How were you introduced to Pern?
I found Dragonflight in a specialist science fiction bookshop in town when I was 14 (?).
In New Zealand at that time it was almost impossible to import US-published books and nearly all the places that struggled through the hoops to do so were science fiction oriented. (This was in the days before we recognised fantasy as a separate genre and before science fiction itself was mainstream.) Because of that science fiction shops (and there were only about four in the whole country) smelled different. Something about the paper, ink and glue used in US printing. Anyway, just walking into them was a very different experience from shopping anywhere else.
Anyway, I bought Dragonflight. In those days I dated the books when I bought them and that original paperback is dated one day, and the paperback of Dragonquest the next, so I must have gone back the very next day for the next in the series.
Of course, it was still only a series of two at the time! (Or perhaps two series of two, because I don't think I had to wait for Dragonsong and Dragonsinger.) What I did have to wait for was The White Dragon to be published.
I had one of those big anthology books that people love to buy kids. It had the short story that I'm willing to bet a lot of people in Pern Fandom will quote - The Smallest Dragonboy
I actually discovered Pern thanks to my 9th grade English text book. There was an excerpt from either Dragonsong or Dragonsinger. It was when Menolly impressed all those firelizards.
My mother read them all outloud to me while I cross-stitched or did some other crafty type thing with my hands. I think the only ones I actually read for the first time by myself were All the Weyrs, Dragonseye, Skies of Pern and Master Harper.
I think I read my first Pern book while in high school but was more into Lord of the Rings at that time and didn't go back for about ten years. Then I was taking advantage of the "borrow by mail" feature of my local library and was reintroduced to the books.
I was in seventh grade and had finished the story "Dragon's Milk" in class. I became infatuated with dragons after that, so my mom introduced me to the Pern Series. She only read "The White Dragon", but she started me with "Dolphins of Pern". I was more fascinate with the pretty picture on the cover at the time, and I never really liked the story, but then I got "Dragonsflight," again because I liked the pretty pictures on the cover. However, it was when I read "Dragonsflight" that I fell in love with the true concept of Pern.
My Grandpa bought me Dragonflight when I was in seventh grade :love5: It actually took me two tries to get into it, but once I did, I was completely hooked. I still remember coming home from school and seeing the gorgeous cover of Dragonflight for the first time....that beautiful lime-green sky with golden Ramoth soaring... I'll never forget that moment :)
My girlfriend loaned me the first book, when I said I had no new reading material. I think I finished it in about 24 hours. I asked for the second - same thing. Then went back and asked for three or four because I was going aweay for the week with my parents to their farm in the country.
It was hot - I hate the heat - I sat on the porch for three days straight and just read. And then longed for a return home just so I could get more books! LOL
(And when I say hot, I mean 104+F and I melt at anything over 78F.)
And I should probably add, I was about 32/33 when I read the first one.
Dang girl...that is hot!
Same as Emma, but I found the anthology from the library. I remember I was reading Julian May at the time and I started with AM's "To fly a Pegasos", then anything from AM I could find.
The Smallest Dragonboy in 7th grade English. After that I found the Harper Hall books in our school library. From there I checked them out in order from the regular library since (i guess) they didn't thing DF was appropriate for a jr. high library. :dontknow:
When I started reading McCaffrey there was a Pern 'series' (2 x 2, as I mentioned above). All the others - Restoree, Dinosaur Planet, To Ride Pegasus, Decision at Doona, The Ship Who Sang - were all singletons and were (remain) exceptional books in their own right. Now I look back I can't think of any sequels to these that every impressed me as much as the first titles. Perhaps it was the 'discovery' of so many great worlds.
In Middle School, I started taking an interest in my mom's sci-fi/fantasy book collection. I enjoyed going through, picking out a book, and reading it. She suggested the Pern series, specifically Dragonsong, to me several times, but the cover didn't really interest me. Finally though, I did sit down and read the book in a day. I loved it. I quickly went through all the Pern books my mom had, went out and bought the rest, and also read a lot of McCaffrey's other books.
I agree with Jane about the amazing worlds McCaffrey has created. This is why I'll continue to read the new Pern books, even though they're very disappointing in many ways. It's just nice to sit back and read about Pern, even if I don't like many of her characters or the events in the books.
I was seated in the very back of my sixth-grade classroom, right next to the little bookshelf, so I saw the books every day and finally decided to read them.
I'm not exactly sure WHY these books were offered to eleven- and twelve-year olds. The librarian at didn't want to show me to the adult section for the rest of them...maybe he thought I'd get sucked into smutopia back there. :angel7: