The Dragonriders of Pern by Anne McCaffrey

I had forgotten how much time travel became a crucial part of this story- the dragons can ‘wink between‘ to teleport- and Lessa accidentally discovers that if given the proper references, dragons can also move through time. Reading it now I’m discomfited by it- the society on Pern as a whole is very sexist. When I was a teen reading this I breezed past mentions of the uneven relationship Lessa and F’lar have, more interested the details about the dragons and how people live on this alien world.

Lessa is suddenly in a new environment, and nobody really explains anything to her including that when her dragon is taken in mating flight by F’lar’s dragon, she and F’lar will be compelled to become partners. They need this dragon to repopulate the weyrs so they have enough numbers to fight Thread. She is waiting for a chance to take revenge, but is suddenly whisked away to the Weyr by dragonmen searching for a strong-willed woman who can bond with the last remaining queen dragon. One of the main characters is Lessa, last survivor of her bloodline living disguised as a kitchen drudge in her Hold which was taken over by an usurper. When Thread does threaten there is a sudden desperate scramble for survival. Many believe that Thread will never fall again, and the ancient warnings are just stories.

The Weyrs (where dragons and dragonmen live) have dwindled in number to only one. Civilization regressed to a medieval state, much technology and knowledge has been lost, and dragonmen are no longer honored, the common people chafe at having to support them.

In the setting of the story, four hundred years have passed since the last Threadfall. Traditions and social rules built up to support the dragonriders who protect the planet, with Holds providing goods and supplies to the dragonmen who live in rocky caves on cliff faces (the Thread spores can’t harm rock). Thread destroys nearly everything it touches. Their importance is to save the planet from Threadfall- noxious acid spores that cross the gap of space from a satellite planet with an erratic orbit, when it approaches close enough. The early inhabitants- explorers and scientists- genetically engineered an indigenous species to become the huge dragons, capable of breathing fire and forming a telepathic and emotional bond with human riders. Pern is a planet once colonized by humans and long since abandoned or forgotten by Earth.

The Dragonriders of Pern by Anne McCaffrey