Dragon Flight
After
ten long Turns, Lessa was ready to come out
of hiding, to reclaim her birthright. . .and to Impress the young
dragon queen and become Weyrwoman of Benden.
Suddenly
the deadly silver Threads once again threatened all Pern with
destruction. But the mighty telepathic dragons that for centuries had
defended Pern were now few in number, not nearly enough to protect the
planet in its hour of greatest peril. Then Lessa hatched a daring and
dangerous scheme to rally supported from people who had long ago ceased
to exist!
Dragon Quest
Another
Turn, and the deadly silver Threads began
falling again. So the bold dragonriders took to the air once more and
their magnificent flying dragons swirled and swooped, belching flames
that destroyed the shimmering strands before they reach the ground.
But
F'lar knew he had to find a better way to protect his beloved Pern,
and he had to find it before the rebellious Oldtimers could breed any
more dissent...before his brother F'nor would be foolhardy enough to
launch another suicide mission...and before those dratted fire-lizards
could stir up any more trouble!
The
ways of the oldtime dragonriders from Pern's past differ from the
present. Their demands and takings from the craft and Lord Holders
cause the Holder to resent the oldtimers. Open warfare is out of the
question with threadfall a constant threat - to eliminate the need for
oldtimers, the Holders and Crafthalls must eliminate thread completely
by destroying it at its source. Trying to answer the great question,
F'nor and Canth go between - to the Red Star!
The White
Dragon
Never
had there been as close a bonding as the
one that existed between the daring and adventurous young Lord Jaxom
and his extraordinary white dragon, Ruth. Pure white and incredibly
agile, Ruth was a dragon of many talents, though almost everyone on
Pern thought he was a runt that would never amount to anything. But
Jaxom knew better, knew he could teach his dragon to fly and to destroy
the deadly silver Threads that fell from the sky. Disobeying all rules,
Jaxom and Ruth trained in secret. their illicit flights seemed but a
minor disobedience - until they found themselves in the path of danger
and in a position to prevent the biggest disaster of all!
Moreta:
Dragonlady of Pern
An
air of pleasant anticipation hung so thickly
over the Halls, Holds and Weyrs of Pern that it had affected even the
businesslike ways of Moreta, the Weyrwoman of Fort Weyr, where her
dragon, Queen Orlith, would soon clutch.
Then
without warning, a runnerbeast fell ill. Soon myriads of holders,
craftsmen, and dragonriders were dying; and the mysterious ailment had
spread to all but the most inaccessible holds. Pern was in mortal
danger. For, if dragonriders did not rise to char Thread, the parasite
would devour any and all organic life it encountered. The future of the
planet rested in the hands of Moreta and the other dedicated, selfless
Pernese leaders. But of all their problems, the most difficult to
overcome was time...
Moreta,
Weyrwoman of Fort Weyr, attends the first Gather of Alessan,
The Lord Holder of Ruatha Hold. Disaster strikes most of Pern in the
form of a Plague. Both come down with the illness but recover to assist
the other sick and dying. Because the sickness strikes both runner
beast and humans, Master Healer Campian realizes that the infectious
agent can be caught again by either party from the other. Moreta and
several other dragonriders are called into service to travel across
Pern to head off another outbreak - if they fail the destruction of
Pern is likely.
Dragon's
Dawn
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!
Renegades
of Pern
As
long as the people of Pern could remember, the
Holds had protected them from Thread, the deadly silver strands that
fell from the sky. In exchange for sanctuary in the huge stone
fortresses, the people tithed to their Lord Holders, who in turn
supported the dragonriders, Pern's greatest weapon against Thread.
But
not everyone on Pern was protected. Some had been rendered holdless
as punishment for wrongdoing. Some, like Jayge's trader clan, simply
preferred the freedom of the roads to the security of a hold. Others,
like Aramina's family, had lost their holds. And they all feared the
outlaws who preyed on holds and holdless alike.
The
Lady Thella's renegades were the most dangerous yet - all they
needed was Aramina, whose telepathic link with dragons could help them
evade the dragonrider patrols. But Jayge was out to stop Thella...and
he would never let her have Aramina!
All the
Weyrs of
Pern
For
generations, the dragonriders had dedicated
their lives to fighting Thread, the dreaded spores that periodically
rained from the sky to ravage the land. On the backs of their
magnificent telepathic dragons they flew to flame the deadly stuff out
of the air before it could reach the planet's surface. But the greatest
dream of the dragonriders was to find a way to eradicate Thread
completely, so that never again would their beloved Pern be threatened
with destruction. Now, for the first time, it looked as if that dream
could come true. For when the people of Pern, led by Masterharper
Robinton and F'lar and Lessa, Weyrleader and Weyrwoman of Benden Weyr,
excavated the ancient remains of the planet's original settlement, they
uncovered the colonists' voice-activated artificial intelligence
system-which still functioned! And the computer had incredible news for
them: There was a chance - a good chance - that they could, at long
last, annihilate Thread once and for all!
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 peole 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, or medicine, music and technology.
The girl
who
heard Dragons
A
collection of 15 short stories including the title story:
Aramina's
family were 'holdless.' Driven out of their home after the
massacre at Ruatha, they were forced to roam the land, seeking shelter
and protection wherever they could. And now, after a period in the Igen
caverns, they had to flee yet again - for the evil holdless Lady Thella
had discovered Aramina's unusual gift - she could 'hear' dragons - and
Thella planned to exploit this gift for her own ends. At dead of night
the little family began their flight through the forests and mountains
of Pern - pursued by Lady Thella. But this time the dragon were to play
a part in Aramina's destiny.
Dragon
Singer
Menolly
arrives at the Harper Crafthall. Though
at first afraid and apologetic, she quickly learns her way around and
makes friends.
Dragon Song
<>
Forbidden
by her father to indulge in music in
any way, a girl on the planet Pern runs away, taking shelter with the
planet's fire lizards who, along with her music, open a new life for
her.
Dragon Drums
Piemur's
youthful soprano singing voice finally
cracks. Singing was Piemur's main study at Harpercraft Hall. Depressed
over his sudden loss, he knows full well it will take tme for his voice
to settle, if he is ever able to sing again at all. But Masterharper
Robinton has other uses for the wily, conniving youth, sending Piemur
on political fact gathering missions for the Hall. Then Piemur steals a
queen fire lizard egg, thus setting a Lord Holder against him. The
information Piemur has gathered on the Lord Holder and his dealings
with the banished Oldtimers must be saved. Piemur must also save
himself and the unhatched fire lizard egg as well.
Get off the Unicorn
A collection of 13 short stories including the
very popular,'The Smallest Dragonboy.'
Nerilka's Story
A
deadly epidemic was sweeping across Pern!
Everyone,
holder and dragonrider alike, pitched in to help-except
Nerilka's father, who refused to share Fort Hold's bounty with the
other Holds. So, ashamed of her family and determined to do her part,
Nerilka packed up medicines and supplies and sneaked off to aid her
people.
Her
quest to help wherever she was most needed led her finally to
Ruatha Hold, where Lord Alessan was frantically preparing the precious
serum needed for mass inoculations against the dread plague.
Nerilka
had long ago abandoned the hope of marriage and a home of her
own. Now she found happiness in being useful and appreciated-first the
Healers and then Alessan made very clear that they were grateful for
her help.
She
had no idea that her new path would change the course of her life
forever!
The
Chronicles of Pern: 1st Fall
Travel
back to the earliest days of Pernese history in this first-ever
Dragonriders of Pern short-story collection!
Join
the original survey team as they explore Pern and decide to recommend
it for colonization.
Share
the terror of the evacuation from the Southern Continent as a
flotilla of ships, aided by intelligent, talking dolphins, braves the
dreadful currents of the Pernese ocean.
Learn
how the famous Ruatha Hold was founded, and thrill with the
dragonriders as they expand into a second, then a third Weyr.
And
discover a secret lost time: the rescue of some of the original
colonists before the planet was cut off forever!
Building
a new life on a distant world, braving the dreaded Thread that
falls like silver rain from the sky only to destroy every living thing
it touches, flying heroically on the wondrous dragons: The Dragonriders
of Pern!
The Dolphins of Pern
When
the first humans came to settle the planet
Pern, they did not come alone: intelligence-enhanced dolphins also
crossed the stars to colonize the oceans of the new planet while their
human partners settled the vast continents. But then disaster struck.
The deadly silver spores called Thread fell like rain from the sky, and
as the human colonists' dreams of a new, idyllic life shattered into a
desperate struggle for survival, the dolphins were forgotten...
Now,
centuries later, as the dragonriders of Pern were preparing to
complete the momentous task of ridding their world of Thread forever,
T'lion, a young bronze rider, and his friend Readis, son of the Lord
Holder of Paradise River Hold, made contact with the legendary
'shipfish.' And as the dragonriders grappled with the ending of an era,
T'lion, Readis, and the dolphins faced the start of a new one: reviving
the bond between land - and ocean-dwellers - and resurrecting the
dreams of the first colonist of Pern.
Dragon's
Eye
Thread:
deadly silver strands that fall from the
sky like rain, devouring every organic thing in their path, animals,
plants, and people alike. Who could believe that such horrible things
could exist? After all, it's been two-hundred years since Thread
supposedly fell on Pern. No one alive remembers that first onslaught.
There's no sign of it anywhere in the world. Only the dragons,
originally created to be a weapon against Thread, are still around to
remind people that once before their population was decimated, their
hopes and dreams and livelihoods almost destroyed forever.
For
two centuries the dragonriders have been practicing and training,
passing down from generation to generation the Threadfighting
techniques learned on the fly by their besieged ancestors. And most of
the Lord Holders are prepared to protect their people, to provide
sanctuary, to assemble groundcrews to search out and destroy any Thread
that might be missed by the dragons soaring overhead. All but one.
Even
now the ominous signs are appearing: the violent winter storms and
volcanic eruptions that are said to herald the approach of the Red Star
and its lethal spawn. Impossibly, one stubborn Lord Holder, Chalkin of
Bitra, refuses to believe‹and that disbelief could spell disaster for
all of Pern. So while the dragonriders desperately train to face an
enemy they've never fought before, they and the other Lord Holders must
find a way to deal with Chalkin and protect Bitra.
Such
a situation can never be allowed to happen again. If only a way
could be devised to warn future generations of impending Threadfall,
and to instill in them an unquestioning belief in its dangers.
The Masterharper of Pern
In a
time when no Thread has fallen for
centuries-when, indeed, many are beginning to dare hope that Thread
will never fall again - a boy is born to Harper Hall. His name is
Robinton, and he is destined to be one of the most famous and beloved
leaders Pern has ever known.
The
son of Petiron, renowned composer, and Merelan, one of Pern's most
gifted singers, Robinton is a prodigy from birth. As a child, he is
already composing music that the apprentice and journeyman harpers play
with delight. And he also discovers another gift: he has the ability to
speak with the dragons, who tend to reach out telepathically only to
their riders.
But
not everyone appreciates his talents. His own father, driven by
jealousy, spurns the boy. And far to the north, in the High Reaches,
trouble is brewing in the form of a despotic holder, Fax, who hates
harpers in general - and Robinton in particular.
It
is in this climate of unrest that Robinton will come into his own.
For despite the tragedies that beset his own life, he continues to
believe in music and in the dragons, and he is determined to save his
beloved Pern from itself...so that the dragonriders can be ready to fly
against the dreaded Thread when at last it returns! As the teaching
songs sing:
Dragonmen
must fly
When
Threads are in the sky!
The
Skies of Pern
A new
age is drawing on Pern, for since the
dragons have changed the orbit of the Red Star, the horrors of
Threadfall will soon be a thing of the past. But even as the dragon
riders are trying to decide what their future role will be, further
dangers are beginning to emerge.
It
is a time of hope and regret, of endings and beginnings. The Red
Star, that celestial curse whose eccentric orbit was responsible for
Thread, has been shifted to a harmless orbit, and the current
Threadfall will be the last. Technological marvels are changing the
face of life on Pern. And the dragonriders, led by F'lessan, son of
F'lar and Lessa and rider of bronze Golanth, and Tai, rider of green
Zaranth, must forge a new place for themselves in a world that may no
longer need them.
But
change is not easy for everyone. There are those who will stop at
nothing-not even violence-to keep Pern and its people pure. And now a
brand-new danger looms from the skies....and threatens a catastrophe of
unimaginable proportions.
Dragon's
Kin
Young
Kindan has no expectations other than
joining his father in the mines of Camp Natalon, a coal mining
settlement struggling to turn a profit far from the great Holds where
the presence of dragons and their riders means safety and civilization.
Mining is fraught with danger. Fortunately, the camp has a watch-wher,
a creature distantly related to dragons and uniquely suited to
specialized work in the dark, cold mineshafts. Kindan’s father is the
watch-wher’s handler, and his son sometimes helps him out. But even
that important job promises no opportunity outside the mine.
Then
disaster strikes. In one terrible instant, Kindan loses his family
and the camp loses its watch-wher. Fathers are replaced by sons in the
mine–except for Kindan, who is taken in by the camp’s new Harper.
Grieving, Kindan finds a measure of solace in a burgeoning musical
talent . . . and in a new friendship with Nuella, a mysterious girl no
one seems to know exists. It is Nuella who assists Kindan when he is
selected to hatch and train a new watch-wher, a job that forces him to
give up his dream of becoming a Harper; and it is Nuella who helps him
give new meaning to his life.
Meanwhile,
sparked by the tragedy, long-simmering tensions are dividing
the camp. Far below the surface, a group of resentful miners hides a
deadly secret. As warring factions threaten to explode, Nuella and
Kindan begin to discover unknown talents in the misunderstood
watch-wher–talents that could very well save an entire Hold. During
their time teaching the watch-wher, the two learn some things
themselves: that even a seemingly impossible dream is never completely
out of reach . . . and that light can be found even in darkness.
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