The fourteenth novel (chronologically) in Anne McCaffrey's series The Dragonriders of Pern, this book was next on my to-read list.

When the ancient Landing site is explored, the AIVAS (Artificial Intelligence Voice Address System) machine is found and "brought back to life." AIVAS teaches them about how their ancestors came to Pern and about their ancestors' technology.

AIVAS reveals that the ancestors had made a plan to destroy Thread, but never had the chance to put it into action due to circumstances at the time. The plan is the highest priority for the AIVAS facility, and he trains the characters in the book so that he can put the plan into action.

Fantasy and sci-fi readers, and those who've read the previous books in the series (not necessary, but it would help the reader understand things better).

The characters and their interaction with each other. I think Anne McCaffrey has a knack for developing characters and their interrelationships with each other.

Well, to me, unearthing AIVAS's technology took a bit away from the idea of it being a fantasy world. It makes things more real and plausible--which is both good and bad. Suddenly, I was reading about characters (who have always lived in somewhat of a midevil time of technology) wearing wrist-watches and using computers. It just didn't seem to sit well with me, even though it explains everything about how they came to Pern.

Comparing this book to the others that I've read in her series (all but three), this isn't the best one, and I wouldn't reccomend it as a first impression of Anne McCaffrey's world, Pern. But it's not a bad book at all--I just simply felt that it wasn't as brilliant as her others.