According to her son Todd, McCaffrey's agent Virginia Kidd and editor Betty Ballantine provided crucial advice and assistance in her struggle with the sequel to Dragonflight.

After the agent first read a draft, the author followed her advice to "burn it", and she met with the editor in long sessions.

It was near completion before she emigrated to Ireland in September 1970, with her two younger children Todd and Georgeanne, one month after divorcing her husband.

F'nor is sent to the Southern Continent to recover, where he falls in love with Brekke and discovers the wicked deeds of Weyrwoman Kylara.

[3] The American Library Association in 1999 cited the two early Pern trilogies (Dragonriders and Harper Hall), along with The Ship Who Sang, when McCaffrey received the annual Margaret A. Edwards Award for her "lifetime contribution in writing for teens".