The Chronicles of Pern: First Fall - Softcover

Anne McCaffrey

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0593035739 ISBN 13: 9780593035733

Publisher: Bantam Press Books, 1994

Synopsis

FOR USE IN SCHOOLS AND LIBRARIES ONLY. A collection of short works about Pern features five tales of the time of Pern's exploration, original Dragonriders, and first Threadfall.

About this title

About the Author

Anne McCaffrey, one of the world’s most popular authors, is best known for her Dragonriders of Pern® series. She was the first woman to win the two top prizes for science fiction writing, the Hugo and Nebula awards. She was also given the American Library Association’s Margaret A. Edwards Award for Lifetime Literary Achievement in Young Adult Fiction, was inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame, and was named a Science Fiction Writers of America Nebula Grand Master. Born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1926, McCaffrey relocated to Ireland in the 1970s, where she lived in a house of her own design, named Dragonhold-Underhill. She died in 2011.

From the Back Cover

Once upon a time, a long time ago, even before the classic novel Dragonflight was written, a story was published. It was called "Weyr Search" and it introduced to the world the incredible Dragonriders of Pern. Now, Anne McCaffrey celebrates a quarter-century of dragons and dragonriders as she returns to the form that started it all: the first-ever Pern short-story collection! Let the queen of dragons herself take you back to the earliest days of Pernese history as she brings to life events that shaped one of the most popular worlds in all of science fiction. Join the original survey team as they explore Pern and decide to recommend it for colonization. Share the terror of the evacuation from the Southern Continent, as a flotilla of ships, aided by intelligent, talking dolphins, braves the dreadful currents of the Pernese ocean. Learn how the famous Ruatha Hold was founded, and thrill with the dragonriders as they expand into a second, then a third Weyr. And discover a secret lost in time: the rescue of some of the original colonists, before the planet was cut off forever! Building a new life on a distant world, braving the dreaded Thread that falls like silver rain from the sky only to destroy every living thing it touches, flying heroically on the wondrous dragons: The Dragonriders of Pern!

From the Inside Flap

Let the queen of dragons herself take you back to the earliest days of Pernese history as Anne McCaffrey brings to life events that shaped one of the most popular worlds in all of science fiction, in this first-ever Pern short-story collection.

"From the Hardcover edition.

Reviews

Four originals, one magazine reprint: the first story collection centered on McCaffrey's immensely popular Dragonriders and their battle to keep planet Pern free of the invidious, corrosive Thread. As the title implies, the stories form a sort of chronology of the early days of Pern's colonization. The original survey and exploration team designate the planet as P.E.R.N.: parallel Earth, resources negligible. After colonization, the Southern Continent must be evacuated following a volcanic eruption, the colonists in their fragile ships aided by intelligent, talking dolphins. Famed Ruatha Hold is founded by big, genial Irishman Red Hanrahan. Later, after resounding success in destroying Thread before it can fall to ground, the Dragonriders expand into a second, then a third Weyr. Finally, a remnant of the original colonists, cut off from the Dragonrider groups, are rescued by a Federation vessel before the Pern system and its cometary cloud, permeated with deadly Thread organisms, is interdicted, and so cut off from the rest of humanity. Fairly mediocre stories, overall, but don't underestimate the crowd-pulling power of McCaffrey's all-but-legendary planet. -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

A quarter century after Dragonflight , the novel that introduced the vastly popular dragon planet of Pern, McCaffrey details the difficult yet exhilarating early years of the Pernese settlers in five highly readable tales. Trouble starts early when the original landing site is threatened by volcanic action, forcing the human settlers to ring "The Dolphin's Bell" in a plea for help from the intelligent sea mammals who migrated with them from Earth. Then there is the First Fall of the devastating Thread which leads colonists to the security of Rua Atha (Ruatha Hold) in "The Ford of Red Hanarahan," while "The Second Weyr" recounts the creation of two new Weyrs to accommodate the growing population of dragons and riders who are essential to the colony's survival. The book begins and ends with the human federation, with the initial survey of Pern and, in the odd final tale called "Rescue Run," with the story of how the planet was abandoned when a small Federation expedition, responding to a distress message sent by Pern during the First Fall, finds only 11 colonists led by a madman. Told of the Thread and convinced that these are the only survivors, the rescuers recommend that Pern and the entire system be interdicted. This collection will provide some answers long awaited by avid Pern fans.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From the initial reports of the survey team that discovers Rukbat's third planet ("The Survey: P.E.R.N.") to the official banning of the planet to space travel ("Rescue Run"), these five original stories by the author of the popular Pern series offer a glimpse into the early history of the world of "thread" and Dragonriders. McCaffrey's unadorned prose allows characters and plot to take center stage. Anticipate a demand for this title. Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 7/93.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

The Dragonriders of Pern is a favorite fantasy series of many. This collection of short stories fills in background for the series, describing the initial colonization of Pern, deployment to the northern continent, the first fall of "Thread," a rescue effort from outside, and the beginnings of the expanded system of weyrs for the dragonriders. Meredith Macrae gives a steady, well-paced narration. It would be helpful to have some reference listing the stories and indicating on which tape each appears. Although each side ends with a notice as to which side is ending, it would also be helpful to have a notice at the beginning of each side stating which story is being continued. J.E.M. © AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

Edition details

• Publisher: Bantam Press Books
• Publication date: 1994
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0593035739
• ISBN 13: 9780593035733
• Binding: Paperback