Zzickle's
Dragonriders of Pern
Page

Anne McCaffrey: 1 April 1926 – 21 November 2011
Your books will carry your legacy through the generations.

The Books:

Far, far away in the distant reaches of the galaxy, a planet orbits a lone star. The star is called Rukbat and the planet is known as Pern. The wonderful author Anne McCaffrey brings Pern and its inhabitants to life through her Dragonriders of Pern series. In what order should you read the books? You could read them in publication order (starting with Dragonflight) or in chronological order (starting with Dragonsdawn - although I don't recommend this for first-time readers). Personally, I like to read them in a bit of a mix between the two, starting with Masterharper. Here is my complete list.

Todd McCaffrey (Anne McCaffrey's son) at AggieCon 35 in 2004. The book he is about to sign here is my friend's copy of Dragon's Kin.

Fire-Lizards:

Fire-lizards are miniature dragons native to Pern. My wonderful fire-lizards - Myth, Legend, and Fable - have earned me the title of 'Keeper of the Imperial Dragons' in Constainia. (And no, Rukbat is not a part of my holdings; I just have the three fire-lizards.) Check out my various fire-lizard creations at my Artwork page!

Fire-lizards, like the larger Pernese dragons, come in 5 different colors.

Gold	The queens. Largest & most intelligent.
Bronze	Largest of the males. Generally mate with the queens.
Brown	Second largest males. Generally mate with the greens.
Green	Female. Fire-lizard version of a 'blonde' i.e. scatter-brained
Blue	Smallest of the males and smallest overall.

My queen, Myth, and my bronze, Legend, have mated several times since I 'got' them (i.e. imagined them into existence). Fable is a brown from their first clutch. My friend, Cheryl, has the queen fire lizard (Glory) from that clutch. She also has a bronze named Mani, another of Myth's offspring.

Another friend, Sarah, had a dream in which she Impressed a bronze fire lizard (Tircon) and a queen dragon hatchling (Mareth).

Now where was I? Oh, yes . . .



The TV Series:

At one point, there were rumors of a Pern television series in the works, supposedly set in the 'current' Pass (i.e. Lessa/F'lar/Robinton's time). Originally, the official website gave a Fall 2000 airdate, which was then moved to Fall 2001, although that didn't happen either. (Incidentally, Todd didn't mentioned ANYTHING about TV or movie plans during the "Future of Pern" panel at AggieCon - just more book ideas.)

McCaffrey's homepage has had casting polls for various Pern and non-Pern characters as to which actors we, the fans, would like to see cast in the roles should a movie be made. Well, I was looking through my copy of Robin Wood's People of Pern and decided to see if I could find a current television actor for each of the characters that she has portrayed.

Based upon likeness to Robin's drawings and ability to play the character (from what I've seen of the actor in other roles), I so far have five characters cast. They can be found at my Pern TV/Movie Cast page. (Updated 1-15-08)

UPDATE 2012: According to Anne McCaffrey's home page, there may actually be a "Dragonriders of Pern" movie in the works.

UPDATE 2022: According to wikipedia and IMDb, the last attempt at a film adaptation was in 2014, which obviously didn't happen. Maybe some day??



Pern Links:

The Worlds of Anne McCaffrey - Anne McCaffrey's home page.
Tania Opland & Mike Freeman - Their Pern music is brilliant!
All the Plants of Pern by Menai - Exhaustive compilation of Pernese flora.
You Know You've Been Reading Pern Too Long When... - This list is hilarious. It is scary how many are true.



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*Background from Michael Whelan's gallery - used without permission