The first novel in the legendary and magical New York Times bestselling dragonriding series, “a masterpiece of adventure, intrigue, and romance” (Danielle L. Jensen), from Hugo and Nebula Award–winning author Anne McCaffrey “Anne McCaffrey’s Pern novels are truly foundational books; it’s hard to imagine the modern-day landscape of fantasy and science fiction without them.”—Naomi Novik, author of the Temeraire series On a beautiful world called Pern, Lessa is an outcast survivor—her parents murdered, her birthright stolen—a fierce young woman who has never stopped dreaming of revenge. That is, until an ambitious young dragonrider, F’lar, offers her something even greater: the chance to lead Pern at his side by Impressing a golden dragon with whom she will share a telepathic bond more intimate than any human connection. Although there is also her intense relationship with F’lar himself.
But Lessa’s fierceness and courage will be put to the test when an ancient scourge returns to the land: a deadly silver spore that falls from the sky, destroying all it touches. Only dragons can fight this Thread, and there are not enough dragons to protect all of Pern. Lessa and her dragon may hold the key to their world’s salvation . . . but executing her daring plan may be costlier than she ever envisioned.
Don’t miss the original trilogy from Anne McCaffrey’s beloved Dragonriders of Pern series:
DRAGONFLIGHT • DRAGONQUEST • THE WHITE DRAGON
Anne McCaffrey was one of the world’s leading science fiction writers, and the first female science fiction writer to achieve
New York Times bestseller status. She won both the Hugo and Nebula awards as well as the Margaret A. Edwards’ Lifetime Literary Achievement Award. She was deeply honoured to have been made a Grand Master of Science Fiction in 2005, and was inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame in 2006. Born and raised in the US and of Irish extraction, she moved to Ireland in 1970 where she lived in the ‘Garden of Ireland’, County Wicklow, until her death in 2011 at the age of eighty-five. She is the creator of the Dragonriders of Pern® series.
Praise for Anne McCaffrey and her Dragonriders of Pern series “I encountered
Dragonflight at the age of eleven and was immediately charmed. Since then, I’ve read many, many more of Anne McCaffrey’s books, and the feeling of Real Magic has never gone away.”
—Diana Gabaldon, #1 New York Times bestselling author “Anne McCaffrey’s Pern books forever changed how readers looked at dragons—not just fearsome beasts to be slain, but bonded warrior partners. She taught a very young me that there was nothing cooler than a dragon you could ride, a dragon that could read your thoughts, that the mastery of a dragon was, basically, the best thing that could happen to you. Combine that with the wonderful world-building of Pern and her unforgettable characters and you get books that shaped a generation and more of fantasy writers. She was a true original.”
—Cassandra Clare, #1 New York Times bestselling author “Anne McCaffrey is one of the titans of this genre, and one of my favorite authors of all time. If you’re reading this, these books are worth your time. Full stop.”
—Brandon Sanderson, #1 New York Times bestselling author
“Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonriders of Pern series was the formative series for me growing up. My best friend and I would spend hours each day pretending we lived in Pern. The world building opened my eyes to what fantasy could be; the characters introduced me to women in roles of power; and the romances left my young heart aflutter. No series has ever captured my imagination so completely as Pern did.”
—Susan Dennard, New York Times bestselling author of the Witchlands Series“I grew up reading the Dragonriders of Pern, and they sparked a lifelong love of dragons and dragonriders. Many times as a kid, I would imagine myself on the back of Ramoth, Mnementh, and especially Ruth, soaring through the skies, fighting Thread, and saving the world. Nowadays, the characters are different, as my own dragon stories have been written and published, but echoes of Pern can be found in every one of them.”
—Julie Kagawa, New York Times bestselling author of The Iron Fey“Pern was the birthplace of fantasy in the hearts of so many readers of my generation, and was the first (and only) fandom I was able to fully share with my mother. I dreamt of Harper Hall and fire lizards of my own all the way up to high school. These books were trailblazers, and the land they charted remains as gripping and innovative today as it was upon its discovery. We owe a lot to Pern.”
—Seanan McGuire, New York Times bestselling author “Pern is where dragon riding was conceived, and fifty years later, Anne McCaffrey’s epic tale remains a masterpiece of adventure, intrigue, and romance!”
—Danielle L. Jensen, New York Times bestselling author of A Fate Inked in Blood “Anne McCaffrey’s Pern novels are truly foundational books. The seeds of every dragonrider story are here, if not of every take on magical bonding. They carried me away as a young reader, and I hope they’ll do so for new readers now.”
—Naomi Novik, author of the Temeraire series
