Thus begun a facination with Pern and all things dragon. At the time only six of the current 13 books had been written, the Dragonriders Trilogy and the Harper Hall trilogy. I searched out other Anne McCaffrey books such as Restoree, The Ship Who Sang and Dinosaur Planet. The more books AM wrote, the more hooked I became.
Once I became comfortable with the Internet I began searching the net for Pern stuff. I was thrilled to find the huge selection! I quickly founded a discussion club on the new Yahoo forums, called "The Dragonriders of Pern". It was not long before I found my way to the Fan Fiction Clubs. As an aspiring writer the combination of my writing skill and my passion for Pern appealed to me. I looked over several clubs and found myself frustrated with the lack of post-AIVAS clubs that accepted technology. I joined several clubs to learn the ropes, then I wrote to Anne McCaffrey and asked for and recieved permission to found my own club, and so Dawnsisters Weyr was born.
On November 3, 2000 I was in Ireland for a day. Alec and Anne were gracious enough to invite me to her home, Dragonhold Underhill, in County Wicklow. Of course I accepted! There I had the opporotunity to meet Anne, her son Alec (her Webmaster), other members of her family as well as her Maine Coon cats and her dog. I was given a tour of her home, including the office where she writes her wonderful books. I had a wonderful visit there and went away feeling as if I had just visited a favorite great-aunt.
Thank you, Anne!
Anne McCaffrey first wrote about Pern in a short story for a science fiction magazine. The story was so well recieved it became a book, Dragonflight. That was soon followed by Dragonquest, then the Harper Hall trilogy. She has now written the stories of the exploration and initial colonization of Pern, historic events in Pern's past and of course continued the saga of Weyrwoman Lessa, Masterharper Robinton and young Lord Jaxom and his white dragon Ruth.
Pern is a pastoral planet, the settlers intended to eschew technology to live the simpler life. What they never expected was a "natural" disaster which would cause them to lose even the most basic of technology, plunging the people of Pern into the dark ages with feudal systems, herbal healing and Craft Apprenticeship systems, putting children to work as early as age 10.
Most of the stories take place 2500 turns (years) after the colonization of Pern, the origins of their people have degenerated into myth. The current leaders of Pern are far reaching and innovative, determined to regain the lost knowledge of their ancestors.
in chronoligical order. Anne McCaffrey recommends reading the series in order of publishing date but I recommend this order for maximum clarification of various references.
Survey P.E.R.N (anthology First Fall)
Dragonsdawn
The Dolphin's Bell (anthology First Fall)
Ford of Red Hanrahan (anthology First Fall)
The Second Weyr (anthology First Fall)
Ever the Twain (anthology Gift of Dragons)
Dragonseye aka Red Star Rising
Dragon's Kin (with Todd McCaffrey)
Moreta, Dragonlady of Pern
Nerilka's Story
Masterharper of Pern
Runner of Pern (anthology Gift of Dragons)
Dragonflight
The Smallest Dragonboy (anthology Gift of Dragons)
Dragonquest
The Girl Who Heard Dragons (anthology Gift of Dragons)
Dragonsong
Dragonsinger
Dragondrums
The White Dragon
Renegades of Pern
All the Weyrs of Pern
Dolphins of Pern
The Skies of Pern
Reference books
The Dragonlover's Guide to Pern
Atlas of Pern
The People of Pern
Weyrhealer Geana
Greenrider (Weyrling) Dacia
Journeyman Herder Zeva
Brownrider (Weyrling) J'nat
