Dragonflight (1968) (edit title/settings)

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Characters/People edit see section history

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• Lessa: The sole survivor of the Ruathan bloodline. She disguises herself as drudge for ten years while she plots to overthrow the wicked Lord Fax. Rider of golden Ramoth.
• F'lar: A bronze dragonrider who wants to see the Weyr returned to its former glory.
• Fax: The violent, self-styled "Lord of Seven Holds." He carefully conquered hold after hold by means of trickery, marriage, murder, and force.
• F'nor: F'lar's half-brother and brown Canth's rider. He is F'lar's wing second, and one of the few people F'lar trusts.
• Lytol: The former rider of brown Larth. After his dragon died, Lytol became a weaver and rose to prominence in that craft.
• R'gul: Rider of bronze Hath. He succeeded F'lar and F'nor's father as Weyrleader. He preferred appeasing the Lord Holders rather than demanding the respect dragonriders are due, and nearly destroyed the Weyr in the process.
• Lady Gemma: She is Fax's head wife and the mother of his heir, Jaxom.
• Masterharper Robinton: The wily and diplomatic Masterharper of Pern. Robinton is the head of his craft. He loves to drink Benden wine.
• Mnementh: F'lar's bronze dragon. He is the biggest bronze dragon on Pern.
• Ramoth: Lessa's golden queen dragon. She is the biggest dragon and Pern.
• Meron: The bitter and mistrustful Lord Holder of Nabol.
• Manora: Headwoman at Benden Weyr. She is a stately woman of serene dignity. She is also F'nor's mother.
• Fandarel: The Mastersmith; an inventor who is never lacking in curiosity, and for whom inefficiency is anathema.
• Canth: F'nor's brown dragon.
• Kylara: Southern Weyrwoman. Rider of golden Pridith. Promiscuous and conniving.
• Jaxom: Son of Fax and Gemma. Lord Holder of Ruatha.

Quotes edit see section history

• “Who wills,Can.Who tries,Does.Who loves, Lives.”

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• Who wills, Can. Who tries, Does. Who loves, Lives.

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• Living was struggling to do something impossible—to succeed, or die, knowing you had tried!

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• The winged, tailed, and fiery-breathed dragons (named for the Earth legend they resembled), their dragonmen, a breed apart, and the menace they battled, created a whole new group of legends and myths.

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• Wheel and turn Or bleed and burn. Fly between, Blue and green. Soar, dive down, Bronze and brown Dragonmen must fly When Threads are in the sky.

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• Drummer, beat, and piper, blow, Harper, strike, and soldier, go. Free the flame and sear the grasses Till the dawning Red Star passes.

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• Perversity, endurance, and guile were her other weapons, loaded with the inexhaustible patience of vengeful dedication.

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• The descendants of heroes fell into disfavor, as the legends fell into disrepute.

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• WHEN IS A legend legend? Why is a myth a myth? How old and disused must a fact be for it to be relegated to the category “Fairy-tale”? And why do certain facts remain incontrovertible while others lose their validity to assume a shabby, unstable character?

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• Oh, Tongue, give sound to joy and sing Of hope and promise on dragonwing.

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• Drummer, beat, and piper, blow, Harper, strike, and soldier, go. Free the flame and sear the grasses Till the dawning Red Star passes.

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Setting & Locations edit see section history

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• Pern: The third planet orbiting Rukbat, a golden G-type star in the Sagittarian Sector.
• Ruatha Hold: One of the principal Holds of Pern, and is famous for its runnerbeasts and Dragonriders.
• Fort Weyr: The first Weyr, and therefore, the traditional leader of the Weyrs. The dragons and riders of this Weyr disappeared after the last Fall and have not been seen for centuries.
• Benden Weyr: The second Weyr of Pern. It is the only Weyr that is still active, and it has fallen on hard times. There are too few dragons and riders left in this Weyr to handle the threat of Thread if it should ever come again.
• High Reaches Weyr: The third Weyr of Pern. It is located in the northern part of the continent in the mountains. The dragons and riders of this Weyr disappeared after the last Fall and have not been seen for centuries.
• Igen Weyr: The fourth Weyr of Pern. The dragons and riders of this Weyr disappeared after the last Fall and have not been seen for centuries.
• Ista Weyr: The fifth Weyr of Pern. The dragons and riders of this Weyr disappeared after the last Fall and have not been seen for centuries.
• Telgar Weyr: The sixth Weyr of Pern, and the last of the original Weyrs. The dragons and riders of this Weyr disappeared after the last Fall and have not been seen for centuries.
• Fort Hold: Pern's oldest Hold, located in the western part of the continent. The Harper Hall and the Masterhealer are both located at Fort Hold.
• Southern Boll Hold: The second Northern Hold founded; it occupies the southern end of the Boll peninsula in the West of Pern, south of Fort Hold, with the Hold itself located near the peninsula's tip.
• Benden Hold: Located in the East Coast of Pern's Northern Continent, with its southern reaches extending to the edge of the Nerat peninsula.
• Bitra Hold: Located to Benden's northwest.
• Lemos Hold: Occupies the mountainous territory to Bitra Hold's west, approaching the center of the Northern Continent.
• High Reaches Hold: Lies on Pern's Northwest Coast, in the wintry High Reaches Mountains.
• Nabol Hold: Located in the center of Pern's Northern Continent. Nabol Hold's primary industry is mining, and it is often regarded as an unpleasant place by other of Pern's inhabitants.
• Tillek Hold: Occupies the Tillek peninsula on the Northern Continent's West Coast, south of High Reaches Hold and west of Fort.
• Keroon Hold: Sits in the prairie east of the center of Pern's Northern Continent, south of Bitra and Lemos Holds, west of the Nerat Perninsula.
• Ista Hold: Occupies the whole of Ista Island, a large, partly desert island to the Southwest of the Igen Hold coast. Due to its temperate climate and low humidity, Ista, like the American South, has served as retirement destination for those suffering from the symptoms of old age.
• Igen Hold: Consists of mostly desert in the south of the continent.
• Nerat Hold: Occupies the Nerat Peninsula on Pern's East Coast, south of Benden Hold. It is separated from Keroon Hold to the west by Nerat Bay. With its extensive coastlines on both the ocean and the bay, fish are Nerat Hold's main product.
• Telgar Hold: North of the center of the continent.
• Crom Hold: Located in the low mountains west of Telgar Hold and north of Nabol and Ruatha Holds. The primary industry of Crom Hold is mining.

First Sentence edit see section history

Table of Contents edit see section history

Glossary edit see section history

• Weyr: A group of dragons, their riders and support staff that live together. Also can mean the home of a single dragon.
• Between: An area of nothingness and sensory deprivation between here and there.
• Firestone: A phosphine bearing rock that dragons and fire lizards can chew to produce phosphorous gases that are ignited to burn Thread out of the sky.
• Glow: Lightsource which can be carried in a handbasket.
• Hold: The residences of the bulk of the planet Pern's population.
• Impression: The joining of minds of a dragon and his rider-to-be at the moment of the dragon's hatching.
• Klah: Hot stimulating drink made of tree bark and tasting faintly of cinnamon.
• Numbweed: Medicinal cream which, when smeared on wounds, kills all feeling.
• Thread: A deadly and invasive, mycorrhizoid spore which rains from the sky in thin, silver filaments which quickly proliferate and devour any organic matter they touch. They come from the sister planet of Pern, the Red Star.
• Turn: One Pernese year.
• Agenothree: HNO3 (Nitric Acid). Sprayed from portable tanks by thread fighting ground crews to destroy any Thread that reaches the ground before it can burrow into the soil.
• Runnerbeast: Pack animal, descendant of the horse.

Series & Lists edit see section history

Followed by Dragonquest.

Preceded by The Masterharper of Pern, and followed by Dragonquest.

Followed by Dragonquest.

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

1. Anne McCaffrey (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Awards edit see section history

• Hugo (1968: Best Novella)
• Geffen Award (Finalist, 2002: Best Translated Fantasy Book)

Classification edit see section history

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• Dewey: 813.54

Notes for Parents edit see section history

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Subjects edit see section history

• Books › Science Fiction & Fantasy › Authors, A-Z › ( M ) › McCaffrey, Anne
• Books › Science Fiction & Fantasy › Fantasy › Series
• Books › Science Fiction & Fantasy › Science Fiction › Series
• Books › Teens › Science Fiction & Fantasy › Fantasy

More Books Like This edit see section history