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Path: senator-bedfellow.mit.edu!bloom-beacon.mit.edu!hecate.umd.edu!cs.umd.edu!info.usuhs.mil!news.monroe.army.mil!wrdiss1.robins.af.mil!gatech!141.211.144.13.MISMATCH!newsxfer3.itd.umich.edu!jobone!lynx.unm.edu!fugu!sloth.swcp.com!kitsune.swcp.com!not-for-mail
From: quirk@swcp.com (Taki Kogoma)
Newsgroups: alt.fan.pern,news.answers,alt.answers
Subject: Welcome to alt.fan.pern (Semi-monthly posting) (Part 1 of 2)
Supersedes: <pern-intro-1-875689208@swcp.com>
Followup-To: alt.fan.pern
Date: 15 Oct 1997 01:00:17 -0600
Organization: Nit-Pickers For a Better Tomorow Afternoon
Lines: 1009
Approved: news-answers-request@MIT.Edu
Distribution: world
Expires: 11/02/97 00:00:08
Message-ID: <pern-intro-1-876898808@swcp.com>
Reply-To: quirk@swcp.com (Taki Kogoma)
NNTP-Posting-Host: kitsune.swcp.com
Summary: Introductory material for the alt.fan.pern newsgroup
Keywords: Pern, FAQ, Intro
Xref: senator-bedfellow.mit.edu alt.fan.pern:24595 news.answers:115333 alt.answers:29843
Posted-By: auto-faq 3.1.1.2q
Archive-name: pern-intro/part1
URL: http://kumo.swcp.com/~quirk/afp-index.shtml
Version: 4.0
This document is now being prepared from the HTML sources used by the
WWW version. The WWW version is available at:
http://kumo.swcp.com/~quirk/afp-index.shtml
"The Dragonriders of Pern(R)" is a Registered Trademark of Anne McCaffrey,
etc.
WELCOME TO ALT.FAN.PERN!
Contents of Part 1:
(Dates indicate last time the file corresponding to that section was modified)
1. Introductory Material (28 Aug 97)
1a. About this newsgroup
1b. Introduction to Pern
1c. Appropriate subject matter
1d. Why 'alt.fan.pern' and not 'alt.fan.mccaffrey'?
1e. Spoiler ettiquette
1f. Other newsgroups of interest
1g. Common abbreviations
1h. Fan Fiction
1i. Anne McCaffrey on the net
1j. Just who is this Quirk joker anyway?
2. Pern in Print (3 Sep 97)
2a. Book List (McCaffrey-written)
2b. Latest Pern book news
2c. Suggested reading order
2d. Chronological order of books/stories
2e. Pern books on tape
2f. Other Pern materials
2g. Obtaining hard-to-find books
CONTENTS OF PART 2:
3. Frequently Asked Questions about Pern (26 Aug 97)
3a. Pronunciation of various words/names
3b. Rider behavior during Mating flights
3c. Queen dragons and firestone
3d. Where to dragons/firelizards deficate?
3e. Who/What does Aramina hear in The Renegades of Pern?
3f. What's this I hear about a Pern movie?
3g. Is Rukbat (Pern's sun) a real star?
3h. Robinton, Silvina, and Camo
4. On-line Simulations of Pern (1 Sep 97)
4a. Accessing Pern-type MU*s
4b. (Insert your favorite MU* here) is down!!!
4c. List of Pern-type MU*s
5. "Real Life" Fan Organization and related info (25 Mar 97)
6. Non-Pern McCaffrey materials (6 Dec 96)
6a. Booklist
6b. Booktapes
Note: These articles are being cross-posted to the news.answers and
alt.answers newsgroups for extended expire times and archival on
rtfm.mit.edu:/pub/usenet/alt.fan.pern
or /pub/usenet-by-hierarchy/alt/fan/pern
or /pub/usenet/news.answers/pern-intro
or /pub/usenet/alt.answers/pern-intro
To obtain these files (assumes UN*X environment with FTP capability):
---
%ftp rtfm.mit.edu
Connected to <etc.>
Name (rtfm.mit.edu:<foo>): [anonymous]
331 Guest login ok, send ident as password.
Password: [your e-mail address]
230 Guest login ok, access restrictions apply.
ftp> [cd pub/usenet/alt.fan.pern
(or) pub/usenet-by-hierarchy/alt/fan/pern
(or) pub/usenet/news.answers/pern-intro
(or) pub/usenet/alt.answers/pern-intro]
(or) pub/faqs/pern-intro]
250 CWD command successful.
ftp> [get
Welcome_to_alt.fan.pern_(Semi-monthly_posting)_(Part_<X>_of_2)]
(Where <X> is the part number. If you have chosen the
pub/usenet/news.answers/pern-intro or
pub/usenet/alt.answers/pern-intro or
pub/faqs/pern-intro path, then just get part<X>.)
200 PORT command successful.
[Some stuff]
ftp> (get any other parts you may want)
ftp> [quit]
%
---
1. Introductory Material
1a. About this newsgroup.
The newsgroup [1]alt.fan.pern is dedicated to discussion of the
fictional world of Pern as described in the various novels and short
stories by Anne McCaffrey. Related topics include Ms. McCaffrey's
other works, and several of the on-line 'virtual realities' depicting
Pern (see below).
1b. Introduction to Pern
Pern is the third planet of the Rukbat system in the Sagittarius
sector. It is a colony world which has lost contact with 'Mother
Earth' due to periodic attacks from an organism called 'thread' which
devours all organic material it comes into contact with. To counter
Thread, the original Pernese colonists -- back when they still had the
skills -- modified an indigenous life-form to create Dragons -- so
named for the mythical beasts they resemble.
'Modern day' (as depicted in most of the books) Pern has lost many of
the skills originally brought with the colonists and can probably be
best described as a 'pre-industrial' society. Toward the end of the
series, much of the original colonists' technology is rediscovered.
Alternatively, Pern is the home of Dragons, their riders, and various
other people as depicted in Anne McCaffrey's _Dragonriders of Pern_
series and related books.
1c. Appropriate subject matter
As stated above, this group is primarily for the discussion of the
world of Pern -- discussion of Ms. McCaffrey's other works is not
unwelcome, but the emphasis is on Pern. (See section 1d: "[2]Why
'alt.fan.pern' and not 'alt.fan.mccaffrey'?" for more on this.) A
major component of this discussion revolves around the various
multi-user programs that have been set up attempting to simulate Pern.
One of The most often-discussed is '[3]PernMUSH', although there are
many others in existence. Articles about PernMUSH or the other
Pern-related simulations should have 'PernMUSH' or 'MUSH' or something
similar in the subject line so that those who are not interested can
filter them out via KILLfile.
Note, however, that questions pertaining to the mechanics of MU*s
(clients, code questions, etc.) are better asked in the
rec.games.mud.* hierarchy rather than here.
Occasionally, the traffic about PernMUSH seems to dominate this
newsgroup. Generally, complaining about it is counterproductive and a
good way to spark a flame-war. If you, the reader, wish to discuss
something that is not presently being addressed in the group, by all
means start the discussion yourself. If others find the topic
interesting they'll respond.
A note on announcements: Due to the nature of Usenet, it can take
several days for an article to propogate to the various news servers
across the net. I strongly recommend a lead time of at least 3 days
for time-critical announcements.
Also, posting binary files -- i.e. uuencoded or MIME-encoded .gifs,
executables, etc. -- is strongly discouraged. Many people must pay by
the byte (or for connect time which translates to the same thing) to
download newsgroup articles sight-unseen -- this means that by the
time they've determined that the file they just spent 30 minutes
downloading is an unwanted binary, they've already paid for it.
Therefore, if you have a neat-o image or program you wish to
distribute, the preferred method is to place it on a web page, upload
it to an FTP site, or post to one of the appropriate *.binaries.*
newsgroups, and then post a pointer to this newsgroup telling where to
find it.
Finally, inconsiderate fools have, from time to time, taken to posting
entirely inappropriate articles to the newsgroup; often cross-posted
to many others. PLEASE do not post follow-up complaints to
alt.fan.pern. Doing so, particularly with cross-posted articles only
serves to increase the overal newsgroup clutter. If you feel you must
complain, please do so to the article author in question via email.
1d. Why 'alt.fan.pern' and not 'alt.fan.mccaffrey'?
alt.fan.pern was first proposed (in '91, if memory serves) as a forum
for the discussion of PernMUSH (i.e. alt.mud.pernmush). However, it
was agreed that this would be too narrow a topic to warrant a
newsgroup, so the charter was expanded to general discussion of Pern
and Pern fandom, discussion carried out on alt.config and the newgroup
message was sent out. (This is based on a history of this newsgroup
that Amberyl sent me back in '94; I am not a founding member, I'm just
this guy who pulled together the material to create this document, and
is now stuck maintaining it.) Since then, the charter has expanded
somewhat to acceptance of discussion of Ms. McCaffrey's other works.
In any event, one can always use [4]rec.arts.sf.written (see section
1f [5]Other newsgroups of interest) for non-Pern discussion; traffic
on alt.fan.pern really isn't large enough to warrant a newsgroup
split.
As for renaming the newsgroup, this is effectively impossible: alt.*
newsgroups never die. There will be an alt.fan.pern newsgroup for as
long as newsservers continue to exist, so any attempt at renaming the
newsgroup will, in practice, just end up creating a new, redundant
newsgroup with lower propogation -- Based on several factors, alt.*
newsgroups created after 1993 or thereabouts have considerably lower
propogation (i.e. can be found on fewer sites) than those created
earlier.
1e. Spoiler etiquette
Whenever new books or other material are published, it is advisable
that any discussion that may give away the story or otherwise 'spoil'
the book for others should be 'protected'. The techniques used to do
this are known as 'spoiler protection'. (Whodathunkit?)
Placing "Spoiler!" in the subject is a start, but is not enough as
many newsreaders display the first 12-20 lines of article text when an
article is presented for reading. The following steps are suggested:
1. Insert 12-20 blank lines before the sensitive material.
2. Place a ^L (Control-L) character at the *beginning* of one of the
lines; this will cause some newsreaders to treat it as a
top-of-page marker. (Note: This doesn't always work, and some
editors do not allow control characters to be embedded, so the '20
blank lines' measure should be used in all cases; the ^L serving
as an additional layer of defense.)
How long should spoiler protection be kept in place? My feeling is
that spoilers should be kept in place until one or two months after
the release of the paperback edition of a book (assuming it was first
released in hardcover). However, practice has shown that 3-6 months
after initial publication is usually sufficient.
1f. Other newsgroups of interest
rec.arts.sf.*: The primary hierarchy for discussion of Speculative
Fiction (Science Fiction + Fantasy). The subgroups are:
* [6]rec.arts.sf.written: Books, Short Stories, etc.
* [7]rec.arts.sf.movies: Big screen.
* [8]rec.arts.sf.tv: Not-so-big screen.
* [9]rec.arts.sf.science: "How the heck does this thing work?"
* [10]rec.arts.sf.fandom: Fannish activities, cons, et al.
* [11]rec.arts.sf.misc: Catch-all.
* Plus several others.
When posting to these newsgroups, please remember to use appropriate
subject headers; including the author or title in the subject would be
a good idea.
* [12]alt.fan.dragons: Discussion of dragons of all types -
mythological, fictional, etc.
Those interested in the various MUSHes, MOOs, et al. may find
* [13]rec.games.mud.tiny
* [14]rec.games.mud.admin
* [15]rec.games.mud.misc
of some interest. Keep in mind that these are general MUD newsgroups,
and the latter two carry considerable traffic on many different MUD
types that historically have not been used for Pern simulations.
1g. Common abbreviations
For those of you new to the net, there are quite a few abbreviations
in use here on Usenet that may be unfamiliar. Here is a short list of
the more frequently encountered.
IMO
"In My Opinion"
IMHO
"In My Humble/Honest Opinion"
BTW
"By The Way"
OTOH
"On The Other Hand"
IIRC
"If I Recall Correctly"
ITYM
"I Think You Mean..."
HTH
"Hope This Helps."
;-), :-), :), etc.
A 'smiley' face -- look at it sideways. Used to indicate humor
and/or sarcasm.
ROTFL
"Rolling On The Floor, Laughing". (There are several variants
on this.)
FWIW
"For What It's Worth"
YMMV
"Your Mileage May Varry" (i.e. others may not have the exact
same experience.)
And now some specific to alt.fan.pern:
MU*, M*
Indicative of any of the family of MUD/MUSH/MOO/etc.
NC
[16]PernMUSH (Which covers the Northern Continent during the
10th pass)
SC
[17]SouConMUSH (Which contains the complementary Southern
Continent for the same time period as NC)
IC
MU*-speak for 'In Character' - meaning behavior that the MU*
characters would engage in.
OOC
MU*-speak for 'Out of Character' - Usually applying to
information/behavior that the *player* of a MU* character
knows/performs that the character would not, logically, be able
to take advantage of.
DLG
_[18]The Dragonlover's Guide to Pern_; see '[19]Pern in Print'
below.
D1, D2, D3
The three books comprising the _[20]Dragonriders of Pern _
trilogy. (_Dragonflight_, _Dragonquest_, and _The White Dragon_
respectively)
H1, H2, H3
The three books comprising the _[21]Harper Hall of Pern_
trilogy. (_Dragonsong_, _Dragonsinger_, and _Dragondrums_
respectively)
[The above two sets are my personal shorthand, but I'm not the only
one using them -- Quirk]
HHT
The above-mentioned Harper Hall trilogy.
AtWoP, ATWOP, etc.
_All the Weyrs of Pern_
CoP
_The Chronicles of Pern: First Fall_
1h. Fan fiction
NOTE: The following applies to fan fiction posted to the net. I do not
have (nor do I desire) the authority to prevent any quasi/illegal acts
on this newsgroup. The following is presented for informational
purposes. You may heed or ignore as you wish, but I deny all
responsibility for any legal problems you may encounter.
(Those MU*s that have verifiable permission to exist are so indicated
in section 4c. [22]List of Pern-type MU*s. The other MU*s either did
not have such permission listed online, or were not reachable at the
time they were last visited.)
[Thanks to "Chris Croughton" (chris@keris.demon.co.uk) for relaying
the following.]
----------
08-Oct-92 11:39 BST
Sb: InterNet Pern rules
Fm: Anne McCaffrey
The rules are that my characters may be referred to but not used. BUT
there can be no adventure/stories set on Pern at all!!!!! That's
infringing on my copyright and can bear heavy penalities - particularly
right now when there's a film deal (yet another) which has bought and paid
for the right to use the material - which, I fear, e-mail users have not.
On CIS, I have asked people to limit Pern material to a discussion of
their persona and dragons, fire-lizards, etc., in a diarist form.
Fanzines have slightly more latitude as the zine is usually mailed only to
members so that's limited publication, and a due copyright notice is
included. As there is no such protection on electronic mail, we authors
have to be insistent on these safeguards.
I know this can be confusing since Paramount and Star Trek are handled
differently, but that's the point: they are, and have been. Individual
themes and characters of s-f/fantasy novels are not. And such
indiscriminate usage of our characters, worlds, and concepts on a *public*
media like electronic mail constitute copyright infringement AND, which
many fans disregard, is ACTIONABLE! Both the e-mail company AND the
person. My publishers are most insistent on that point! So it's to
safeguard the interested e-mail user that I make these very strong, and
perhaps unpalatable points.
----------
[Chris' commentary:]
To repeat - it's not Anne who forbids this: it's her publishers - and
they are NOT required to tell her of any such actions which they may
be undertaking. The first she will probably know of it is when someone
tells her, having heard over the net...
[End commentary.]
To expand on this a bit, this prohibition is meant to protect Ms.
McCaffrey from legal problems along the lines that have prevented
Marion Zimmer Bradley from publishing one of her books. (I'm not
completely familiar with the specifics of this case; inquiries to
rec.arts.sf.written will probably result in more information than you
ever wanted to know. ;-)
1i. Anne McCaffrey on the net
The URL of Ms. McCaffrey's "official" webpage is:
[23]http://members.aol.com/dragnhld/index.html
The email address associated with that page is:
AnnieMac@iol.ie
Another way to get in touch with Ms. McCaffrey is to write an actual
(i.e. pen and paper) letter via one of her publishers. If you plan to
do this and expect a reply, including a self-addressed envelope with
return postage -- Note: Since she lives in Ireland, you will have to
make use of International Reply Cupons -- would probably be
appreciated.
Alternately, she does appear infrequently on Compuserve, for interview
sessions.
It is the understanding of the author of this document that, due to
some of the concerns raised in the previous section, Ms. McCaffrey's
lawyers have advised her not to read this newsgroup.
1j. Just who is this Quirk joker anyway?
I am NOT...
* ...Especially involved in Pern Fandom. (I collect the books, read
this newsgroup, and play on PernMUSH between increasingly frequent
and prolonged episodes of burnout during which I just kibitz.
That's about it.)
* ...A general McCaffrey fan. (Pern and Doona are the only McCaffrey
worlds that I have found particularly engaging.)
* ...A posting service. (Please do not send me email asking to post
things for you.)
* ...Free Tech support. (If you have questions about contributing to
the newsgroup, joining a MU*, etc., your best bet is to talk to
your own admin/tech support people; since they, unlike I, ought to
have some idea of how your system is set up.)
* ...The "owner" of this newsgroup. (Despite my frequent gripes and
occasional proprietary feelings to the contrary.)
I'm just the poor slob who's volunteered to maintain this FAQ --
updating when I find the time and/or inclination -- and keep a cron
table entry to post it twice a month. Every once in a blue moon, I'll
even post some articles of mild interest.
_________________________________________________________________
References
1. news:alt.fan.pern
2. file://localhost/tmp/afp1-conv.html#sec1d
3. file://localhost/tmp/afp4.html#NC
4. news:rec.arts.sf.written
5. file://localhost/tmp/afp1-conv.html#sec1f
6. news:rec.arts.sf.written
7. news:rec.arts.sf.movies
8. news:rec.arts.sf.tv
9. news:rec.arts.sf.science
10. news:rec.arts.sf.fandom
11. news:rec.arts.sf.misc
12. news:alt.fan.dragons
13. news:rec.games.mud.tiny
14. news:rec.games.mud.admin
15. news:rec.games.mud.misc
16. file://localhost/tmp/afp4.html#NC
17. file://localhost/tmp/afp4.html#SC
18. file://localhost/tmp/afp2.html#dlg
19. file://localhost/tmp/afp2.html
20. file://localhost/tmp/afp2.html#d123
21. file://localhost/tmp/afp2.html#h123
22. file://localhost/tmp/afp4.html#sec4c
23. http://members.aol.com/dragnhld/index.html
2. Pern in Print
Since Pern is a fictional world, a complete listing of all related
books would probably be a good idea.
2a. Book list (written by McCaffrey)
[Date is of 1st printing. ISBNs are from the editions in my personal
library or obtained from copies in local bookstores. US Publisher is
[1]Del Rey books unless otherwise noted. UK edition publisher is Corgi
Books unless otherwise noted. UK ISBNs provided by Chris G. Abbott
(Chris@ruatha.demon.co.uk).]
The _Dragonriders of Pern_ trilogy (Also available in a single
hardcover volume through the [2]SF book club, and trade paperback in a
few bookstores).
_Dragonflight_ (Jul 1968)
ISBN: 0-345-33546-5 / UK Edition: 0-552-08453-0
_Dragonquest_ (May 1971)
ISBN: 0-345-33508-2 / UK Edition: 0-552-11635-1
_The White Dragon_ (Jun 1978)
ISBN: 0-345-31336-4 / UK Edition: 0-552-11313-1
_The Dragonriders of Pern_ (Trade Paperback)
ISBN: 0-345-34024-8
The _Harper Hall of Pern_ trilogy (Available as a single hardbound
edition through the [3]SF book club).
_Dragonsong_ (Mar 1976)
ISBN: 0-553-12044-1 (Bantam Books) / UK edition: 0-552-10661-5
_Dragonsinger_ (Feb 1977)
ISBN: 0-533-11835-8 (Bantam Books) / UK Edition: 0-552-10881-2
_Dragondrums_ (Mar 1979)
ISBN: 0-553-20722-9 (Bantam Books) / UK Edition: 0-552-11804-4
Others:
_A Time When_ (1975) [4][1]
ISBN: 0-915568-07-2 NESFA Press
_Get Off the Unicorn_ (Jun 1977) [5][2]
ISBN: 0-345-27464-4 / UK Edition: 0-552-10965-7
_Moreta: Dragonlady of Pern_ (Nov 1983)
ISBN: 0-345-29873-X / UK Edition: 0-552-12499-0
_Nerilka's Story_ (Mar 1986)
ISBN: 0-345-33949-5
_Nerilka's Story & The Coelura_ (1987) [6][3]
ISBN: 0-552-12817-1 Corgi/UK
_Dragonsdawn_ (Nov 1988)
ISBN: 0-345-36286-1 / UK edition: 0-552-13098-2
_The Renegades of Pern_ (Nov 1990>
ISBN: 0-345-36933-5 / UK Edition: 0-552-13099-0
_All the Weyrs of Pern_ (Dec 1991)
ISBN: 0-345-36893-2 / UK Edition: 0-552-13729-4
_Rescue Run_ [7][4]
([8]Science Fiction Book Club Hardcover)
_The Chronicles of Pern: First Fall_ (Oct 1993) [9][5]
ISBN: 0-345-36899-1
_The Dolphins' Bell_ [10][7]
([11]Science Fiction Book Club Hardcover)
_The Girl Who Heard Dragons_ (May 1994) [12][8]
ISBN: 0-812-51099-2 (TOR Books)
_The Dolphins of Pern_ (Oct 1994)
ISBN: 0-345-36895-9
_Red Star Rising (The Second Chronicles of Pern)_ (Aug 1996) [13][9]
ISBN[*]: 0-593-03770-7 (Bantam UK)
_Dragonseye_ (Feb 1997) [14][9]
ISBN[*]: 0-345-38821-6
[*] ISBN is for Hardcover edition.
Footnotes:
[1] Details courtesy of: Robert A. Woodward (robertaw@halcyon.com)
---
>Contains early versions of several chapters of _The White Dragon_.
>Scenes are: Jaxom blowing up at the breakfast table, Jaxom at
>Smithcrafthall school, Jaxom and Corana, Jaxom and the entire theft &
>recovery of the Queen egg at Benden Weyr.
---
[2] Collection of McCaffrey short fiction; contains "The Smallest
Dragonboy" (Originally published 1973 for _Science Fiction Tales_).
Reportedly, the short story can also be found in _Visions of Fantasy:
Tales From the Masters_ (1989 Doubleday: ISBN 0-385-26359-7).
[3] Also includes non-Pern novel.
[4] Originally published in _Analog_ (Aug. 1991) and included in [5]
below.
[5] Contains short stories: "Survey: P.E.R.N." [6], "The Dolphins'
Bell", "The Ford of Red Hanrahan", "The Second Weyr", and "Rescue Run"
(ibid [4] above).
[6] Previously published as "The P.E.R.N. Survey" in _Amazing Stories_
(Sep. 1993).
[7] Included in [5] ibid.
[8] Collection of McCaffrey short fiction. Includes novella of same
title originally published (limited edition - 100 signed copies) in
1985.
[9] These are the same book under different titles. The UK edition was
released first; Del Rey delayed their edition for supposedly editorial
reasons. The change in title was allegedly due to concerns that the
american audience wouldn't recognize a Pern book without a "Dragon"
title. Thanks to Mark Haas (mhaas@onramp.net) for UK publisher data.
Finally, the _Dragonlover's Guide to Pern_ (see below) contains a
short story, "The Impression" depicting F'lessan's impression of
Golanth from a first-person POV.
It should also be noted that this all started with the Hugo-winning
novella: "Weyr Search" published in October 1967 in _Analog_. This
story now forms the first quarter of _Dragonflight_.
The Nebula-winning (1968) novella "Dragonrider" [serialized in
_Analog_ in '67-68(?)] makes up the second half of _Dragonflight_.
2b. Latest Pern book news.
In the September _Del Rey Internet Newsletter_, it was announced that
Ms. McCaffrey has submitted her final draft for _Masterharper of
Pern_. The projected publication date is Janurary 1998, which means
that it will probably arrive in (US) bookstores sometime in December
'97.
See:
[15]http://www.randomhouse.com/delrey/pern/pern/masterharper.html
for a preview.
2c. Suggested reading order for newcomers.
Ms. McCaffrey suggests that the books be read in order of publication
(i.e. start with _Dragonflight_ and go in published order).
Alternatively, she suggests starting with _Dragonsong_ as a 'gentler'
introduction, completing the Harper Hall trilogy, and then going back
to _Dragonflight_, _Dragonquest_, et. al.
2d. Chronological order of books/stories
This is kind of tricky, as some books depict the same events from
different points of view. Here's what the concensus seems to be:
+--------------------+ Backwards
| "Survey: P.E.R.N." | ^
+--------------------+ |
+-------------+ Time
1st Pass-> |_Dragonsdawn_+----------------------+ |
+-------------+ "The Dolphins' Bell" | v
+----------------------+ Forwards
+----------------------------+
| "The Ford of Red Hanrahan" |
+----------------------------+
+-------------------+
| "The Second Weyr" |
+-------------------+
1st Int.->
+--------------+
| "Rescue Run" |
+--------------+
+-------------------+
2nd Pass-> | _Red Star Rising_ |
+-------------------+
[...]
6th Pass->
+-----------+
+------------+ |
| _Moreta: | |
| Dragonlady |_Nerilka's |
| of Pern_ | Story_ |
+------------+ |
6th Int.-> | |
+-----------+
[...]
8th Int->
+-----------+
| | +--------------+
9th Pass-> | | |_Dragonflight_|
| | +--------------+
| | +--------------+
| | +-------------+ _Dragonsong_ |
| | | +--------------+
| | |_Dragonquest_|_Dragonsinger_|
| | | +--------------+
| | +-------------+
| _The +-------------+
| Renegades |_Dragondrums_|
| of Pern_ +-------------+
| | +---------------+
| | | "The Smallest |
| | | Dragonboy" |
| | +---------------+
+-----------+ |
| | +----------------+
|_The White | | "The Girl Who |
| Dragon_ | | Heard Dragons" |
| | +----------------+
+-----------+ |
| |
+-----------+
| _All the |
+-----------+ Weyrs |
| _The | of Pern_ |
| Dolphins +-----------+
| of Pern_ |
+-----------+
Notes:
Horizontally connected 'boxes' indicate closely connected (i.e. same
events from different points of view) stories. Boxes connected
vertically indicate that the following story takes place immediately
after the previous one.
_Nerilka's Story_ starts 4 days before _Moreta: Dragonlady of Pern_.
_Dragonsong_ is shown to start previous to _Dragonquest_ based on the
timelines provided in Karen Fonstead's _[16]Atlas of Pern_.
_Dragonquest_ is shown to continue beyond the end of _Dragonsinger_
based on the reports on Canth's healing which suggest that
considerable time has elapsed since Canth's jump to the Red Star.
_The White Dragon_ is shown to start before "The Girl Who Heard
Dragons" since _The Renegades of Pern_ indicates that the latter takes
place in late autumn, while the former tends to suggest that the
weather is just starting to turn cool.
2e. Pern books on tape
There are several audio adaptations of the assorted Pern books out in
both abridged and unabridged forms. The performer, if known, is
listed.
[Many thanks to MIRRIM@delphi.com and griffon@inetdirect.net for doing
the legwork to obtain this information. Publisher is indicated by
bracketed numbers; Publisher key follows the list.]
_Dragonflight_
1-56100-511-8 (Unabridged - Performer: Dick Hill) [1]
0-7871-0072-2 (Abridged) [2]
_Dragonquest_
1-56100-512-6 (Unabridged - Performer: Dick Hill) [1]
0-7871-0111-7 (Abridged) [2]
_The White Dragon_
1-56100-513-4 (Unabridged - Performer: Dick Hill) [1]
_Dragonsong_
0-7871-0075-7 (Abridged - Performer: Adrienne Barbeau) [2]
_Dragonsinger_
0-7871-0080-3 (Abridged - Performer: Adrienne Barbeau) [2]
_Dragondrums_
0-7871-0067-6 (Abridged - Performer: Adrienne Barbeau) [2]
1-55800-640-0 (No additional data) [2]
_Moreta: Dragonlady of Pern_
1-56100-492-8 (Unabridged - Performer: Sheila Hart) [1]
_Nerlika's Story_
0-394-55817-0 (Abridged - Performer: Anne McCaffrey [4]
_Dragonsdawn_
1-56100-489-8 (Unabridged) [1]
_The Renegades of Pern_
1-56100-493-6 (Unabridged) [1]
0-7871-0081-1 (Abridged) [2]
_All the Weyrs of Pern_
1-879371-11-1 (Abridged - Performer: Anne McCaffrey) [3]
_The Chronicles of Pern: First Fall_
1-55800-867-5 (Unabridged - Performer: Meredith MacRae) [2]
_The Girl Who Heard Dragons_
0-7871-0258-X (No additional data) [2]
_Dragonflight_ and _Dragonquest_
1-55800-637-0 (combo - Abridged) [2]
_Dragonsong_ and _Dragonsinger_
1-55800-638-9 (combo - Abridged) [2]
_Dragonsdawn_ and _The Renegades of Pern_
1-55800-641-9 (combo - Abridged) [2]
Publisher info:
1. Brilliance Corp.
1810-B Industrial Drive
P.O.Box 887
Grand Haven, Michigan 49417
1-800-222-3225
2. Dove Audio
301 N. Canon Drive
Beverly Hills, Ca. 90210
1-800-328-DOVE
3. The Publishing Mills
P.O.Box 481006
Los Angeles, Ca. 90048
1-800-72-AUDIO
4. Random House Audiobooks
[Can someone track down contact info?]
2f. Other Pern materials
Eclipse Comics published a 3-issue graphical adaptation of
Dragonflight_ which was later collected into a single volume graphic
novel. Drawings appear to be based on the artwork in _[17]The People
of Pern_ (see below). Publishing data for the single-volume edition:
_Anne McCaffrey: Dragonflight_
Published by Eclipse Graphic Novels, March 1993.
ISBN: 0-06-105003-2
Several Pern-related "Reference Books" have been published. The most
frequently mentioned on this newsgroup are:
_The Atlas of Pern_ by Karen Fonstead -- Del Rey books
[ISBN: 0-345-31432-8 (HB) / 0-345-31434-4 (SB)]
(Out of print, but still available if you look around for it.
The [18]Science Fiction Book Club apparently still has copies
in stock.)
_The People of Pern_ sketches/paintings by Robin Wood, text by
McCaffrey
1988, Donning Publishing -- ISBN: 0-89865-635-4 (HB) /
0-89865-751-2 (SB)
Recently reported to be out of print. I do not know if the SF
Book Club still has copies available.
(Actually, more of a 'photo album' for the major characters.)
[Additional note from: "Stephanie M. Clarkson-Aines"
(thespian@access.digex.net) with correction from "Michael E
Short" (meshort@concentric.net)]
------
Robin also sells beautiful prints of many of the pictures in
the book (I have Menolly and Sebell in my bedroom :), for $30
US. Prints are signed by Robin and run in editions of 250.
(Michael adds:) We still have many $30 prints, but we have
others as well. Some are as little as $15. We also have a
limited run (25) of Robinton prints at 100% of the original
painting's size (~ 18 X 22 inches) for $150.00 ($300.00 matted
and framed). Other large format prints may be made available if
there is a demand. Robin's address is:
Robin Wood
3319 Greenfield Road #102
Dearborn, MI 48120
(313) 359-0898 (voice)
(313) 359-3098 (fax)
Her home page is located at:
[19]http://www.robinwood.com/
------
_The Dragonlover's Guide to Pern _
by Jody Lynn Nye with Anne McCaffrey
1st ed.: Nov 1989, Del Rey books [ISBN: 0-345-35424-9
(Hardcover) / ISBN: 0-345-37946-2 (Softcover)]
2nd ed.: Mar 1997, Del Rey books [ISBN: 0-345-41274-5 (Trade
Paperback)]
(Considered by many to be *the* reference work on Pern...aside
from the books themselves. Others have noted internal
contradictions as well as conflicts with other published
material and therefore do not consider it particularly
authoritative. The 2nd edition adds material from books
published since the 1st edition.)
Jody Lynn Nye has also written two 'Choose your path' books set on
Pern under the (now defunct) 'Crossroads' line from TOR books.
_Dragonharper_ (ISBN: 0-812-56404-9)
Journeyman Robinton's adventures as he travels to his first
posting at Benden Hold.
_Dragonfire_ (ISBN: 0-812-56423-5)
Mirrim and Path look into strange happenings on the Southern
Continent shortly after the events of _The White Dragon_.
There have also been two games published:
_The Dragonriders of Pern_ (boardgame) from Mayfair Games. 1983 -
ISBN: 0-425-06624-X.
This is set roughly during the time frame of _Dragonquest_.
Players represent the 6 Weyrleaders (and the Masterharper in
the 7-player game) attempting to gain prestiege and power in an
attempt at becomming the overal leader of the planet. There is
also a solitaire variant, and an article about threadfighting
and Weyr organization by Todd Johnson (Anne McCaffrey's son).
Mayfair games has since gone out of business.
_Dragonriders of Pern: The Book Game_ by Nova Games Designs. 1984 -
ISBN: 0-917037-05-7.
Two riders on patrol try to outdo one another when they
encounter threadfall -- but don't get scorred, and definitely
don't let any of the thread reach the ground!
The game mechanics involve two books which show pictures from
the POV of each rider. Each player selects a maneuver and goes
to a look-up page where the combination of that maneuver and
the other player's choice determines the next view. (Very
similar to the "Ace of Aces" WW I dogfighting game also from
Nova.)
Contact address is:
Nova Games Designs, Inc.
P.O. box 1178
Manchester, CT 06040
Epyx released a "Dragonriders of Pern" game for the C-64, Atari 8-bit,
and Apple ][ around 1984. Second-hand reports inidcate that it was
generally similar to the above-listed board game, but with occasional
arcade-style threadfighting sequences. Inquiries to the appropriate
comp.*.games newsgroup may prove useful to those looking for used
copies of it.
NOTE: There is a IBM-PC Dragonriders game floating around on BBSs and
the net. Regarding this item, Justin Bradford jbradford@cctr.umkc.edu
informed this newsgroup:
>The computer game "The Dragonriders of Pern" by Everlasting Software is
>not authorized by Anne McCaffrey and should not be player, uploaded,
>downloaded, or distributed. We uploaded this game to an Internet FTP
>site without understanding that it was a copyright and trademark
>infringement and were contacted by her attorneys. We want
>to apologize to Anne McCaffrey, and to urge all of her fans
>to help eliminate this game from the Internet.
Michael Whelan (cover artist for most of the Del Rey Pern books) has a
web page located at:
[20]http://members.aol.com/riyan2/whelan2.htm
In addition to his Pern cover art, Whelan has done sevreal other
McCaffrey covers, not to mention work for many other authors. The
works on display here change monthly.
2g. Obtaining hard-to-find books.
As noted above, many books are available only through the Science
Fiction Book Club. This book club provides a good selection of recent
releases (albeit somewhat delayed) and classic SF in 'special edition'
hardcovers and trade-paperbacks. The membership deal is something
along the lines of "Must buy 4 books in the first year". Almost all of
Ms. McCaffrey's SF works can be ordered in one form or another.
Advertisments can be found in most of the usual Science Fiction and
Gaming magazines (e.g. _Analog_, _Dragon_, etc.) or they can be
contacted at:
The Science Fiction Book Club
6550 East 30th Street
PO Box 6369
Indianapolis, IN 46209-9492
They also have a webpage (as of 7 Sep 96, still a little buggy here
and there.) located at:
[21]http://www.sfbc.com/
This page is the on-line equivalent of their introductory
advertisment; the on-line catalog does not include very many McCaffrey
titles. However, members should be able to use the page to order any
book from the _SF Universe_ catalog that is sent out yearly.
Note to non-US readers: I am informed that the club also extends to
Canada, but doubtful that it goes anywhere else. Readers in Europe,
Asia, etc. will most likely have to arrange a special order with your
local booksellers.
References
1. http://www.randomhouse.com/delrey/
2. file://localhost/tmp/afp2-conv.html#SFBC
3. file://localhost/tmp/afp2-conv.html#SFBC
4. file://localhost/tmp/afp2-conv.html#sec2a-foot
5. file://localhost/tmp/afp2-conv.html#sec2a-foot
6. file://localhost/tmp/afp2-conv.html#sec2a-foot
7. file://localhost/tmp/afp2-conv.html#sec2a-foot
8. file://localhost/tmp/afp2-conv.html#SFBC
9. file://localhost/tmp/afp2-conv.html#sec2a-foot
10. file://localhost/tmp/afp2-conv.html#sec2a-foot
11. file://localhost/tmp/afp2-conv.html#SFBC
12. file://localhost/tmp/afp2-conv.html#sec2a-foot
13. file://localhost/tmp/afp2-conv.html#sec2a-foot
14. file://localhost/tmp/afp2-conv.html#sec2a-foot
15. http://www.randomhouse.com/delrey/pern/pern/masterharper.html
16. file://localhost/tmp/afp2-conv.html#atlas
17. file://localhost/tmp/afp2-conv.html#PoP
18. file://localhost/tmp/afp2-conv.html#SFBC
19. http://www.robinwood.com/
20. http://members.aol.com/riyan2/whelan2.htm
21. http://www.sfbc.com/
--
Capt. Gym Z. Quirk (Known to some as Taki Kogoma) quirk@swcp.com
Just an article detector on the Information Supercollider.
Very Disturbed Nerd w/o portollio: Just ask AGIS.net