Dragonsdawn by Anne McCaffrey (1988, Hardcover)

Written well after the roll out of her Dragonrider of Pern series, this book describes and explains how Pern was discovered and founded. Benden, Telgar, Ageenothree, all are explained. Any Pern lover or Pern curious, should read this book. Wonderful characters with complex backgrounds. How did the fire lizards become dragons? Who was Kitty Ping? You could and maybe should read this first as your intro into Annie Mac's Dragonrider series, even though she wrote it a good 10 years after her first Pern novel. Really fills in the blanks!

I love the entire dragonrider/Pern series by Anne Mccaffrey. I have them in paperback but I collect hardcover books and decided to upgrade my collection.

Anne McCaffrey is one of those rare writers who can take you from ultra tech to low tech in the same book and make it believable. She can also tell the entire story without a single curse word! At times she does get the characters into situations that are not child friendly. She never goes into so much detail with those situations as to make her book more than what I would call a movie rating of PG13 mmm possibly R by todays standards. There is a couple part about three quarters of the way through the book that I would think inappropriat for teens. It is about the death of one of the characters. Now without giving anything away :) it's not gory or anything it's just very sad and a rotten way for things to go, but this writer doesn't do lots of gory detailed nastiness to describe a bad thing. Also There is some sexual content. It's not play by play like some writers will do, but when you read it it's obvious what she's talking about. You would just have to read it to see what I meen. I guess what I'm saying is that if you preread the sad part and the other part then decide your teen can handle it then then YAY! You've found a wonderful book. And if it's for someone over that age then YAY! They don't have to deal with all the other garbage that usually comes with good writing and they still get a good story...and a tear jerker to boot.:D

I enjoy all of Ms. McCaffrey's books, but this is one of the best. The "scientific" detail about the history of the dragons is realistic, and the development of different characters very engaging. The story moves quickly, holding your attention and is full of colorful descriptions and personality nuances that keep you engaged.

I have every 'Dragonrider' book by this author. This is a great one, because it is the beginning of life on Pern. A must have!! Highly recommend if you like fantasy/sci-fi that is more fantasy!