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This review does not represent the opinions of the general public. It reflects my personal thoughts and opinions on the book.
That said, on to the review!
As the people of Pern reluctantly--and urgently--prepared themselves for another Pass of the Red Star, one segment of the population expanded greatly: the holdless. For these people--criminals and outcasts banished from the holds, discontented invalids, lazy layabouts ousted from their lands--there was nothing to do but search high and low for shelter from the Falls. And their search brought them together beneath the shadowy banner of Thella, Lady Holdless. Now the leader of one of the most successful raider bands in the eastern lands, Thella has plans to increase her power by kidnapping a girl who hears dragons. But in her drive for power she has made many enemies. The holders she preys upon. The craftsmen she steals from. The dragonriders whose rallying efforts to protect the planet have allowed the breaches in hold security. And none wants her dead more than a young trader whose train she once attacked...and who will do anything to rescue the girl who hears dragons from Thella's vile clutches!
In the rush and bustle of the lives of Pern's more notable leaders and heroes it becomes easy to ignore the common folk. The Renegades of Pern nicely remedies that problem by providing a story that, while not wholly about the common folk, still focuses upon the lives that everyone else overlooks as being inept and useless. We also get to follow the exploits of the infamous Fax, although this is in brief. And yet, Fax is very important because there are those who follow his example, albeit to a more cautious and reasonable--but no less ambitious--degree. By following Fax's story, we even learn that Lessa was not the only survivor of the Ruathan Blood...although she is the only one of the direct line.
Skillfully interwoven into this story are the events of all the previous "contemporary" novels; that is, not Dragonsdawn, Moreta, or Nerilka's Story but all the rest. We get to move a step beyond the final events of The White Dragon and learn more about the excavations of the settlers' ships and original settlement. That alone should make the read worthwhile: who can resist finding out how the people of contemporary Pern will react to the works and doings of their many-times removed ancestors?
The Renegades of Pern is another gem in the coronet of Pern books from Anne McCaffrey. It's well worth the read and, while the much loved characters from other Pern books are mostly absent or minor ones here--Lessa, F'lar, F'nor, etc.--there are new characters to meet and fall in love with. Definitely worth the read!
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