It does not show the abandoned region of " Landing " and early colonization, further to the southeast, whose rediscovery and resettlement is one unifying theme of the stories that follow Dragonquest in Pern historical time, perhaps one third of the series.

( In a classic McCaffrey inter-story connection, Shavva is later revealed as an ancestor of Avril Bitra, the astronavigator of the Pern colony.

Pern is the third of five planets in the Rukbat system ( the Pernese star is also known as Alpha Sagittarius ).

In a departure from reality, Rukbat is a class G ( yellow ) star in the series ; the real Rukbat is a blue, class B star — although it could be that the star Pern orbits is simply a solar-type star that is near the real Rukbat which was given the brighter star's name for convenience.

Pern is noted for its high incidence of cave systems, particularly in the Northern Continent.

Pern is relatively lacking in most major metals.

Although Pern has four major oceans, the only ocean of major concern to most inhabitants of Pern is the Southern, which separates the Northern and Southern Continents.

Firestone is a phosphorus-bearing rock found on Pern.

Pern is host to a number of invertebrate species, including the insect-like trundlebugs, rollers ( analogous to a woodlouse ), VTOLS ( a type of fly ), springs ( a type of parasite ), and spider-like creatures called spinners ( in the very first story, Weyr Search, they were referred to as crawlers ).

The Watch-wher's role is finally realised in Todd McCaffrey's New Tales of Pern, where they play a critical role in the fight against thread after the creation of a specialised Wherhold.

Thread is brought to Pern by another planet in its solar system, the inexactly named Red Star.

Threadfalls occur on Pern for about fifty Turns while the Red Star is near Pern's orbit.

A third explosion in the present completed the calculated change in the Red Star's orbit, ensuring that thread never again threatens Pern once the present pass is complete.

The Pern of the Ninth Pass is a highly structured society, consisting of four different groups of people, Weyrfolk, Holders, Crafters, and those without a permanent home, the Holdless and Traders.

At a Gather, Pernese from Weyrs, Crafthalls and Holds may mingle and enjoy various entertainments, including runnerbeast racing ( enjoyed by the title character of Moreta: Dragonlady of Pern ) and physical competitions such as boxing and wrestling ( All the Weyrs of Pern mentions the use of " Gather champions " as guardsmen, and a supporting character of The Renegades of Pern is shown being rendered Holdless for repeated use of deadly force in Gather competition ).

Another way the traders serve the rest of Pern is by allowing Craft Journeymen or Masters to travel with them so that these talented men and women do not have to take the long and sometimes dangerous journey by themselves.

* Mariposa, fictional starship / admirals gig of Pern from novel Dragonsdawn by Anne McCaffrey

A Weyr () is a collection of dragons, their riders and support staff in Anne McCaffrey's fictional world of Pern.

* Ramoth ( dragon ), a fictional dragon in Anne McCaffrey's Dragonriders of Pern books

The Dragons of Pern are a fictional race created by Anne McCaffrey as an integral part of the science fiction world depicted in her Dragonriders of Pern novels.

* Pern — A planet pelted by a deadly spore ( called Thread ), capable of eating anything but rock and metal, for periods of fifty years every two to four centuries in Anne McCaffrey's Dragonriders of Pern novels.

Thread can reach the planet Pern for about 50 Turns while the Red Star is at perihelion.

Benden Weyr is the second of eight ( by the end of the 9th pass ) Weyrs on the planet of Pern in Anne McCaffrey's Dragonriders of Pern fantasy novel series.

It was returned with so many changes to the basic structure of Pern – making it more like Buffy: The Vampire Slayer – that it no longer much resembled the world created by Anne McCaffrey.

In 1983 Mayfair Games created a board game " Dragonriders of Pern " featuring cards with Pern characters and locations.

In 2001 a video game Dragon Riders: Chronicles of Pern was created by Ubisoft Entertainment for the PC and Dreamcast under license from zyntopo teoranta ( Irish corporation ); the owners of the motion picture, gaming and ancillary Rights.

A number of online MUD-style games have been created exploring the Pern universe, most notably PernMUSH.

Pern created an interesting example in that it is an agrarian society portrayed without organized religion.

As of June 2011 there are two collections of Pern stories and twenty-two novels, some written jointly or solely by Todd McCaffrey, the series creator's son.

The Atlas of Pern ( 1984 ), a companion book produced by Karen Wynn Fonstad in consultation with McCaffrey, provides geographical detail for a region extending that extends further south and east.

Pern was explored and cleared for colonization by an Exploration and Evaluation Corps team, two hundred years before the actual colonization commenced.

In the novel, Dragonsdawn, Pern was colonized by settlers originally from Earth, First Base on the Moon, and the colony at Alpha Centauri.

A genetically altered breed of dolphins, subsequently called shipfish by the native population ( due to their tendency to follow ships ), accompanied humans to Pern.

While the dolphins were forgotten about by the humans, the dolphins remembered the contract between the two species ( made when the two species originally arrived on Pern ), and continued to help sailors in distress, and returning lost cargo to shore, awaiting the day when humans would remember and again honour the old contract.

Dragonriders of Pern is a science fiction series written primarily by American-Irish author Anne McCaffrey, who initiated it in 1967.

* Dragonflight 1968, by Anne McCaffrey ( 1968 ; composed in part of McCaffrey's first two Pern novellas, Weyr Search and Dragonrider, originally published in 1967 )

The trilogy was released 1978 in omnibus edition titled The Dragonriders of Pern by Nelson Doubleday Science Fiction Book Club.

The Harper Hall trilogy was released 1984 in omnibus edition titled The Harper Hall of Pern by Nelson Doubleday Science Fiction Book Club.

* Moreta: Dragonlady of Pern, by Anne McCaffrey ( 1983 ; both this and Nerilka's Story are set at the end of the Sixth Pass, centuries before the events in Dragonflight )

* Dragonsdawn, by Anne McCaffrey ( 1988 ; first in chronological order, depicts the colonization of Pern, the First Fall of Thread, the creation of the dragons, and the colonists ' move north.

*" The Impression ", by Jody Lynn Nye and Anne McCaffrey ( 1989 ; short story original to The Dragonlover's Guide to Pern )

* Renegades of Pern, by Anne McCaffrey ( 1989 )

* All the Weyrs of Pern, by Anne McCaffrey ( 1991 )