dragons-built-29087146.html |access-date=2016-02-03}}</ref>

<ref name=SFAwards>{{cite web|title=McCaffrey, Anne |work=The Locus Index to SF Awards: Index to Literary Nominees |publisher=Locus Publications |url=http://www.locusmag.com/SFAwards/Db/NomLit88.html#3446 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111015153146/http://www.locusmag.com/SFAwards/Db/NomLit88.html |archive-date=15 October 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

<ref name=SFWA>{{cite web|title=Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master |publisher=Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) |url=http://www.sfwa.org/nebula-awards/nebula-weekend/events-program/grandmaster/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110701114233/http://www.sfwa.org/nebula-awards/nebula-weekend/events-program/grandmaster/ |archive-date= 1 July 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

<ref name=sfhof2006>{{cite web |url=http://www.sfhomeworld.org/make_contact/article.asp?articleID=239 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20060426115756/http://www.sfhomeworld.org/make_contact/article.asp?articleID=239 |archive-date=2006-04-26 |title=Presenting |url-status=dead |access-date=2016-08-28}}. Press release 15 March 2006. Science Fiction Museum (''sfhomeworld.org''). Archived 2006-04-26. Retrieved 2013-04-06.</ref>

<ref name=sfhof2006-b>{{cite web |title=Science Fiction Hall of Fame |date=15 May 2006 |work=The Cohenside |url=http://cohenside.blogspot.com/2006/05/science-fiction-hall-of-fame.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161014221506/http://cohenside.blogspot.de/2006/05/science-fiction-hall-of-fame.html |archive-date=2016-10-14 |url-status=live}}</ref>

<ref name=edwards>{{cite web |title=1999 Margaret A. Edwards Award Winner |publisher=[[Young Adult Library Services Association]] (YALSA) |url=http://www.ala.org/yalsa/booklistsawards/bookawards/margaretaedwards/maeprevious/1999awardwinner |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120122153305/http://www.ala.org/yalsa/booklistsawards/bookawards/margaretaedwards/maeprevious/1999awardwinner |archive-date=2012-01-22 |url-status=live}}<br />
• {{cite web |title=Edwards Award |date=27 February 2012 |publisher=YALSA |url=http://www.ala.org/yalsa/edwards-award |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120405055545/http://www.ala.org/yalsa/edwards-award |archive-date=2012-04-05 |url-status=live}}<br />
• McCaffrey also contributed to the reflections by previous winners that were solicited for the 20th anniversary award, {{cite web |title=Looking Back |year=2008 |publisher=YALSA |url=http://www.ala.org/yalsa/booklistsawards/bookawards/margaretaedwards/maeprevious/anniversary |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120130191039/http://www.ala.org/yalsa/booklistsawards/bookawards/margaretaedwards/maeprevious/anniversary |archive-date=2012-01-30 |url-status=live}}</ref>
}}

'''Citations&nbsp;– books'''
{{Refbegin}}
* {{cite encyclopedia |title=McCaffrey, Anne |encyclopedia=[[The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction]] |publisher=Gollancz |url=http://www.sf-encyclopedia.com/Entry/mccaffrey_anne |last=Clute |first=John |date=10 October 2011 |author-link=John Clute |edition=3rd |editor1-last=Clute |editor1-first=John |editor2-last=Langford |editor2-first=David }}
* {{cite book |title=Dragonholder: The Life and Dreams (So Far) of Anne McCaffrey by her son |last=McCaffrey |first=Todd |publisher=Ballantine |year=1999 |isbn=978-0-345-42217-0 |location=New York |ref={{sfnRef|''Dragonholder''}} |author-link=Todd McCaffrey |url=https://archive.org/details/dragonholder00mcca }}
* {{cite book |title=[[Science Fiction: The 100 Best Novels]], An English-language selection 1949–1984 |last=Pringle |first=David |publisher=Xanadu |year=1985 |isbn=978-0-947761-10-3 |location=London |author-link=David Pringle }}
* {{cite book |title=[[Modern Fantasy: The 100 Best Novels]], An English-language selection, 1946–1987 |last=Pringle |first=David |publisher=Grafton |year=1988 |isbn=978-0-246-13214-7 |location=London }}
* {{cite book |title=Anne McCaffrey: A life with dragons |last=Roberts |first=Robin |publisher=University Press of Mississippi |year=2007 |isbn=978-1-57806-998-9 }}
{{Refend}}

'''Interviews'''
{{Refbegin}}
* {{cite web |url=http://www.karsmakers.nl/metal-e-zine/annem.htm |title=An Interview with Anne McCaffrey |last=Karsmakers |first=Richard |date=May 1994 |publisher=karsmakers.net |location=Gouda, NL |access-date=2011-07-21 }} Self-published.
* {{cite web |url=http://www.sffworld.com/interview/49p0.html |title=Interview with Anne McCaffrey |date=8 May 2000 |ref={{SfnRef|''SFFWorld''|2000}}|work=Science Fiction and Fantasy World |access-date=2011-07-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110615153701/http://www.sffworld.com/interview/49p0.html |archive-date=2011-06-15 |url-status=live }}
* {{cite web |url=http://www.writing-world.com/sf/mccaffrey.shtml |title=An Interview With Anne McCaffrey |last=Jamneck |first=Lynne |year=2004 |publisher=Writing-World.com |access-date=2011-07-21 }}
* {{cite web |url=http://www.locusmag.com/2004/Issues/11McCaffrey.html |title=Anne McCaffrey: Heirs to Pern |date=November 2004 |ref={{SfnRef|''Locus''|2004}} |work=Locus |access-date=2019-06-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606141650/http://www.locusmag.com/2004/Issues/11McCaffrey.html |archive-date=2011-06-06 |url-status=live }} Excerpts from interview published in the monthly ''[[Locus (magazine)|Locus]]'', November 2004.
{{Refend}}

== Further reading ==
{{Refbegin}}
* {{cite book |title=Anne McCaffrey |last=Brizzi |first=Mary T. |publisher=Starmont |year=1986 |isbn=978-0-930261-29-0|location=Mercer Island, Washington |author-link=Mary Turzillo }}
* {{cite book |title=Of Modern Dragons and other essays on Genre Fiction |last=Lennard |first=John |publisher=Humanities-Ebooks |year=2007 |isbn=978-1-84760-038-7|location=Penrith, UK |chapter=Of Modern Dragons: Antiquity, Modernity, and the Descendants of Smaug |author-link=John Lennard }}
* {{cite encyclopedia |year=1988 |title=Retrospection |encyclopedia=Women of Vision |publisher=St Martin's Press |location=New York |last=McCaffrey |first=Anne |editor-last=DuPont |editor-first=Denise |isbn=978-0-312-02321-8 |url=https://archive.org/details/womenofvision00dupo }}
* {{cite book |title=The Dragonlover's Guide to Pern |last2=<!-- with -->McCaffrey |first2=Anne |publisher=Ballantine |year=1989 |isbn=978-0-345-37946-7|location=New York |last1=Nye |first1=Jody Lynn |author-link1=Jody Lynn Nye }}
* {{cite book |title=Anne McCaffrey: A Critical Companion |last=Roberts |first=Robin |publisher=Greenwood Press |year=1996 |isbn=978-0-313-29450-1 |location=Westport, CT |url=https://archive.org/details/annemccaffreycri00robe }}
* {{cite book |title=Anne McCaffrey. Science Fiction Storyteller |last=Trachtenberg |first=Martha P. |publisher=Enslow |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-7660-1151-9 |location=Berkeley Heights, NJ |url=https://archive.org/details/annemccaffrey00mart }}
{{Refend}}

== External links ==
{{wikiquote}}
{{Commons category|Anne McCaffrey}}
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=== Bibliography ===
{{Library resources box|by=yes|onlinebooksby=yes|viaf=110586836}}
* {{ibdof name|id=9|name=Anne McCaffrey}}
* {{ISFDB name|176}}

=== Other ===
* {{official website |pernhome.com/aim |name=The Worlds of Anne McCaffrey}}&nbsp;– official website, Anne McCaffrey <!-- by son/co-author Todd McCaffrey -- perhaps should be the first listed Ext links -->
* [http://pernhome.com/pern/ Pern Home]&nbsp;– official website, Pern and The Dragonriders of Pern™ <!-- same as preceding -->
* {{sfhof |944 | Anne McCaffrey}}
* [http://www.fantasticon.dk/Eurocon2007/en/GoH/#Anne%20McCaffrey Anne McCaffrey – Guest of Honour at Eurocon 2007]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120307094310/http://petermorwood.livejournal.com/32014.html Remembrances] by [[Peter Morwood]]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCpxYHyHU4Y Interview with Anne McCaffrey and Elizabeth Ann Scarborough] about co-authoring two books, ''A DISCUSSION WITH National Authors on Tour'' TV Series, Episode #105 (1994)

{{Anne McCaffrey}}
{{Pern stories}}
{{Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Awards}}
{{Hugo Award Best Novella}}
{{Nebula Award Best Novella}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:McCaffrey, Anne}}
[[Category:Anne McCaffrey| ]]
[[Category:1926 births]]
[[Category:2011 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century American novelists]]
[[Category:20th-century American women writers]]
[[Category:21st-century American novelists]]
[[Category:21st-century American women writers]]
[[Category:American emigrants to Ireland]]
[[Category:American fantasy writers]]
[[Category:American people of English descent]]
[[Category:American people of Irish descent]]
[[Category:American women novelists]]
[[Category:Hugo Award–winning writers]]
[[Category:Irish science fiction writers]]
[[Category:Margaret A. Edwards Award winners]]
[[Category:Montclair High School (New Jersey) alumni]]
[[Category:Nebula Award winners]]
[[Category:Novelists from Massachusetts]]
[[Category:People from Sea Cliff, New York]]
[[Category:Radcliffe College alumni]]
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