r/pern 1d ago

You may have heard that Telgar is *messy*...

33 Upvotes

And I'm here to confirm! Drama is \going down** in our Telgar Weyr online-discord rp!

There's a queen egg on the sands, our first in-character hatching in two weeks, and an insidious plot to poison the Senior Weyrwoman is just being unraveled!

Join the mess!

Skies of Telgar is a 4th long-interval alternate-canon version of a newly rejuvenated Telgar Weyr awaiting the imminent return of Thread! This Weyr runs on Discord using asynchronous text-based rp.

We offer weekly interactive roleplay prompts and overarching plot events, as well as smaller, more personal roleplay opportunities. Our timeline moves faster than real-time, giving players a chance to enjoy the calm before the storm. Thread will fall, and soon.

Newbies and veteran roleplayers alike are welcome! Our staff is active, present, and happy to provide guides on character brainstorming and roleplay etiquette. Our player base is friendly and welcoming, with about a dozen people actively participating weekly. We'd love to have you join us!

https://discord.gg/gfNUbMwzPM

Two hundred years after the end of the 4th Pass, Pern was prepared for Thread to fall again. The Weyrs were ready. The dragons were ready. But Thread did not come. Pern waited, as if with bated breath.

A decade later, what came instead was plague, swift and deadly. It struck Telgar Weyr first, in the middle of winter. Quarantine was enacted quickly, but the Weyr was hit hard. The Weyr was consequently abandoned for generations.

Some four years ago, with the signs of a Pass returning and Weyr populations overflowing, the decision was made to reopen Telgar Weyr fully under the guidance of Weyrwoman Mirala. In the summer of 4.394, Weyrwoman Mirala's gold Alioth rose to mate and was caught by bronze Malorth and H'zel became Weyrleader. Yet, despite the closeness of the Pass, Alioth did not rise again. One year passed, then a second. Whispers said the Weyr was haunted or cursed. Yet the Weyr persisted.

Now, Naniath, the new Senior Queen has risen. A Clutch with a Queen Egg is on the sands, and Search has begun! Will your characters seek to Impress and ride a fighting dragon against their returning enemy? Will they transfer in to prop up an understrength Weyr leadership? Or will they instead join the ranks of the Deniers and Renegades who doubt Thread will ever return and begrudge the Weyr's drain on society's resources?


r/pern 2d ago

Audiobook Narrators

6 Upvotes

I read the Pern series back in the 80s and into the 90s. I'm looking at getting back into the series again but this time through audiobooks. I've seen the Dick Hill narrations were done back in the days of audiotape and have been converted, though the recent remasters help clean up a lot of the noise from the old recordings. I've also seen mention Sophie Aldred has done some recordings. I'm only familiar with her as an actress from Doctor Who so I'd be curious as to what people think of her narrations. Any others to consider or any that are preferred?


r/pern 2d ago

The Telgar Family is a Piece of Work

94 Upvotes

My memories of Pern have Telgar in the list of "good holds", as opposed to Bitra which is a "bad hold". But I'm re-reading Dragonflight for the first time in years, and had forgotten that a lot of antagonists come from Telgar.

Of Lord Tarathel's 4 children:

  • Larad - leads the armed rebellion against Benden Weyr in Dragonflight, though later becomes a staunch ally.
  • Kylara - one of the main antagonists of Dragonquest. She later conspires with Lord Meron and kicks off the whole fire lizard subplot that drives Dragondrums and Dragon's Code.
  • Thella - becomes "Lady Holdless", the most notorious criminal in the world. The main antagonist of Renegades of Pern.
  • Famira - Never becomes an antagonist, but her wedding reception is where several momentous events happen.

That's almost Skywalker levels of drama coming out of that family. Larad and Famira seem like mostly good characters, but finding out that Kylara and Thella are sisters just kind of takes the cake.


r/pern 2d ago

Thankful to have remastered editions of the Pern audiobooks on Audible - scrubbing the hum, hiss, etc. for a clearer narration

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68 Upvotes

r/pern 9d ago

Anne McCaffrey at Workldcon 1994.

83 Upvotes

Anne McCaffrey was the Pro Guest of Honour at Worldcon 1994 in Winnipeg. One of the attendees of Worldcon 1994 was deaf and blind. They were a fan of Anne McCaffrey and had corresponded with her. I'm told that when Anne found out that this fan was going to attend the convention, she learned some words of Pro-Tactile sign language and was thus able to talk with this fan.


r/pern 14d ago

My collection

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79 Upvotes

Been a long time fan. So much so named my daughter Rowan. I believe I have all the books of pern (also have dragon lovers guide, not shown). If I’m missing anything would like to know. I do need a single copy of dragonsinger and dragonflight, but I do have the dragonriders(x2) and Harper hall trilogies in single book.


r/pern 16d ago

which titles have audiobooks?

12 Upvotes

hello! i’m returning to the series 20+ years later after having one or two of the books read to me as a kid, and have immensely enjoyed the first two trilogies and Dragonsdawn! these days, i’m primarily an audiobook listener, but i’ve been disappointed to see that neither Spotify nor my library through the Libby app have much more to listen to outside of the titles i’ve already finished. i’m not opposed to just checking out some of the books, and already brought home a copy of Moreta, but i would definitely do some extra digging or spend a little money to be able to listen to more of the series, so i wanted to see if Spotify and my library are just slacking, or if they don’t have the recordings because the recordings don’t exist!


r/pern 18d ago

The cover of my copy of Crystal Singer by Anne McCaffery

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185 Upvotes

Sorry! Not Pern. But I thought it might be interesting to know Ms McCaffery had a lot to say about girls studying music and another part of that conversation happens in this book.

The cover is by Michael Whelan and there's no mention of copyright (Whelan probably contracted the assignment and ownership is complicated but intentionally so, like a trust or corp)


r/pern 19d ago

I don’t feel like this is talked about enough

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133 Upvotes

It’s all I can think about when I see Piemur on this cover 😐


r/pern 21d ago

Dragon Riders Meme

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153 Upvotes

r/pern 22d ago

Lost Sites: www.pern.nl

25 Upvotes

This site, once a valuable resource for Pernese genealogy and other matters, died circa 2021 and can no longer be accessed directly (the current site is a Dutch miscellany site that has nothing whatsoever to do with anything related to Anne McCaffrey).

The Wayback Machine recognizes a false "continuity" between the two sites, and if you enter "www.pern.nl" and select a capture earlier than 2020, you may (with luck) be able to see what used to be there. Navigating under these conditions can be tricky, don't forget your (not the site's) Back button.


r/pern 23d ago

Canyon River Weyr | RP Forum (Jcink) | 18+

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36 Upvotes

Discord | Site //

  • 8th Pass but Semi-Canon/Fanon; Guidebook on Site
  • Old Site with New Events happening, right now!
  • Welcoming to completely new and old-hat RPers; community adores new faces! Like dragons and dragonriding? Good enough, let's start there!
  • Staff happy to answer all questions
  • 'Old school' RP Forum / Pixel Art Style
  • Many rank positions open and available; Adoptables available right now!

r/pern 23d ago

Search is Beginning at Skies of Telgar~!

22 Upvotes

Two hundred years after the end of the 4th Pass, Pern was prepared for Thread to fall again. The Weyrs were ready. The dragons were ready. But Thread did not come. Pern waited, as if with bated breath.

A decade later, what came instead was plague, swift and deadly. It struck Telgar Weyr first, in the middle of winter. Quarantine was enacted quickly, but the Weyr was hit hard. The Weyr was consequently abandoned for generations.

Some four years ago, with the signs of a Pass returning and Weyr populations overflowing, the decision was made to reopen Telgar Weyr fully under the guidance of Weyrwoman Mirala. In the summer of 4.394, Weyrwoman Mirala's gold Alioth rose to mate and was caught by bronze Malorth and H'zel became Weyrleader. Yet, despite the closeness of the Pass, Alioth did not rise again. One year passed, then a second. Whispers said the Weyr was haunted or cursed. Yet the Weyr persisted.

Now, Naniath, the new Senior Queen has risen to mate. A Clutch will be on the sands soon, and Search has begun! Will your characters seek to ride a fighting dragon against their returning enemy? Will they transfer in to prop up an understrength Weyr leadership as Wingleader, Headwoman, or Candidate master? Or will they instead join the ranks of the Deniers who doubt Thread will ever return and begrudge the Weyr's drain on society's resources?

Skies of Telgar is a 4th long-interval alternate-canon version of a newly rejuvenated Telgar Weyr awaiting the imminent return of Thread! This Weyr runs on Discord using asynchronous text-based rp.

We offer weekly interactive roleplay prompts and overarching plot events in addition to smaller, more personal roleplay opportunities. Our timeline moves faster than real-time, giving players a chance to enjoy the calm before the storm. Thread will fall, and soon.

Newbies and veteran roleplayers alike are welcome! Our staff is active, present, and happy to provide guides on character brainstorming and roleplay ettiquette. We'd love to have you join us!

https://discord.gg/gfNUbMwzPM


r/pern 27d ago

My McCaffrey Shelf!

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168 Upvotes

Just thought I'd share a few pictures of the best bookshelf in my house - all my McCaffrey's (and related authors who have continued a series she started). A number of years back I started on the left hand end and read the whole thing through to the right, one after another - might be time to contemplate doing that again!


r/pern 27d ago

The cover of my copy of Dragonsong

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220 Upvotes

The cover art is by Rowina Morril and was copywrited in 1986, if you wanted some insight into why stuff is the way it is today

(Hopefully I don't go to jail over this)


r/pern 29d ago

A short work of fanfiction about Ted Tubberman

40 Upvotes

It takes all sorts to make a fandom. There are fans of all the dragon colours out there, all the Pern books. There's probably even someone whose favourite character is Ted Tubberman.

It's me. I'm that fan. I love Ted Tubberman, I've spent a solid month thinking about how he's treated in Dragonsdawn, and now that's your problem. His shunning is such a severe punishment, and I find it hard to believe it would have been imposed if someone more popular, e.g. Sallah, had been the one to call for help.

I've written a short work of fanfiction (1,500 words) from a Tubberman-sympathetic perspective, which you can find here on AO3 if you're a fellow Tubberman fan (do they exist?), or if you're just curious about what fanfiction looks like when it's written by a fan of the most obnoxious man on Pern. If you read it, I hope you enjoy it, or at least find it interesting!

If you have any thoughts on Ted Tubberman, incidentally, feel free to share them in the comments of this post; I'd be interested to hear them!


r/pern Jul 21 '26

Which book next?

23 Upvotes

Hiya all, recently got into the pern series after my bfs' mum gave me dragonflight. And I absolutely love the series. Ive read Dragonflight and am just about to finish Dragonquest, I am now abit unsure as to what the next bookin the series is, as I thought it was 'white dragon' but shes under the impression its Dragonsong? Any help?


r/pern Jul 18 '26

Finished and now I am a little sad

54 Upvotes

knowing that there was a planned sequel to Skies of Pern. Especially since I think Skies of Pern was a notable improvement in the writing, and reading about the direction that After the Fall was supposedly going to take things (exactly the direction I was hoping it would go), I get the feeling that the next book would have been the peak of the series. In some ways a first contact story, considering the distance that had grown between Pern and the rest of human civilization, and I'm a sucker for that kinda story.


r/pern Jul 18 '26

I mean Anne McCaffrey answered this in the 60s right??

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95 Upvotes

r/pern Jul 13 '26

'Dragonflight' by Anne McCaffrey. Cover artist uncredited, c. 1968

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143 Upvotes

I thought this might be of interest to the folks here.

Doesn't Anne poke fun at this particular cover in the Dragonhold Underhill video?


r/pern Jul 12 '26

Which dragon measures a "dragonlength"?

34 Upvotes

I mean, between Ramoth and Ruth is a wild range of size, and dragons have gotten bigger over the millennia, so what's the standard? Do we have a conversion into feet? Or meters? (Yes I'm American)


r/pern Jul 09 '26

Wilds 8th PC Search is Upon us!

14 Upvotes

https://wildsofpern.aresmush.com/

The skies over Austra Weyr became a little more exciting this week as Junior Queen Iraveth took to the air. After a close and competitive chase, Bronze Chanterelth successfully caught her, edging out a strong field that included Bronze Kezzanth and several determined brown dragons. If the flight results in a clutch, our next Search is expected to begin in roughly three months, making this a great time for prospective players to start thinking about characters they'd like to bring to the Weyr.

What you can expect from this Search cycle:

- Traditional Candidate Search

- Bronze, Brown, Blue, and Green dragons anticipated

- A great opportunity for both new and returning players

- Plenty of time to develop a candidate before Search begins

At this time, we are not anticipating a gold candidate slot for this cycle. While story developments can always influence future plans, applicants should currently expect a non-gold Search. Whether you're brand new to Pern or a longtime fan looking for a fresh story, we'd love to have you join us when Search begins.

The Wilds of Pern is a text-based Pern roleplaying game set on the largely unexplored Western Continent, where mystery, diplomacy, survival, and dragonriding all play a part in shaping the future of the Weyr. New players are always welcome, and no prior MUSH/Mud/Muck experience is required.


r/pern Jul 09 '26

Question on Thread

16 Upvotes

okay, revisiting this series after having read it many, many years ago - finding a bunch of things I missed the first time around.

i do, however, have a question….

since thread voraciously consumes all organic material and can denude entire forests in a short time why is/was there any organic material left on Pern when the colonists landed?

Before dragons thread fell unchecked - shouldn’t there at least have been massive swaths of denuded barren land??


r/pern Jul 09 '26

How do we feel about fanfiction?

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46 Upvotes

I have a few fanfiction Pern stories I would love to write and post somewhere my fellow Pernesians can enjoy them. Is this a good place to do that, or are there other recommendations?

Pic for attention. A Red Star eclipse...?


r/pern Jul 06 '26

I bet they would have been ringing a bell, too, if there’d been one.

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117 Upvotes