Moreta, Dragonlady of
Pern (Corgi, 1984) (first published
1983)
"SOME FOURTEEN HUNDRED TURNS AFTER MEN FIRST
CAME TO PERN RODE MORETA, ON HER GREAT GOLDEN DRAGON, ORLITH.
It was towards the end of the Pass of the Red Star -
a time when every living creature on Pern was threatened by threadfall -
when the courage and daring of dragons and riders was all that kept the planet
from extinction.
And then, at the height of the battle against Thread,
came a new and terrible evil. Moreta, in one last superhuman endeavour, was
to save her people, and become the greatest legend of dragonlore until the
end of time.
THIS IS THE STORY OF MORETA'S RIDE."
Nerilka's Story & The
Coelura (Bantam 1987) (first
published 1986)
"It was in Moreta's time - a time of legend,
of heroic valour, of terrible threadfall, and the Great Plague that devastated
both Holders and Dragonfolk.
For Lady Nerilka of Fort Hold the tragedy was twofold
for, with the death of her mother and sister, her father's mistress took
possession of the Hold. Angry and betrayed, Nerilka decided to escape and
as Pern seethed in turmoil, she began her perilous journey to Ruatha, Prince
Alessan, and an unknown destiny."
Dragonsdawn
(Corgi, 1991) (first published
1988)
"IN THE BEGINNING...
Before Thread, before the dragons, before the Holds
and the Weyrs and the elite Dragonriders of Pern, was just the great ship
gliding through space with nearly three thousand colonists prepared to tackle
to mighty task of beginning a new world on a strange planet. It was a jewel
of a planet - with rivers and seas and mountains, and breathable air and
growing things. Then came the terror. The strange, unidentified circles in
the grass suddenly revealed a meaning, and every living thing was at risk.
Many died - a horrible and consuming death. All resources, every man, woman
and child had to fight the terrible nightmare of Thread. But a new creature
was about to save the planet. From the delicate fire lizards a new life was
born - a new symbiosis between man and beast.
THE LEGEND OF PERN WAS ABOUT TO
BEGIN."
The Renegades Of Pern
(Corgi, 1995) (first published
1989)
"They were the misfits, the outcasts, the
murderers withour Hold of Crafthall. Some were resentful, some sought vengeance,
but it was not until Thella, Lady Holder of Telgar, began to weld them together
into a terrifying and brilliantly evil clan that they became the Renegades
of Pern. It was a time of great turmoil on the planet. The pass of the Red
Star had brought a new terrible reign of Threadfall, and in the Southern
Hold, Toric was carving out an enormous empire for himself from lands as
yet uncharted. And as the times of trouble grew, so did the ravages of Thella
and her band, turning from theft to murder to vicious and insane
revenge.
Jayge Lilcamp, the young trader, was one of the first
to fall foul of the renegades, and as he saw what Thella had done to his
family and his wagon train he began to seek his own revenge, a revenge which
grew into a determination to destroy the most evil woman on
Pern."
All The Weyrs Of Pern
(Corgi, 1994) (first published
1991)
"When AIVAS - the Artificial Intelligence
Voice Address System - was first discovered at Landing, the entire planet
of Pern was awed at the knowledge it divulged. All the history of the people
of Pern was there. Dragonholders, Lord Holders, and Craftmasters crowded
into the tiny inner room to learn the secrets of their beginnings. And AIVAS
had other gifts to offer - stored information of old crafts that had been
forgotten, of medicine, music and technology.
But the greatest promise AIVAS offered was the chance
to rid Pern of Thread forever. All the great ones of Pern began the long
and arduous task of learning just how to operate the incredible plan
- a plan of such daring and epic proportions that both dragons and riders
would be put at risk."
The Chronicles Of Pern: First
Fall (Corgi, 1994) (first published
1993)
"Here are five gripping episodes of early
Pern - from the very first space survey recommending colonization, to the
last, where the early world, its young dragon culture undetected, is condemned
to be isolated in space.
Here is the saga of the mass evacuation from the volcanic
southern continent, an entire group of people moved across the dangerous
seas, guarded and guided by a flotilla of dolphins. Here, too, is the story
of the creation of Ruatha Hold - a mammoth undertaking in the early days
of Pern.
And here is one of the most fascinating dragon tales
ever written by Anne McCaffrey, when Fort Weyr was the only weyr,
and when dragonriders and dragons were overcrowded to danger point. As the
news broke of three fresh weyrs to be established, a young girl, Torene,
came to realize that her dragon could be the next Queen of the newly formed
Benden Weyr."
