Young Tizra and her twin brother Tracell find their world abruptly changed when their father is unexpectedly called to fight in a war which promises to last much longer than the usual three-day skirmish. Their mother -- the village healer -- enlists her children to assist her in caring for the many refugees left wounded and homeless by the conflict. Inspired by her mother, Tizra learns never to surrender hope even in a time of fear and uncertainty.
Anne Inez McCaffrey was an American 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, 1968) and the first to win a Nebula Award (Best Novella, Dragonrider, 1969). Her 1978 novel The White Dragon became one of the first science-fiction books to appear on the New York Times Best Seller list. In 2005 the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America named McCaffrey its 22nd Grand Master, an annual award to living writers of fantasy and science fiction. She was inducted by the Science Fiction Hall of Fame on 17 June 2006. She also received the Robert A. Heinlein Award for her work in 2007.