Dragonsdawn
The beautiful planet Pern seemed a paradise to its new colonists - until unimaginable terror turned it into hell. Suddenly deadly spores were falling like silver threads from the sky, devouring everything - and everyone - in their path. It began to look as if the colony, cut off from Earth and lacking the resources to combat the menace, was doomed.
Then some of the colonists noticed that the small, dragonlike lizards that inhabited their new world were joining the fight against Thread, breathing fire on it and teleporting to safety. If only, they thought, the dragonets were big enough for a human to ride and intelligent enough to work as a team with a rider...
And so they set their most talented geneticist to work to create the creatures Pern so desperately needed - Dragons!
John W. Campbell Memorial Award Nominee for Best Science Fiction Novel (1989)
About the Pern Series
Books in series order
- 1.Dragonflight(1968)
- 2.Dragonquest(1971)
- 3.Dragonsong(1976)
- 4.Dragonsinger(1977)
- 5.Get Off the Unicorn(1977)
- 6.The White Dragon(1978)
- 7.Dragondrums(1979)
- 8.Moreta: Dragonlady of Pern(1983)
- 9.Nerilka's Story(1984)
- 10.Dragonsdawn(1988)
- 11.The Dragonlover's Guide to Pern(1989)
- 12.The Renegades of Pern(1989)
- 13.All The Weyrs of Pern(1991)
- 14.The Chronicles of Pern: First Fall(1993)
- 15.The Girl Who Heard Dragons(1996)
- 16.Dragonseye(1996)
- 17.The Masterharper of Pern(1998)
- 18.Legends(1999)
- 19.The Skies of Pern(2001)
- 20.A Gift of Dragons(2002)
- 21.Dragon's Kin(2003)
- 22.Legends II: Dragon, Sword, and King(2004)
- 23.Dragonsblood(2005)
- 24.Dragon's Fire(2006)
- 25.Dragon Harper(2007)
- 26.Dragonheart(2008)
- 27.Dragongirl(2010)
- 28.Dragon's Time(2011)
- 29.Sky Dragons(2012)
Reading age: 11+ years
This series should be read in order.
This fantasy series tells the story of inhabitants of Pern, a pristine and beautiful planet colonised when earth became too polluted and overcrowded. The suitability of the planet is marred by periodic attacks from space by the destructive Thread, a space-borne spore that destroys organic substances – and hence, humans - on contact. The settlers discover that a native life form, the fire-lizard, has developed adaptations against Thread.
The first book in the series starts when the society is well-established, and focuses on the character Lessa, who is working disguised as a kitchen girl, but is on the brink of reclaiming her stolen birthright. Everything changes, however, when she meets a queen dragon. They develop a strong bond which provides vital protection when, for the first time in centuries, Lessa's world is threatened by Thread. Dragons and their Riders once regularly protected the planet from Thread, but there are very few of them left these days. Now Lessa must risk her life, and the life of her beloved dragon, to save her beautiful world...
Note: The books in this series, also known as 'Dragonriders of Pern', are listed in order of publication. For a list of the books in chronological order, please refer to the series website.