The Dragonriders of Pern

 

The Dragonriders of Pern by Anne McCaffrey.

Paperback: 832 pages
Publisher: Del Rey; (October 12, 1988)
ISBN-10: 0345340248

Amazon.com Review

Anne McCaffrey's Pern is one of the most memorable worlds in science fiction and fantasy. Humans and their flying dragon companions live in fear of thread, a caustic, deadly material that falls sporadically from space. But when the thread doesn't fall for a long time, people become complacent, forgetting that it is the brave dragonriders who can save them from the periodic threat. But when the thread falls, human and dragon heroes must fight the scourge. This edition encompasses the first three unforgettable novels of McCaffrey's epic series: Dragonflight, Dragonquest, and The White Dragon.

Dragonflight:

Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: Del Rey (July 26, 2005)
ISBN-10: 0345484266

As many know of me.. I have 2 great “loves”:  DeForest Kelley and The Dragonriders of Pern!

I am not even sure how many times I’ve read this trilogy but my guess is “above 5 times”.

You’d think that I’d know the dialogue by heart… but I am old and my memory is far from "sharp”.  I had even forgotten just how much happens in this first book, which is the shortest of the three novels.

Anne McCaffrey has written the perfect books to be listed as:  Sci.fi/ Fantasy, for surely they are both.  It takes place on a planet that is not earth, yet the humans are indeed from earth. 

There are lordholders, craftholders and there are dragonriders and those that wish to be one or the other.  And of course there are the wonderful dragons that are as much (if not more) of the leading characters in the books. 

In book one you learn of the dangerous spores (threads) that had long ago, fallen on Pern and killed anything they touched.   You learn much about the dragons and their riders and how they become dragonriders by impressing a newly hatched dragon.  Ahhh, the hatchings, a part of the Weyrs that you wind up wanting to see yourself.

Also in book one you learn of the Holds on the planet and the holders and all the crafts from those that can invent things to the Harpers that sing the old tales which tell about Pern of the past.

There is just so much with this first book and I don’t want to give anything away because Carl of Stainless Steel Droppings may be doing a read along of this book next month…but if he doesn’t my suggestion is that if you love adventure and dragons and romance and just out of this world characters… then you should read this book and the two others that follow!

The second printing of the books come with fabulous covers painted by Michael Whelan.

NEWS:

In 1996, McCaffrey sold the motion picture rights to an Irish company, Zyntopo Teoranta, who entered into a co-production agreement with Alliance Atlantis , covering development including advanced 3-D animation and compositing effects for television budgets. Distribution pre-sale efforts failed, and Zyntopo Teoranta entered into an agreement with Ronald D Moore  as show runner to present the project to Warner Bros. Network.

• In 2002,Warner Bros. Network  and writer Ronald D Moore had completed sets and casting for a pilot episode, and were within a few days of filming. Moore had sent the pilot episode to Warners for final approval. It was returned with so many changes to the basic structure of Pern – making it more like Buffy the Vampire Slayer – that it no longer much resembled the world created by Anne McCaffrey. As a fan of the Dragonriders of Pern series, Moore refused to continue. Filming was canceled, and rights ownership remained with Zyntopo Teoranta's assign, Kua Media Corporation (Canada).
• In May 2006, it was announced that rights to the entire Dragonriders of Pern series were optioned by Oscar-winning production company Copperheart Entertainment,  Copperheart announced their intention to bring Pern to the big screen.
• On 12 April 2011, Copperheart announced signing David Hayter as screenwriter and Don Murphy as executive producer for a film version of Dragonflight, with production expected to begin in 2012.