(Dragonriders of Pern: 3)

The White Dragon

The final novel in the legendary, bestselling fantasy series from the Hugo and Nebula Award winning author, featuring dragons, adventure, romance, and heroism, perfect for fans of Rebecca Yarros’ Fourth Wing, Cassandra Clare and Brandon Sanderson. 
 
‘Anne McCaffrey is one of the titans of this genre, and one of my favorite authors of all time.’ Brandon Sanderson, New York Times bestselling author of the Mistborn series. 
 
‘Pern was one of the first fantasy worlds I fell into, and I am forever grateful.’ Leigh Bardugo, Sunday Times bestselling author of the Six of Crows series and The Familiar 
 
‘Anne McCaffrey’s Pern books forever changed how readers looked at dragons...books that shaped a generation and more of fantasy writers.’ Cassandra Clare, No. 1 New York Times bestselling author 
 
 
When Lessa chose a dragon over her birthright, the hold she was to have inherited passed to Lord Jaxom instead. 
 
But Jaxom then muddied generations of Pern tradition by impulsively Impressing Ruth, a small, white dragon, as a child. 
 
From that moment on, the debate has raged: Is Jaxom now a dragonrider, or a lord holder? 
 
All anyone agrees on is that he cannot be both. 
 
Now, with Jaxom on the cusp on adulthood, the thing he and Ruth most desire is to fight Thread side-by-side with the larger dragons. Jaxom knows what his dragon is capable of, and now that he is – mostly – grown, he is determined to buck tradition. 
 
Can this teenage rebellion be the key to both Pern’s salvation and winning the woman of his dreams? 
 
 
Don’t miss the original trilogy from Anne McCaffrey’s beloved Dragonriders of Pern series: 
DRAGONFLIGHT • DRAGONQUEST • THE WHITE DRAGON 
 
 
Praise for the Dragonriders of Pern Series: 
 
‘Anne McCaffrey’s Pern novels are truly foundational books; it’s hard to imagine the modern-day landscape of fantasy and science fiction without them’ Naomi Novik, author of the Temeraire series 
 
‘Pern is where dragon riding was conceived, and fifty years later, Anne McCaffrey’s epic tale remains a masterpiece of adventure, intrigue, and romance’ - Danielle L. Jensen, Sunday Times bestselling author of A Fate Inked in Blood 
 
‘No series has ever captured my imagination so completely as Pern did.’ Susan Dennard, New York Times bestselling author of the Witchlands Series 
 
‘A gripping tale that will have you wanting MORE!’ ***** Reader Review 
 
‘A classic and a must read for anyone who loves dragons and dragon-riding.’ ***** Reader Review 
 
‘What a magical place. The author brings not only the characters but the whole world to life. Wonderful. Love it.’ ***** Reader review 
 
‘Anne McCaffrey, one of the queens of science fiction, knows exactly how to give her public what it wants’ – The Times 
 
‘Read Dragonflight and you're confronted with McCaffrey the storyteller in her prime...’ – SFX

Anne McCaffrey, one of the queens of science fiction, knows exactly how to give her public what it wants

Anne McCaffrey’s Pern books forever changed how readers looked at dragons—not just fearsome beasts to be slain, but bonded warrior partners. She taught a very young me that there was nothing cooler than a dragon you could ride, a dragon that could read your thoughts, that the mastery of a dragon was, basically, the best thing that could happen to you. Combine that with the wonderful world-building of Pern and her unforgettable characters and you get books that shaped a generation and more of fantasy writers. She was a true original.

Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonriders of Pern series was the formative series for me growing up. My best friend and I would spend hours each day pretending we lived in Pern. The world building opened my eyes to what fantasy could be; the characters introduced me to women in roles of power; and the romances left my young heart aflutter. No series has ever captured my imagination so completely as Pern did.

Anne McCaffrey is one of the titans of this genre, and one of my favorite authors of all time.  If you’re reading this, these books are worth your time.  Full stop.

Pern is where dragon riding was conceived, and fifty years later, Anne McCaffrey’s epic tale remains a masterpiece of adventure, intrigue, and romance!

Before there was a Katniss Everdeen – or even a Hermione Granger – there were Menolly and Killashandra Ree. Many fans grew up to write fantasy and science fiction, paving the way for the next generations of female readers and writers…McCaffrey’s legacy lives on.

She was not only the first woman to win a Hugo award, and the first to win a Nebula, she also skewered the way women were portrayed in science fiction in her debut, Restoree.

Anne McCaffrey was one of the world's leading science fiction writers, and the first female science fiction writer to achieve New York Times bestseller status. She won both the Hugo and Nebula awards as well as the Margaret A. Edwards' Lifetime Literary Achievement Award. She was deeply honoured to have been made a Grand Master of Science Fiction in 2005, and was inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame in 2006. Born and raised in the US and of Irish extraction, she moved to Ireland in 1970 where she lived in the ‘Garden of Ireland’, County Wicklow, until her death in 2011 at the age of eighty-five. She is the creator of the Dragonriders of Pern® series.

‘Anne McCaffrey’s Pern novels are truly foundational books; it’s hard to imagine the modern-day landscape of fantasy and science fiction without them.’ Naomi Novik, author of the Temeraire series 
 
When Lessa chose a dragon over her birthright, the hold she was to have inherited passed to Lord Jaxom instead. But Jaxom then muddied generations of Pern tradition by impulsively Impressing Ruth, a small, white dragon, as a child. From that moment on, the debate has raged. Is Jaxom now a dragonrider, or a lord holder? All anyone agrees on is that he cannot be both. But perhaps it is all academic anyway, for no one expects Ruth to survive. 
 
But Ruth not only survives, he thrives. With Jaxom on the cusp on adulthood, the thing the pair most desire is to fight Thread side-by-side with the larger dragons. Jaxom knows what his dragon is capable of, and now that he is – mostly – grown, he is determined to buck tradition. Fortunately, a teenage rebellion may be the key to both Pern’s salvation and winning the woman of his dreams. 
 
Don’t miss the original trilogy from Anne McCaffrey’s beloved Dragonriders of Pern series: 
DRAGONFLIGHT • DRAGONQUEST • THE WHITE DRAGON

(Dragonriders of Pern: 1)

Dragonflight

The first novel in the legendary and magical bestselling fantasy series from the Hugo and Nebula Award winning author, featuring dragons, adventure, romance, and heroism, perfect for fans of Rebecca Yarros’ Fourth Wing, Cassandra Clare and Brandon Sanderson. 
 
‘Anne McCaffrey is one of the titans of this genre, and one of my favorite authors of all time.’ Brandon Sanderson, New York Times bestselling author of the Mistborn series. 
 
‘Pern was one of the first fantasy worlds I fell into, and I am forever grateful.’ Leigh Bardugo, Sunday Times bestselling author of the Six of Crows series and The Familiar 
 
‘Anne McCaffrey’s Pern books forever changed how readers looked at dragons...books that shaped a generation and more of fantasy writers.’ Cassandra Clare, No. 1 New York Times bestselling author 
 
 
On a beautiful world called Pern, Lessa is an outcast survivor?her parents murdered, her birthright stolen?a fierce young woman who has never stopped dreaming of revenge. 
 
That is, until an ambitious young dragonrider, F’lar, offers her something even greater: the chance to lead Pern at his side by Impressing a golden dragon with whom she will share a telepathic bond more intimate than any human connection. 
 
Although there is also her intense relationship with F’lar himself… 
 
But Lessa’s fierceness and courage will be put to the test when an ancient scourge returns to the land: a deadly silver spore that falls from the sky, destroying all it touches. Only dragons can fight this Thread, and there are not enough dragons to protect all of Pern. 
 
Lessa and her dragon may hold the key to their world’s salvation . . . but executing her daring plan may be costlier than she ever envisioned. 
 
 
Don’t miss the original trilogy from Anne McCaffrey’s beloved Dragonriders of Pern series: 
DRAGONFLIGHT • DRAGONQUEST • THE WHITE DRAGON 
 
 
Praise for the Dragonriders of Pern Series: 
 
‘Anne McCaffrey’s Pern novels are truly foundational books; it’s hard to imagine the modern-day landscape of fantasy and science fiction without them’ Naomi Novik, author of the Temeraire series 
 
‘Pern is where dragon riding was conceived, and fifty years later, Anne McCaffrey’s epic tale remains a masterpiece of adventure, intrigue, and romance’ - Danielle L. Jensen, Sunday Times bestselling author of A Fate Inked in Blood 
 
‘No series has ever captured my imagination so completely as Pern did.’ Susan Dennard, New York Times bestselling author of the Witchlands Series 
 
‘Anne McCaffrey, one of the queens of science fiction, knows exactly how to give her public what it wants’ – The Times 
 
"Read Dragonflight and you're confronted with McCaffrey the storyteller in her prime..." - SF

Read Dragonflight and you're confronted with McCaffrey the storyteller in her prime, staking a claim for being one of the influential fantasy and SF novelists of her generation - and doing it, remarkably, in the same novel

Pern is where dragon riding was conceived, and fifty years later, Anne McCaffrey’s epic tale remains a masterpiece of adventure, intrigue, and romance

Anne McCaffrey's Pern novels are truly foundational books. The seeds of every dragonrider story are here, if not of every take on magical bonding. They carried me away as a young reader, and I hope they'll do so for new readers now.

‘The world building opened my eyes to what fantasy could be; the characters introduced me to women in roles of power; and the romances left my young heart aflutter. No series has ever captured my imagination so completely as Pern did.’ Susan Dennard, New York Times bestselling author of the Witchlands Series 
 
"Anne McCaffrey, one of the queens of science fiction, knows exactly how to give her public what it wants" - THE TIMES 
 
‘Anne McCaffrey’s Pern books forever changed how readers looked at dragons—not just fearsome beasts to be slain, but bonded warrior partners...books that shaped a generation and more of fantasy writers.’ Cassandra Clare, No. 1 New York Times bestselling author 
 
"Read Dragonflight and you're confronted with McCaffrey the storyteller in her prime..." - SFX 
 
On a beautiful world called Pern, Lessa is an outcast survivor—her parents murdered, her birthright stolen—a fierce young woman who has never stopped dreaming of revenge. That is, until an ambitious young dragonrider, F’lar, offers her something even greater: the chance to lead Pern at his side by Impressing a golden dragon with whom she will share a telepathic bond more intimate than any human connection. Although there is also her intense relationship with F’lar himself. 
 
But Lessa’s fierceness and courage will be put to the test when an ancient scourge returns to the land: a deadly silver spore that falls from the sky, destroying all it touches. Only dragons can fight this Thread, and there are not enough dragons to protect all of Pern. Lessa and her dragon may hold the key to their world’s salvation . . . but executing her daring plan may be costlier than she ever envisioned. 
 
Don’t miss the original trilogy from Anne McCaffrey’s beloved Dragonriders of Pern series: 
DRAGONFLIGHT • DRAGONQUEST • THE WHITE DRAGON

The Unicorn Girl

Acorna

Three old space prospectors rear a small, alien unicorn child.

Anne McCaffrey was one of the world's leading science-fiction writers, and won both the Hugo and Nebula awards as well as the Margaret A. Edwards' Lifetime Literary Achievement Award. She was deeply honoured to have been made a Grand Master of Science Fiction in 2005, and was inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame in 2006. Born and raised in the US and of Irish extraction, she moved to Ireland in 1970 where she lived in the ‘Garden of Ireland’, County Wicklow, until her death in 2011 at the age of eighty-five. She is the creator of the Dragonriders of Pern® series. Her website is www.pernhome.com. 
 
Margaret Ball lives in Austin, Texas with her husband, children and pets.She has a BA in mathematics and a PhD in linguistics from the University of Texas.After graduation, she taught at UCLA, then spent several years honing her science fiction and fantasy skills by designing computer software and making inflated promises about its capabilities.Her books include Lost in Translation and Mathemagics. When not writing, she plays the flute, makes quilts, and feeds the pets.

Three old space mining prospectors in their beat-up space ship discover a small pod floating in space. Inside is a tiny girl child, with funny little hooves, a wealth of silver hair growing on her body, and a lump in the middle of her forehead which, as time elapses, grows into a horn. It is a sort of unicorn. 
 
When the old prospectors come to sell their ores on the home planet controversy breaks out. Bureaucrats want to put her in a home and cut off her deformity, scientists want to study her and isolate her, and so the old three kidnap her back on their ship and go roaring off round the universe, having adventures, saving her, and finally having her save all the child slaves on a terrible planet called Kezdet. It is space opera at it's best and will be followed by more in the series, no doubt tracing Acorna to her home planet.

Changelings

The first novel about the twins of Petaybee.

Those familiar with McCaffrey and Scarborough's first SF trilogy about life on the sentient planet Petaybee will best appreciate this solid start of a new series, which picks up where Power Play (1995) left off...Fast-paced adventure

Exciting and generously laced with humor...the characters and their interactions are so well realized as to utterly charm readers. Furthermore, to the Celtic and Inuit lore that informed the first trilogy, McCaffrey and Scarborough now add elements of the mythology and lore of Earth's South Sea Islanders

Anne McCaffrey, the Hugo Award-winning author of the bestselling Dragonriders of Pern novels, was one of science fiction's most popular authors. Visit the author's website at www.annemccaffrey.net 
 
Elizabeth Ann Scarborough, winner of the Nebula Award for her novel The Healer's War, is the author of numerous fantasy novels. She has co-authored eight other novels with Anne McCaffrey. She lives on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State

In Powers That Be, Power Lines and Power Play bestselling authors Anne McCaffrey and Elizabeth Ann Scarborough told the story of a sentient planet, Petaybee. In Changelings, the first of a new series of novels, they return to Petaybee. Ronan Born for Water Shongili and Murel Monster Slayer Shongili are the twin son and daughter of Yana Maddock and Sean Shongili. Born on Petyabee, their destiny is deeply intertwined with the sentient planet that is their home. For Ronan and Murel are more than human. Like their father, each can transform into a seal and converse telepathically with the planet's creatures - such as the friendly otter whose life they save one day from a pack of ravenous wolves. But the twins' bravery has unforeseen results when a visiting scientist witnesses their startling metamorphosis and becomes obsessed with their capture. To protect their children, Sean and Yana send them to stay with a powerful family friend on an orbiting space station. But no one realizes how curious Ronan and Murel are to discover the origins of their shape-shifting talent - and that their search for knowledge will place them squarely in the path of peril. Meanwhile Petaybee is changing - and much faster than an ordinary planet's natural evolution. It appears that portions of the sea are heating up and a landmass is suddenly rising from the depths. To investigate the startling occurrence, Sean heads out to the open water in his seal form. But the newly unstable region holds untold mysteries - and the potential for disaster.

(The Catteni Sequence: 2): a masterful display of storytelling and worldbuilding from one of the most influential SFF writers of all time…

Freedom's Choice

The second title in the Catteni sequence.

Let Anne McCaffrey, storyteller extraordinare and New York Times and Sunday Times bestselling author, open your mind to new worlds and new concepts. Worlds where humans are the slaves of aliens and love can flourish in the most unlikely of places... Perfect for fans of David Eddings, Brandon Sanderson and Douglas Adams. 
 
'Anne McCaffrey, one of the queens of science fiction, knows exactly how to give her public what it wants' - THE TIMES 
'I was totally gripped' -- ***** Reader review 
'Impossible to put down' -- ***** Reader review 
'Joy...just pure, sci-fi joy!!' -- ***** Reader review 
'Absorbing' -- ***** Reader review 
***************************************************************************************************** 
They called the planet Botany, after the old penal colony on Earth. For that is what they were - prisoners and dissidents from other worlds whom the hated Catteni had banished to an empty planet - or what they thought was an empty planet. 
 
Kris Bjornsen and her fellow slaves had survived very well - thanks to Zainal, a high ranking Catteni also trapped on Botany. Zainal knew the Catteni ways and the Catteni technology, and he had plans for fighting back. For, as he explained, the Catteni too were victims - subject to the mighty and terrifying Eosi race who used the Catteni as a galactic police force - and also used them in more grisly and horrifying ways. 
 
But the question remained - to whom did Botany really belong? Who had created the giant grain sheds and the mammoth machinery that tilled the great fields? The new inhabitants of Botany called them the 'Farmers' - and waited for the day they would come to harvest their crops. 
 
And when that happened, the refugees were awed into silence - for the Farmers were greater than anything the universe had ever seen.

Sky Dragons

Following on from Dragon's Time and finishing the saga begun by Todd McCaffrey with Dragonsblood, Dragonheart and Dragongirl, this is the tale of the fight to replenish Pern's dragon population and the world's very first female wingleader.

Anne McCaffrey was one of the world's leading science-fiction writers, and won both the Hugo and Nebula awards as well as the Margaret A. Edwards' Lifetime Literary Achievement Award. She was deeply honoured to have been made a Grand Master of Science Fiction in 2005, and was inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame in 2006. Born and raised in the US and of Irish extraction, she moved to Ireland in 1970 where she lived in the ‘Garden of Ireland’, County Wicklow, until her death in 2011 at the age of eighty-five. She is the creator of the Dragonriders of Pern® series. Her website is www.pernhome.com. 
 
Todd McCaffrey – Anne’s son – is a licensed pilot and software engineer living in Los Angeles. Todd took up writing full-time in 2002 and hasn’t looked back. He is the author of a dozen books including the eight books in the Third Pass of Pern: three written solo and five in collaboration with Anne McCaffrey. Having grown up with the Dragonriders of Pern®, he has an abiding passion in creating new stories for the world, its people, dragons, fire-lizards, watch-whers, and others. For more information on Todd and his books, visit his website at www.toddmccaffrey.org or follow him – @toddric – on Twitter.

After a vicious plague swept through the world of Pern, there are no longer enough dragons to fight off the current onslaught of Thread, the deadly spore that falls like rain from the skies and devours everything organic in its path. 
 
Pern's last best chance to rebuild the decimated dragon population lies with a group of young dragonriders and their dragons left stranded on an unexplored island. Leadership of these dragons and riders falls to Xhinna, female rider of a blue dragon, who, as the most experienced dragonrider in the new Weyr, must earn the respect of all who follow her, as not everyone is ready to accept a female wingleader. She must solve the problem of how to get sufficient numbers of dragon eggs, although her newfangled ideas, like letting green dragons mate and lay eggs to hatch new dragons, cause uproar. All the while she must protect her people and baby dragons from the predators and, worse, traitors or all hope for Pern will be lost!

Anne McCaffrey

I encountered Dragonflight at the age of eleven and was immediately charmed. Since then, I’ve read many, many more of Anne McCaffrey’s books, and the feeling of Real Magic has never gone away.

Pern was the birthplace of fantasy in the hearts of so many readers of my generation, and was the first (and only) fandom I was able to fully share with my mother.  I dreamt of Harper Hall and fire lizards of my own all the way up to high school.  These books were trailblazers, and the land they charted remains as gripping and innovative today as it was upon its discovery.  We owe a lot to Pern.

(Dragonriders of Pern: 2)

‘Pern is where dragon riding was conceived, and fifty years later, Anne McCaffrey’s epic tale remains a masterpiece of adventure, intrigue, and romance!’ Danielle L. Jensen, New York Times bestselling author of A Fate Inked in Blood 
 
‘Anne McCaffrey's Pern novels are truly foundational books. The seeds of every dragonrider story are here, if not of every take on magical bonding. They carried me away as a young reader, and I hope they'll do so for new readers now.’ Naomi Novik, author of the Temeraire series 
 
Lessa and her golden queen dragon may have given their world a fighting chance against the deadly Thread by bringing several hundred dragons and their riders forward in time, but this has also caused other problems to arise. The Oldtimers, as they are known, are having a difficult time adjusting to their more modern world, and tensions are rising. Worse, Threadfall is becoming more unpredictable, which makes it harder to combat. 
 
Inspired by Lessa’s example, brown dragonrider F’nor hatches a bold plan to cut through these growing tensions by destroying the Thread at its source: the mysterious Red Star. But his quest to go where no man—or dragon—has gone before will risk not only his life, but the heart of a woman who has already lost far more than she can bear. 
 
Don’t miss the original trilogy from Anne McCaffrey’s beloved Dragonriders of Pern series: 
DRAGONFLIGHT • DRAGONQUEST • THE WHITE DRAGON

Anne McCaffrey

Praise for Dragonquest

Anne McCaffrey, one of the queens of science fiction, knows exactly how to give her public what it wants

Anne McCaffrey’s Pern books forever changed how readers looked at dragons—not just fearsome beasts to be slain, but bonded warrior partners. She taught a very young me that there was nothing cooler than a dragon you ...

Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonriders of Pern series was the formative series for me growing up. My best friend and I would spend hours each day pretending we lived in Pern. The world building opened my eyes to what fantasy ...

Anne McCaffrey, one of the queens of science fiction, knows exactly how to give her public what it wants

Anne McCaffrey’s Pern books forever changed how readers looked at dragons—not just fearsome beasts to be slain, but bonded warrior partners. She taught a very young me that there was nothing cooler than a dragon you ...

Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonriders of Pern series was the formative series for me growing up. My best friend and I would spend hours each day pretending we lived in Pern. The world building opened my eyes to what fantasy ...

Anne McCaffrey, one of the queens of science fiction, knows exactly how to give her public what it wants

Anne McCaffrey’s Pern books forever changed how readers looked at dragons—not just fearsome beasts to be slain, but bonded warrior partners. She taught a very young me that there was nothing cooler than a dragon you ...

Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonriders of Pern series was the formative series for me growing up. My best friend and I would spend hours each day pretending we lived in Pern. The world building opened my eyes to what fantasy ...

Books by Anne McCaffrey

Series by Anne McCaffrey

The Acorna Series4 Books

The Catteni Sequence4 Books

The Crystal Singer Books3 Books

The Dragon Books24 Books

The Petaybee Trilogy3 Books

The Talent Series3 Books

Follow penguin

Follow ladybird

Follow puffin

Sign up to the Penguin newsletter