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Introduction to Pern
P.E.R.N. Parallels Earth, Resources Negligible. This is the designation of the planet Pern by the Exploration and Evaluation team, the first humans ever to step on Pernese soil, in the chronologically first Pernese story, Survey P.E.R.N. From this designation, P.E.R.N. became Pern, the destination of the three new colony ships, the Yokohama, the Buenos Aires, and the Bahrain. It is from these three colony ships that Pern became populated by human beings, and through them that the dragons graced the planet, protection from the ravages of the silvery organism, Thread, that fell from the skies and ate anything organic that it touched. Through necessity, the colonists bio-engineered the dragons from native fire-lizards, increasing their size and existing empathic abilities so that at hatching they bonded for life with a human, sharing a bond that on its termination by either party always led to the death of the dragon, and normally the death of the human 'rider', as they became termed. Due to the ravages of Thread, and the lower technology available to the colonists, they moved to the rockier Northern continent, to live in cliffs, caves, and other natural rock formations, safe from Thread.
Thread falls for fifty years out of every two hundred, based on the orbit of the Red Star, a sister planet to Pern with an 'erratic' orbit. This pattern continues throughout Pernese history, apart from on two occasions, when the Red Star does not pass close enough to drop Thread, causing what is termed 'Long Intervals', lasting four hundred and fifty years rather than just two hundred.
Pern is a pastoral planet, with an agrarian economy, and feudalistic-type political structure. There is a low technological base on Pern, and so no pollution from factories. Technology wise, and also kind of politically wise, then Pern could be compared to pre-Industrial Revolution Britain. One thing to always note about Pern is that there is no religion, whatsoever, as well as no armies or war between people. The dragons of Pern have a telepathic link to human riders who they 'Impress' at hatching. The dragons resemble the western-type legendary dragon, and can breathe fire, though require a phosphorus-bearing rock to chew before hand. But they have one ability never before matched with the dragon - that of teleportation, the ability to go between two places in the time it takes to cough three times. The Dragonriders of Pern protect the planet from the threat of Thread, and represent a kind of military force for Pern. The Crafts are the Guilds of Earth's history. They are the industry of Pern, from the Smiths to the Healers, from the Fishers to the Farmers, and of course the Harpers, who have many strings to their bow! The Crafts are the economic powerhouses of Pern. The Holders are like the landed gentry or aristocracy of Europe, with hereditary titles and lands, and represent the largest numbers of people - as most live in the cliff Holds.
In the eighteen Pern books, including the one written by Anne McCaffrey with her son Todd, and Todd's solo novel, Pern has been developed politically, socially, and economically. But not all of the novels go forward chronologically, and so there are differnet ways of reading them: in publication order and chronologically. To read the novels in publication order, the one starts in the 'present' (the Ninth Pass), with some books covering the same period and events, but from different perspectives. Read in publication order, some books take the reader forward chronologically, while others take you back several hundred - or thousand - years from the 'present'.
Useful Links for a new Pern reader
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