Pern Novels [chronological order]

Menolly has returned home and entered the Harper Hall. But her entry into the Hall proves the beginning of more troubles, and the Master Harper gives her a difficult time because she is a girl. As Menolly begins to despair, she finds help in the shape of nine bright allies.

When the voice of Piemur, an apprentice at Harper Hall, changes, he has to leave the companionship of Master Shonagar behind. But his disappointment is soon replaced by a new challenge. He is to enter the service of the Master Harper himself as a rider of dragons. Soon, he embarks on a dangerous mission to the Southern Hold. The future of Pern hangs on his success.

PERN has been turned upside down by the knowledge that AIVAS has shared, revolutionising medicine, music and technology. Against the backdrop of deep suspicion of this new source of wisdom, every dragon and rider will be called upon to enact it's audacious plan to defeat the thread of thread for all time.

When humanity first arrived on PERN the hold of the Colony Ship Bahrain held twenty five dolphins who would be used to populate the seas of the new world. Generations later their descendants would prove vital to the world's survival. When Readis and his uncle are saved by a pod of 'shipfish' he is stunned when the animals start to speak to him. As the story of their rescue spreads further it comes to the attention of AIVAS, who recounts the history of the dolphins who came to PERN and their connection with the first settlers of PERN.

Now that Pern can look forward to a future without the threat of Threadfall, the people are free to leave their protective stone holds and spread across more of the planet, as well as improve their lives with the newly discovered ancient technology. Not everyone is happy, though. Some resist the change, and consider anything new to be an "abomination".

The last time Thread attacked Pern, the world was unprepared for the fight - until the Oldtimers appeared. These courageous dragonriders arrived from the past, traveling 400 years to help their descendants survive. But the collision of past and present took its toll. While most of the displaced rescuers adapted to their new reality, others could not abide the jarring change and found themselves in soul-crushing exile, where unhappiness and resentment seethed.