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Dragon's Fire (with Todd
McCaffrey) (Bantam, 2006) (first published 2006)
"When Masterharper Zist takes over as Harper
for Natalon's coal-mining camp, he takes with him him his apprentice, the
orphaned, mute Pellar, and Pellar's fire-lizard Chitter. Pellar has become
a gifted tracker and Zist gives him his own mission, to find out if the recent
thefts of coal are the work of the Shunned, criminals condemned to a life
of wandering and hardship.
Halla is one of the children of the Shunned. Though innocent
of their parents' crimes these children have inherited their cruel punishment.
With no shelter, when the lethal Thread falls again they will have no protection
against it. Life is even rougher for Halla: all her family are dead and she
must fend for herself. Yet Halla is kind and gentle, devoted to helping those
more helpless than she - unlike Tenim, a fellow child of the Shunned. Tenim
is in league with Tarik, a crooked miner from Camp Natalon, who helps him
steal coal in exchange for a cut of the profit. But Tenim soon realizes that
there is a lot more to be made from firestone, the volatile mineral that
enables the dragons of Pern to burn Thread out of the sky. Tenim doesn't
care what he has to do, or whom he has to kill, in order to corner the
market.
Cristov is Tarik's son. Dishonoured by his father's greed
and treachery, he decides he must make amends somehow... even if it means
risking his life by mining volatile firestone, which blows up on contact
with the slightest drop of moisture.
When the last remaining firestone mine explodes in flames,
a desperate race begins to find a new deposit of the deadly but essential
mineral, for without it there can be no defence against Thread. But Tenim
has a murderous plan to turn the tragedy to his own advantage, and only Pellar,
Halla and Cristov can stop him - and ensure that there will be a future for
all in the world of the Dragonriders." |
