Come Sail the Friendly Seas

I've had this book sitting on my shelf for the past year, waiting for just the right moment to read it. I picked it up last week and finished it tonight. Imagine my surprise when, while watching Regis on Sunday, the question came up: Which mythical creature is the focus of most of best-selling author Anne McCaffrey's books? Or something like that. The answer was dragons, but oddly enough dragons had a rather small part to play in this novel of Pern. Instead, the spotlight goes to creatures a little closer to home: dolphins.

First of all, I suppose I ought to explain some of the background for this book. It is part of a series of books by Anne McCaffrey about the planet Pern. Taking place several centuries in the future, the series charts the redevelopment of mankind on the planet of Pern after technology gone afoul forces humans to evacuate Earth. The new settlers are very careful not to allow the pollution which destroyed their first planet, and they live simply despite their vast knowledge.

The old ways of apprenticeships and craftsmasters are reinstated, and Holds, or settlements, pop up across the land. Dolphins are brought to Pern with the humans and given the gift of Speech. Their task in this new world is to patrol the waters, charting out new territories and warning of storms. Soon after Landing, however, a nearby planet is knocked out of orbit and causes Thread, a deadly fibrous substance, to fall upon Pern at will. With advanced biotechnic techniques, dragons are created to battle Thread. Eventually, in the fight to stay alive, the dolphins are all but forgotten.

Twenty-five hundred years later, a boy named Readis and a fishman named Alemi are out on the water when they are caught in a vicious storm. Their ship is overturned, and they are rescued by several shipfish (the current name for dolphins). To the humans' amazement, the shipfish begin to speak with them, divulging their true name. Excited, Alemi begins to communicate with the dolphins on a regular basis, constantly correcting their speech. Readis, however, is forbidden by his mother to go near the water, much to his disappointment.

Soon after the shipwreck, Alemi meets a dragonrider, T'lion, and his dragon Gadareth. The two become intrigued by the dolphins as well, and they begin speaking with the pod near their own home. The two men's efforts are made simpler by the addition of a bell, which is used to call in the dolphins, and the information provided by Aivas, a vastly intelligent machine recently discovered in the ruins of the Ancients.

T'lion and Readis forge a friendship and the dragonrider secretly takes the boy to meet the dolphins daily. All is well until Readis steps on a seathorn and winds up with a crippled leg. His mother is more opposed to the dolphins than ever, and it is up to Alemi and T'lion to prove the dolphins' intelligence to the leaders.

Years go by, and Readis is now a sixteen-year-old. After a particularly nasty storm, he leaves school to care for two badly injured dolphins in his home pod. T'lion helps him but manages to ruin a precious book of medical knowledge in the process. Both are in disgrace when the others find out, and Readis is severely chastised by his parents. His mother's insistence that he promise to stop associating with "shipfish" angers him so much that he rides off on his runnerbeast, Delky, to forge a new life for himself amongst the dolphins.

I was not in the least disappointed by this finely crafted tale, written with the warmth and wit I have come to expect from McCaffrey. The dolphins are delightful, and their society is highly believable. In fact, I believe it is incredibly similar to the delphenic societies of today, except, of course, that they don't speak English.

Also included in the story are many important lessons. Stewardship is brought up over and over again. Poor stewardship of the Earth is what caused its demise; the inhabitants of Pern have to take great care not to let that happen again. Stewardship of other creatures is stressed as well: returning the favors that the dolphins gladly performed and continuing to treat dragons with respect even after the threat of Thread is gone.

Finally, it teaches an important lesson about accepting the dreams of one's children. Readis is the son of a Lord Holder, somewhat the equivalent of a governor. It is expected that he will succeed his father, and his Hold responsibilities are always expected to come first. Readis' mother is unable to let go of her resentment of the dolphins, and she wants her son to have nothing to do with them. It takes a very hard lesson to teach both parents that their son must follow his own path, whatever that might be.

Anyone familiar with McCaffrey's books will embrace this one. Any lover of fantasy or of dolphins should definitely pick this book up. If you are new to the series, this book is as good a place to start as any. It clearly outlines Pern's history, so new readers will easily be swept into this brave new world. Just one warning: There are a lot of McCaffrey books out there, and once you've read one you'll want to read them all!