Path: senator-bedfellow.mit.edu!bloom-beacon.mit.edu!news!uhog.mit.edu!news.mathworks.com!newsfeed.internetmci.com!news.zynet.com!tesuque.cs.sandia.gov!lynx.unm.edu!musca.unm.edu!not-for-mail From: quirk@unm.edu (Taki Kogoma) Newsgroups: alt.fan.pern,news.answers,alt.answers Subject: Welcome to alt.fan.pern (Semi-monthly posting) (Part 1 of 2) Supersedes: Followup-To: alt.fan.pern Date: 15 Feb 1996 01:00:10 -0700 Organization: Nit-Pickers For a Better Tomorow Afternoon Lines: 781 Approved: news-answers-request@MIT.Edu Distribution: world Expires: 03/04/96 01:00:06 Message-ID: Reply-To: quirk@unm.edu (Taki Kogoma) NNTP-Posting-Host: musca.unm.edu Summary: Introductory material for the alt.fan.pern newsgroup Keywords: Pern FAQ Intro Xref: senator-bedfellow.mit.edu alt.fan.pern:16207 news.answers:65027 alt.answers:15763 Posted-By: auto-faq 3.1.1.2q Archive-name: pern-intro/part1 URL: http://www.unm.edu/~quirk/afp-index.html Version: 3.1 This document is now being prepared from the HTML sources used by the WWW version. The WWW version is available at: http://www.unm.edu/~quirk/afp-index.html "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 (5 Feb 96) 1a. About this newsgroup 1b. Introduction to Pern 1c. Appropriate subject matter 1d. Spoiler ettiquette 1e. Other newsgroups of interest 1f. Common abbreviations 1g. Fan Fiction 1h. Anne McCaffrey on the net 2. Pern in Print (6 Feb 96) 2a. Book List (McCaffrey-written) 2b. Suggested reading order 2c. Chronological order of books/stories 2d. Pern books on tape 2e. Other Pern materials 2f. Obtaining hard-to-find books CONTENTS OF PART 2: 3. Frequently Asked Questions about Pern (23 Jan 96) 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? 4. On-line Simulations of Pern (5 Feb 96) 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 (5 Feb 96) 6. Non-Pern McCaffrey materials (5 Feb 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 Name (rtfm.mit.edu:): [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] 250 CWD command successful. ftp> [get Welcome_to_alt.fan.pern_(Semi-monthly_posting)_(Part__of_2)] (Where is the part number. If you have chosen the pub/usenet/news.answers/pern-intro or pub/usenet/alt.answers/pern-intro path, then just get part.) 200 PORT command successful. [Some stuff] ftp> (get any other parts you may want) ftp> [quit] % --- 1. INTRODUCTORY MATERIAL 1a. About this newsgroup. This newsgroup (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 Pernese - 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, some 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 tolerated, but not particularly encouraged. A major component of this discussion revolves around the various multi-user programs that have been set up attempting to simulate Pern. The most often-discussed is 'PernMUSH', although there are several 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 (seeking clients, code questions, etc.) are better asked in the rec.games.mud.* hierarchy rather than here. At times, 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. 1d. Spoiler etiquette Whenever new books or other material is published, it is advisable that any discussion that may give away the story or otherwise 'spoil' the book for others should be 'protected'. This is known as 'spoiler protection'. 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 it is presented. 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. 1e. Other newsgroups of interest rec.arts.sf.*: The primary hierarchy for discussion of Speculative Fiction (Science Fiction + Fantasy). The subgroups are: * rec.arts.sf.written: Books, Short Stories, etc. * rec.arts.sf.movies: Big screen. * rec.arts.sf.tv: Small screen. * rec.arts.sf.science: "How the heck does this thing work?" * rec.arts.sf.fandom: Fannish activities, cons, et al. * 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. * alt.fan.dragons: Discussion of dragons of all types - mythological, fictional, etc. 1f. 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 seen. IMO "In My Opinion" IMHO "In My Humble/Honest Opinion" BTW "By The Way" OTOH "On The Other Hand" ;-), :-), :), 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" And now some specific to alt.fan.pern: MU* Indicative of any of the family of MUD/MUSH/etc. NC PernMUSH (Which covers the Northern Continent during the 10th pass) SC 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 _The Dragonlover's Guide to Pern_; see 'Pern in Print' below. D1, D2, D3 The three books comprising the _Dragonriders of Pern _ trilogy. (_Dragonflight_, _Dragonquest_, and _The White Dragon_ respectively) H1, H2, H3 The three books comprising the _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] AtWoP, ATWOP, etc. _All the Weyrs of Pern_ CoP _The Chronicles of Pern: First Fall_ 1g. 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. (Also note that PernMUSH, SouConMUSH, DragondawnMUSH, Harpers' Tale MOO, DragonsFire MOO, DawnSisters MUSH, Belior Rising MUSH, Threadfall MUSH, High Pass Weyr on Living Fiction MUSH, and Ierne Island have McCaffrey's blessing to exist. I am uncertain about the status of the other MU*s.) [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 [CIS number deleted] 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. ;-) 1h. Anne McCaffrey on the net As you may have noticed above, Ms. McCaffrey's Compuserve ID number has been deliberately removed from this document. For reasons of preservig her privacy, the maintainer of this periodic posting has decided that, until he receives permission from Ms. McCaffrey to release the information, it shall not be listed. If you want to get in touch with Ms. McCaffrey, your best bet is to write an actual (i.e. pen and paper) letter via one of her publishers. If you plan to do this, 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. _________________________________________________________________ 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. Publisher is Del Rey Books unless otherwise noted. UK edition publisher is Corgi Books unless otherwise noted - 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 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 SF book club). _Dragonsong_ (Mar 1976 -- Bantam Books) ISBN: 0-553-12044-1 / UK edition: 0-552-10661-5 _Dragonsinger_ (Feb 1977 -- Bantam Books) ISBN: 0-533-11835-8 / UK Edition: 0-552-10881-2 _Dragondrums_ (Mar 1979 -- Bantam Books) ISBN: 0-553-20722-9 / UK Edition: 0-552-11804-4 Others: _A Time When_ (1975 -- NESFA Press) [1] ISBN: 0-915568-07-2 _Get Off the Unicorn_ (Jun 1977) [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, Corgi/UK) [3] ISBN: 0-552-12817-1 _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_ [4] (Science Fiction Book Club Hardcover) _The Chronicles of Pern: First Fall_ (Oct 1993) [5] ISBN: 0-345-36899-1 _The Dolphins' Bell_ [7] (Science Fiction Book Club Hardcover) _The Girl Who Heard Dragons_ (May 1994 -- TOR books) [8] ISBN: 0-812-51099-2 _The Dolphins of Pern_ (Oct 1994) [9] ISBN: 0-345-36895-9 [*] 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] Yes, I know. It hit the stands in early September, but for purposes of reference, it has an 'October' publication date. 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_. 2b. 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. 2c. 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: [Pass/Interval notations added 6 Feb '96.] +--------------------+ 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" | +--------------+ [...] 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 Girl Who | |_The White | | Heard Dragons" | | Dragon_ | +----------------+ | | | +-----------+ | | | +-----------+ | _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. _Moreta: Dragonlady of Pern_ and _Nerilka's Story_ are shown to start at the same time as both narratives begin on the day of the Ruatha Gather. _Dragonsong_ is shown to start previous to _Dragonquest_ based on the timelines provided in Karen Fonstead's _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_ and "The Girl Who Heard Dragons" are shown as starting at the same time as both start sometime in autumn of the 12th turn of the 9th pass. I have been unable to more specifically determine the relative starting times. 2d. 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 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_ 0394558170 (No additional data) _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 2e. Other Pern materials Eclipse Comics published a 3-issue black-and-white graphical adaptation of Dragonflight_ which was later colored and collected into a single volume graphic novel. Drawings appear to be based on the artwork in _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 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)] ------ 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. Robin's address is: Robin Wood 15529 Longmeadow Dearborn, MI 48120 (313) 441-3704 ------ _The Dragonlover's Guide to Pern_ by Jody Lynn Nye with Anne McCaffrey / Nov 1989, Del Rey books ISBN: 0-345-35424-9 (Hardcover) (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.) 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 described in _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 can be reached at: Mayfair Games, Inc. P.O.Box 5987 Chicago, IL 60680 _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. 2f. 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 "Buy 4 books in the first year". Almost all of Ms. McCaffrey's 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 Note to non-US readers: I am not sure whether or not this club extends outside the borders of the US, but my suspicions are that it does not; you will most likely have to arrange a special order with your local bookstores. -- Capt. Gym Z. Quirk (Known to some as Taki Kogoma) quirk@unm.edu Just an article detector on the Information Supercollider. KC2: Boursy++++ Grubor(?) Fomin+