Collecting Highlights

9/15/2005  All the Weyrs of Pern abridged audio recording
by Hans van der Boom

It is not an especially rare item but really something special that "stole my heart" because it is one of the few items that allows us to really hear our favourite author and not only read what she came up with. And among the few recordings Anne made herself this one takes a special place.  I am talking about the abridged recording on audio cassette of All the Weyrs of Pern which was published by The Publishing Mills in 1991 and originally retailed for US$15.95.

The recording consists out of two audio cassettes of 90 minutes each, giving you a total of a wonderful three hours listening to Anne's unusual voice. At least, that is how I saw it. Anne's does have a special sound and let me tell you, that it is not the recording; if you ever meet her for real you will notice the special timbre in her voice right away.

The recording was published in November 1991 by a relatively small company. it is packed in a cardboard and plastic clamshell case. The cover illustration is the one by Michael Whelan also used for the book.

Why do I think this is so special? Well, Anne not only reads it herself but she reads parts of it with such feeling and such emotion that, despite the fact you know this is fiction, you are wondering if things are for real.  Some of you may have heard Anne talking about Robinton's death and Aivas' shutdown. For those who have not I have put about 30 seconds worth of that scene on my site for you to listen to. The quality is bad but it does reproduce Anne's voice correctly (the first time I heard it I really thought there was something wrong with the recording) and you'll hear the emotion coming through and Anne sounding nearly in tears at the end...

Follow the link below, and either chose run/play (in which case your computer will play the fragment, if you have a program installed for that - the regular Windows media player will suffice) or chose "save" to save the file to your PC and play it from there. 

Audio fragment of AtWoP

The Publishing Mills also published an unabridged set (1996, 10 cassettes, read by Mark Rolston)

As of 9/15/2005, a few copies of this abridged audio recording were available online for prices varying from US$10-25.  For tips on locating copies of this or other items, email Cheryl (address in page footer) or post a message at A Meeting of Minds.

Previous Highlight     Return to Collecting Highlights Index     Next Highlight