About this item
Mangan Tighe had been the perfect regent. Having sufficiently provided for the future peace and prosperity of Esphania and for the smooth ascension to the throne of his young prince, Jamas, the wizened old Mangan had quietly passed away - with a grin upon his face. For the very clever Mangan had left behind an extraordinary guardian to help Jamas bear the new and heavy burden of leadership: Niffy the cat.Niffy, no ordinary feline, will accompany Prince Jamas everywhere, perusing every document and decree, and - in her own peculiar way - offering guidance.And it is guidance that the prince desperately needs. The realms and kingdoms that now include Jamas's Esphania are a belligerent and unruly lot, constantly jostling and fighting for local mastery. The worst of them is ruled by a greedy king and his treacherous usurper queen, who scheme to annex Esphania and crush its royal household.
About the Author
Anne McCaffrey was born on April 1st, 1926, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Her parents were George Herbert McCaffrey, BA, MA PhD (Harvard) , Colonel USA Army (retired) , and Anne Dorothy McElroy McCaffrey, estate agent. She had two brothers: Hugh McCaffrey (deceased 1988) , Major US Army, and Kevin Richard McCaffrey, still living. Anne was educated at Stuart Hall in Staunton Virginia, Montclair High School in Montclair, New Jersey, and graduated cum laude from Radcliffe College, majoring in Slavonic Languages and Literatures. Her working career included Liberty Music Shops and Helena Rubinstein (1947-1952) . She married in 1950 and had three children: Alec Anthony, b. 1952, Todd, b.1956, and Georgeanne, b.1959. Anne McCaffrey's first story was published by Sam Moskowitz in Science Fiction Magazine and her first novel was published by Ballantine Books in 1967. By the time the three children of her marriage were comfortably in school most of the day, she had already achieved enough success with short stories to devote full time to writing. Her first novel, Restoree, was written as a protest against the absurd and unrealistic portrayals of women in s-f novels in the 50s and early 60s. It is, however, in the handling of broader themes and the worlds of her imagination, particularly the two series The Ship Who Sang and the fourteen novels about the Dragonriders of Pern that Ms. McCaffrey's talents as a story-teller are best displayed. She died at the age of 85, after suffering a massive stroke on 21 November 2011. Obituaries:
