The Dragonriders of Pern by Anne McCaffrey

However, when this narrative begins, an unusually long interval between Thread attacks has caused the general population to dismiss the threat as myth and gradually withdraw support from the Weyrs where dragons are bred and trained. Humanity finally managed to find equilibrium and began to create a thriving culture, society, and economy, eventually expanding right across Pern's northern continent. By harnessing and riding the indigenous, flying, fire-breathing dragons (with genetic alterations to make them larger and telepathic), the colonists destroyed the Thread in the skies over Pern, creating pockets of safety over its surface, before it was able to burrow into the land and breed. The colonists had originally intended to gradually adopt a low-technology agrarian lifestyle, but were forced to move more quickly after they encountered the deadly Thread raining down from the sky. Plot introduction ĭragonflight takes place in the far future on Pern, a planet colonized by humans. In response, McCaffrey wrote a third story titled 'Crack Dust, Black Dust', which was not published separately, but provided crucial material for the novel. Campbell asked 'to see dragons fighting Thread', Pern's menace from space, and he also suggested time travel. 'Dragonrider' features the growth of Lessa's queen dragon, Ramoth, and their training together.

'Weyr Search' features a young woman named Lessa being recruited to establish a telepathic bond with a queen dragon at its hatching, thus becoming a dragonrider, and the leader of a Weyr community on the fictional planet Pern. The second segment, 'Dragonrider', appeared in two parts, beginning in December 1967, and was also a cover story illustrated by Schoenherr. The first segment, 'Weyr Search', illustrated by John Schoenherr, had been the cover story for the October 1967 issue.

Two components of Dragonflight were award-winning novellas published by Analog science fiction magazine. In 1987, Locus ranked Dragonflight at number nine among the 33 'All-Time Best Fantasy Novels', based on a poll of subscribers. First published by Ballantine Books in July 1968, it was a fix-up of two novellas which between them had made McCaffrey the first woman writer to win a Hugo and a Nebula Award. It is the first book in the Dragonriders of Pern series. Print ( paperback original 1969 hardcover)ĭragonflight is a science fiction novel by the American-Irish author Anne McCaffrey.

The Dragonriders of Pern by Anne McCaffrey