Dragonquest was published by Ballantine Books in 1971 as the second novel of the Dragonriders of Pern series. The political situation on Pern has become more complex: the Oldtimers — dragonriders brought forward in time by Lessa in Dragonflight — are clashing with the current leadership over tradition, territory, and authority. F’lar and Lessa must manage these internal conflicts while addressing an external crisis: Thread is adapting, falling in patterns that the traditional defensive strategies cannot counter.
McCaffrey introduces several elements that would become central to the series: fire-lizards (the small, wild ancestors of dragons, which can also form telepathic bonds with humans), the discovery of the Landing (the site of Pern’s original colonization, buried under centuries of volcanic deposits), and the first hints that Pern’s technology might be recoverable. The novel also deepens the social world of the Weyrs: the culture of the dragonriders, with its own customs around mating flights (when a queen dragon mates, her rider’s sexual choices are determined by the outcome of the flight), its hierarchies, and its relationship to the non-riding population.
The novel is darker than Dragonflight: the political conflicts are not easily resolved, the Oldtimers’ resistance to change escalates to violence, and the discovery that Pern was once a technologically advanced civilization raises uncomfortable questions about what was lost and whether it can be recovered. McCaffrey’s Pern is a world where progress is not guaranteed and where the past — both its achievements and its catastrophes — weighs heavily on the present.
Collecting Dragonquest
First edition (Ballantine Books, New York, 1971): Mass-market paperback.
First hardcover (G.P. Putnam’s Sons, New York, 1979): Hardcover with dust jacket.
Market values:
- First hardcover, fine/fine: $50–$150
- Very good: $20–$50