''Nerilka's Story'' is a

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...

novella by the American-Irish author

Anne McCaffrey Anne Inez McCaffrey (1 April 1926 – 21 November 2011) was an American-Irish 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'', 19 ...

. Nerilka's Story became the eighth book in the ''

Dragonriders of Pern ''Dragonriders of Pern'' is a science fantasy series written primarily by American author Anne McCaffrey, who initiated it in 1967. Beginning in 2003, her middle child Todd McCaffrey has written Pern novels, both solo and jointly with Anne. ...

'' volume series.. Retrieved 2011-10-09. '' Moreta'' (1983) and its sequel ''Nerilka'' (1985) are companion stories, in that the latter narrates a second perspective on major events of the former. It was the first work in the series following publication of ''

The Atlas of Pern ''The Atlas of Pern'' by Karen Wynn Fonstad is an authorized companion book to the science fiction Dragonriders of Pern series by Anne McCaffrey. It was completed in 1984 based on the first seven Pern novels and collaboration with McCaffrey. The ...

'', and so is not covered in the Atlas.

Plot summary

Taking a different approach from the previous seven books in the series, ''Nerilka's Story'' has a non-dragonrider and non-harper as its major viewpoint character. It is set during the events detailed in '' Moreta: Dragonlady of Pern''. Nerilka is the daughter of a Lord Holder who turns her back on her life in an upper-class family and sets out to fight the disease that threatens to kill all humans on Pern. According to a critic for the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television a ...

'', Nerilka makes for an "intelligent, resourceful, selfless and, alas, homely" heroine.

Reception

Critics have called ''Nerilka'' a story with "terse power". It was first published in 1985. The novel reached #7 on

TIME Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...

Magazine's Best Sellers list for fiction on April 7 and 21, 1986. On the New York Times Best Seller list for paperbacks, it first appeared on February 22, 1987, at #12, and reached #11 the week after.

Notes

References

Citations – books *

External links

{{Authority control 1986 novels 1986 science fiction novels Dragonriders of Pern books Novels by Anne McCaffrey Del Rey books