After years of putting it off, why, I don't know, I finally broke down and started. What a pity. I have certainly been missing some very good reading. Anne McCaffrey in certainly a natural story teller and so far I am finding her delightful. I realize that this book probably is not truely a good example of the actual Dragonrider Series, but being somewhat familiar with the story line, I found it a good place to start. Yes, there was a bit more "tech talk" than I usually enjoy in a fantasy type novel, but that is okay as it was quite necessary, in this case, to tell the story. It, the tech talk, was not overwhelming and did add to the story which would have been difficult to understand the origins of the Dragonriders without. The story runs smoothly, is interesting and I felt the character development was quite good. All in all, late though it may be, I am glad I started reading these books and will now start with the next. Recommend this one highly.

My first book from the Pern series was the White Dragon (Dragonriders of Per), it was the on that won me on this saga. I was really thrilled when I found a book which was going to tell the story of the first dwellers of Per and the book did exactly that:it tells the story from the beginning, the only fault may be the end: too sudden, left me with a sens of anticipatin non fully satisfied. Made me look for next book thoug.
If you like to have a look at what the people of Pern loose during the many years passed from the colonization of the planet, this book is a must-read, even if I can't say it has the same driving writing as the Dragonriders of Pern series. Good book.

This was the first book from Anne McCaffrey's dragon series that I read. I am typically not a big fan of dragon fantasy books, and so had not read anything in the series. This book starts with the founding of the colony on Pern and tells the origins of the dragonriders. It is not the first book in the series, but it is the first book chronologically in the storyline.

What I loved about the story is that it showed the colonists arriving on a spaceship from earth and followed them through their challenges of survival. Then you get to see how the dragons were created and get to know the first dragonriders.

As I read I found myself sucked into the story about the dragonriders and realized that her dragon series was every bit as good as her other sci-fi books.

If you are a fan of Anne McCaffrey's books or of sci-fi in general you will most likely love this book and the other dragon books in the Pern series.

DRAGONSDAWN chronicles the origins of human (and dragon) life on Pern. It begins with the original settlers and why they chose to immigrate to far off and isolated Pern. The settlers, weary of the seemingly endless conflict human civilization seemed plagued with and so had decided to establish an agarian society, sever ties with the rest of humanity, and begin again. They selected Pern as their new home based on a planetary survey (done over two centuries earlier) that indicated that Pern was a new Eden. The climate, especially in the Southern Continent, was balmy, there were no large predators and the native biology was either compatible with or adaptible to humans. The colony was established, the new society began to take shape all was going well and then Thread began to fall. The settlers had to act and act quickly. They had to determine just what this terrifying new threat was, how long it would last, and what they could do to stop it. And if this was not enough, the approaching rogue planet seemed to trigger volcanic activity, including the dormant volcanos near the main settlements.

This novel, while not the first book written, gives the 'backstory' of the series. It would be a good place to begin the series or would give anyone already familiar with the series answers to the many questions about how this fascinating society came to be.

Anne McCaffreys Pern series manages to encompass both science fiction and fantasy and does it very well. For any fan of McCaffrey or Pern this is a 'must have' book for the collection.
With the first books of Pern the theme was more fantasy than sci-fi with the usual medieval type world, dragons etc. As the series progresses, McCaffrey brings in the sci-fi element, the fact that the Pernese are descendants of colonists from another world who, over the generations have lost their technology and reverted to a simpler way of life. All that is left are the `gengineered' dragons.
Dragonsdawn goes back to the time when Pern was first colonised and is the story of the struggle to survive this new world. It also explains how and why the dragons of Pern were created.
I was engrossed from the first word until the last and was totally caught up in this tale of the 'beginning'. The characters are believable and not one dimensional as in many books. Their struggles to make a life on Pern and to live in harmony make a fascinating read. It isn't a lengthy book and is certainly no heavyweight of literature but it is an entertaining tale that is worthy of anyone's time. This is a book that I did not want to come to the end of.... highly recommended.