McCaffrey's life and work
are well worth writing about. She was the first woman writer to win a Hugo
(for "Weyr Search", in 1968), and in 1978 her novel The White Dragon
was the first SF hardcover to reach the New York Times bestseller
list. She's had many bestsellers since then, and has become one of the
most popular and beloved figures in the genre.
Todd McCaffrey's goal is
to share "the stories behind the stories," the people and interests in
his mother's life that she's used in her writing. Mostly, that's her family
-- including pets, friends and moments of domestic life.
Pleasant, if slightly
confused
This is good material, and
McCaffrey's son has a pleasant, informal style.
Sometimes he seems a little
confused about who his readers are, first explaining as if to children
what a science fiction convention was like "in those days," then turning
around to ask an apparently older audience if they remember green stamps.
It's a little inconsistent, but the relaxed tone fits the gentle incidents
that make up a writer's life.
As biography, it's not to
be trusted. The author skips over basic facts -- Anne McCaffrey's birth
year is never stated -- and gets other details wrong. For instance, he
claims he was introduced to the Dungeons and Dragons roleplaying game at
a British SF convention in 1970, when in fact D&D was not invented
until 1974. It's a very minor point, but it calls the rest of his research
and memories into question.
Another of Dragonholder's
stumbling blocks is its somewhat misleading subtitle. While the book bills
itself as "The Life and Dreams (So Far) of Anne McCaffrey", the narrative
actually makes an abrupt stop after about 1975, when McCaffrey settled
into a permanent home at her Irish farm, Dragonhold.
A fan family album
While this is a natural
stopping point, fans wanting to know about the last quarter-century of
McCaffrey's life will have to wait for the possible second volume hinted
at in the final pages.
The book's target audience
will likely consider these flaws to be minor ones. McCaffrey fans will
be thrilled to hear about the inspirations behind her most famous stories,
and the book itself is a handsome keepsake, with good paper and a curling
page and dragon motif in the margins. Most of the pictures are family snapshots,
but they reproduce well and the subjects are interesting.
Long-time SF fans will also
enjoy the descriptions of science fiction fandom in the late 1950s and
1960s. This was a time when everybody knew everyone, and the anecdotal
accounts of McCaffrey's encounters with other writers and editors bring
the old days back to life.
In particular, there are
some great Isaac Asimov stories. While I was amused to see that I'm not
the only person to name a cat or two after the Good Doctor, our family
didn't make jokes about "neutering Isaac."
Dragonholder doesn't
fill the need for a serious biography of McCaffrey and her work -- in fact,
it only makes that need more obvious. Still, the book accomplishes its
purpose, and even an old cynic like me has to admit it's a pleasant read.
If a second volume does materialize, I suspect I'm going to want to read
it too.
Chris Aylott is co-owner
of the Space-Crime Continuum, a science fiction and mystery bookstore.
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