Product Description
Kindan is an apprentice harper at the Harper Hall but he is finding the lessons very difficult and although he has his friends, Nonala, Kelsa and Verilan, he also has enemies, such as the bully Vaxoram. Things begin to improve for Kindan when he beats Vaxoram in a duel and Vaxoram becomes first his servant and then gradually his trusted friend. Then Kindan impresses a fire-lizard and becomes the proud owner of the magnicent Valla. At the hatching, he meets Koriana, daughter of Lord Holder Bemin of Fort Hold. She also impresses and she and Kindan fall in love, but her parents disapprove and she has to return to Fort Hold. Then a plague begins to spread across Pern, killing nearly everyone infected. Kindan and his friends search the harper records to see if they can find a cure, but all they can find is mention of a similar plague over a hundred Turns past. As the plague gets worse Kindan and Vaxoram are sent to Fort Hold to help tend the sick. Kindan will be reunited with Koriana, but will she be free of the plague, and will he be able to find a cure before more people die?
From the Back Cover
All Kindan ever wanted to do was become a Harper, singing, playing, and teaching the ballads of Pern, and he is thrilled when he becomes an Apprentice at the Harper Hall. But then he is offered the chance to attend a hatching and succeeds in Impressing the magnificent bronze fire-lizard, Valla
There he meets Koriana, daughter of Lord Holder Bemin of Fort Hold. She also Impresses, in her case a gold fire-lizard, and there is an instant attraction between her and Kindan. Unfortunately an apprentice Harper is not considered a suitable consort for a Fort Holder's daughter and they are quickly separated, leaving Kindan to wonder about his future - would it be possible for him to have more than just the life of a Harper?
But suddenly everything starts to go wrong for Kindan and he is accused of starting a fire which destroys ancient and extremely precious Records. Kindan is banished to Fort Hold in shame and dishonour. However, his own worries pale into insignificance when a terrible plague starts to spread across Pern, killing nearly everyone infected. As it reaches Fort Hold, Kindan and the rest of Pern's inhabitants know their very survival is in doubt.
See all Product Description