Dragonflight

Published in 1968, Dragonflight is the first entry in Anne McCaffrey’s phenomenally successful Dragonriders of Pern novel series. A luminary of American science fiction, Anne McCaffrey was the author of dozens of novels, some of them co-authored with her son, Todd McCaffrey. She was a prolific writer for 46 years until her death in 2011 at the age of 85, and she is noted for being the first woman to win science fiction’s most coveted literary awards: the Hugo Award (1968) and the Nebula Award (1969).

While the Dragonriders of Pern series eventually moved more firmly into the realm of sci-fi, this initial outing reflects the influence of the pulp fantasy novels of the 1950s: dragons, castles, duels, and tyrants all play prominent roles in Dragonflight. Dragonflight received particular attention for its female protagonist and proto-feminist themes at a time when genre fiction was dominated by male authors and widespread misogyny.

This guide refers to the 2017 Del Rey Mass Market edition of Dragonflight.

Plot Summary

Located in the faraway star system of Rukbat, the planet Pern was once a colony of Earth. Its colonists soon discovered a dire threat to all life on Pern: the Threads, a mushroom-like species of non-sentient spore that consumes and destroys all organic material. The Threads originate from the Red Star, a wandering planet that occasionally orbits close enough to Pern to allow transmission of the spores through space. The colonists genetically engineered “dragons” from a species of native lizard to combat the Threads, which can be killed by fire, but the Thread attacks cut off contact with Earth. The Pernese soon forgot their origins and developed their own society, which resembles the feudal system of medieval Europe (e.g. castles, lords, etc.).

An unusually long period of time has passed since the last Thread attack—so long, in fact, that some Pernese of Dragonflight’s day doubt the Threads exist at all. The Weyrs—societies of dragonriders tasked with the maintenance of Pern’s defense systems—have fallen into disrepute. Many Holding Lords believe the Weyrs are antiquated and unnecessary, along with other ancient laws and traditions originally developed to maintain preparedness against the Threads.

When the events of Dragonflight begin, a new queen dragon egg is ready to hatch. F’lar, rider of the bronze dragon Mnementh, is on Search for a Weyrwoman, or partner, for this important dragon. His Search brings him to Ruatha Hold, ruled by the greedy usurper Lord Fax. Unknown to Fax and the dragonriders, there was one survivor of Fax’s slaughter of the Ruathan royal house: Lessa, who has hidden herself as a kitchen drudge for 10 years and has steadily worked towards Fax’s removal. Lessa’s plotting leads to a confrontation between Fax and F’lar. Fax dies in the ensuing duel, and F’lar convinces Lessa to accompany him back to his home, Benden Weyr, to stand as candidate for Weyrwoman.

After displaying great courage at a frightening Hatching ceremony, Lessa is bonded (“Impressed”) to the new queen dragon, Ramoth. For two years Lessa learns the lore of Pern from the conservative Weyrleader R’gul, but she remains in the dark about the lore’s true significance. When F’lar teaches Lessa and Ramoth to fly between—a dragon’s ability to transport itself and its rider across space—Lessa discovers that dragons can travel across time too. On Ramoth’s first mating flight, F’lar’s dragon Mnementh catches her, leading F’lar to replace R’gul as the new ruler of the Weyr (“Weyrleader”).

F’lar believes deeply in the traditions of Pern: He is sure the Threads will soon return. But the dragonriders are woefully unprepared to fight them. While the Holding Lords of Pern are responsible for “tithing”—sending much-needed supplies to the Weyrs—the practice has fallen out of favor. Worse still, there were traditionally six Weyrs to protect Pern in the past; now, all are mysteriously abandoned, save for Benden.

Still, F’lar makes a valiant effort to shore up Pern’s defenses in his newfound role as Weyrleader. Using Lessa’s discovery of time travel, he sends the dragon queen Prideth and her rider Kylara back in time to raise more dragons. But when the Threads attack, it is clear this will not be enough; their numbers are simply too low. Lessa decides to make a dangerous jump back 400 years in time. She returns with the populations of Pern’s five “abandoned” Weyrs, giving Pern a fighting chance to repel the Threads once and for all.