Cover of Dragonquest

Dragonquest

core novel 1971 Dragonriders of Pern

Record

First published1971
Original language EN
Work typenovel
Canon statuscore
Reader rating4.10 (54,017 ratings, collected 2026-09-13)
First-edition ISBN9780345284259

Synopsis

Dragonquest is the second book of Anne McCaffrey's Dragonriders of Pern, following Lessa and F'lar as ancient dangers to Pern resurface and threaten the dragonriders' fragile order. With Thread now falling regularly across the planet, tensions rise between the Weyrs, who exist to fight it, and the Holds and Crafthalls, who resent the tithes that support the dragonriders and increasingly question whether the old ways are still necessary. A newly discovered group of dragonriders from a lost Weyr complicates the political balance further, while F'lar's ambitious brother F'nor pursues his own dangerous line of investigation involving the little fire-lizards rumored to be distant ancestors of the great dragons. Lessa, still adjusting to her role as Weyrwoman, finds herself caught between old loyalties and the practical demands of leading Pern through a war many would rather ignore.

Where it sits

Awards (verified)

  • Locus Award (SF Novel), 1972: finalist; Locus reader-poll placement, ranked 5th.
  • Hugo Award (Best Novel), 1972: nominated

Notes

  • From the series record (The Dragonriders of Pern (original trilogy)): Dragonflight is a fixup of two Analog novellas, 'Weyr Search' (Oct 1967) and 'Dragonrider' (Dec 1967/Jan 1968), both individually award-recognized (see Awards).

Neighbouring works

Publication order and internal chronology are tracked as two separate orderings and are never conflated: a book's place in one says nothing about its place in the other.

  • Publication order, within the series The Dragonriders of Pern (original trilogy): position 2 of 3: previous Dragonflight (1968) · next The White Dragon (1978)

Sources

← Dragonriders of Pern dossier · All universes

Part of the Library. Fields without an identified source are omitted, never guessed.