The Chronicles of Pern: First Fall
| File:Chroniclesofpern.gif Parkinson cover of early US editions[1] | |
| Author | Anne McCaffrey |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Keith Parkinson Steve Weston (UK) |
| Language | English |
| Series | Dragonriders of Pern |
| Genre | Science Fiction short story collection |
| Publisher | Del Rey Books |
Publication date | October 1993 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover) |
| Pages | 306 pp (first US hardcover) |
| ISBN | 0-345-36898-3 |
| OCLC | 27814162 |
| 813/.54 20 | |
| LC Class | PS3563.A255 C47 1993 |
| Preceded by | All the Weyrs of Pern |
| Followed by | The Dolphins of Pern |
The Chronicles of Pern: First Fall is a 1993 collection of short fiction by the American-Irish author Anne McCaffrey.[2] All five stories are set on the fictional planet Pern; First Fall is one of two collections in the fantasy or science fiction series Dragonriders of Pern, which comprises 24 books by Anne or her son Todd McCaffrey as of summer 2011. [n 1][3]
The First Fall stories are united by their setting prior to human settlement on Pern and during its first few decades. Mainly, they feature the relocation and reorganization of the colony in response to the "First Pass" of the "Red Star", an erratic planet that periodically brings a biological menace from space. The twelfth Dragonriders of Pern book, First Fall shares its early setting only with one previously published book in the series, Dragonsdawn (1988). From the perspective of series readers, Dragonsdawn and First Fall were explorations of ancient history.[n 2]
First Fall was published at once in the US and the UK, with different cover art, by Del Rey Books and Bantam UK,[1] two imprints of Random House. As noted below, three of the five stories were previously published, two as small books.
"The Survey: P.E.R.N."
—published as "The P.E.R.N. Survey" in Amazing Stories, September 1993[4]
- A team of FSP scientists scouts a distant planet. Time is too short to resolve some mysteries, but they find it safe for human settlement, with resources to supports residents but inadequate for commercial exploitation. Their report is coded P.E.R.N.c meaning Parallel Earth, Resources Negligible, recommended for colonization.
- The first and last stories briefly explain Pern's relation to the Federation of Sentient Planets, a "universe" that is also in the background of other Anne McCaffrey series.
"The Dolphins' Bell"
—published two months earlier as a 157-page Wildside Press book (1993)[5]
- Mariner and former starship captain Jim Tillek organizes and leads the evacuation of "Landing", the original site of the Pern colony where many people still live, most equipment and durable supplies are stored. One purpose is to take refuge from Threadfall in stone caverns of the Northern Continent, but the immediate threat is a local volcanic eruption. Lacking fuel or capacity for air transport, with few big boats, the colony must also use coastal and river craft that are not seaworthy. With the help of dolphin partners, most of the goods and almost all the people are dramatically secured.
- The Dolphins' Bell provides another perspective on a major episode in Dragonsdawn, part three ("Crossing").
"The Ford of Red Hanrahan"
—original to the collection[6]
- Years after the colony secured refuge in "Fort Hold" by expanding a cavern system on the Northern Continent, venerable animal husbandman Red Hanrahan leads the establishment of a second hold, a few days north in the same mountain range. The migrating people and livestock face the dangerous crossing of a rising river at "Red's Ford", which gives its name to the second city, as it were: Rua Atha (Irish Gaelic), later Ruatha Hold.
- "The Ford" might be titled "The Second Hold" in parallel to "The Second Weyr".
"The Second Weyr"
—original to the collection[7]
- Years after the first dragon–rider couples move out of Fort Hold and establish Fort Weyr in a nearby volcanic crater, young queen dragonrider Torene leads the establishment of another draco-human community in a crater far to the north and east, the most distant habitable region. The leaders of Fort Weyr, Sorka Hanrahan and Sean Connell, authorize three new Weyrs at once, but the northeastern is first, named Benden Weyr for the Pern colony's founder and leader Admiral Paul Benden.
- The action at Fort and Benden Weyrs continues Dragonsdawn by showing more of the earliest development of Pern's interspecies society.
"Rescue Run"
—published two years earlier as a 126-page Wildside Press book (1991) and also in Analog, August 1991[8]
- Decades after Threadfall, a starship in the vicinity of Pern responds to an old distress beacon launched from the colony —a desperate, unofficial appeal for help by some of its dissidents. A quick survey by Lieutenant Ross Benden's party finds no sign of human habitation on the Northern Continent, where the colony has taken refuge in stone, and finds only one surviving family group in the South, at "Honshu" excavation. The corrupt Stev Kimmer dominates Honshu, and persuades Lt. Benden that they are the only survivors of the biological and geological disaster, a group small enough to evacuate entirely. The rescue is dramatically successful and scientific investigation of Thread leads the Federation to place Pern under interdict: all contact forbidden.
- The first and last stories thus show from FSP perspectives the explanation for Pern's unusual relation to the Federation of Sentient Planets: colonized, but left entirely alone for thousands of years.
Notes
- ^ The 24 are distinct: they exclude omnibus editions and the separate publication as books of the longest works later collected, including novellas "The Dolphins' Bell" and "Rescue Run" in The Chronicles of Pern: First Fall. The other Pern collection is A Gift of Dragons (2002).
- ^
The period of the so-called Red Star is 250 years, and all Pern fiction is set just before or during a Pass, roughly a multiple of 250 years "After Landing" (AL). Prior to First Fall, McCaffrey set six books in the Ninth Pass, about 2500 AL; followed by two in the Sixth Pass, about 1500 AL; then Dragonsdawn and two more in the Ninth Pass. (See the complete list of stories in Pern historical time.)
• Landing and events of the First Pass were universally forgotten, and the higher knowledge of the colony entirely lost, long before the Sixth Pass.
References
- ^ a b
The Chronicles of Pern: First Fall title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database.
• ISFDB lists Keith Parkinson (US) and Steve Weston (UK) cover artists for early editions, plus later covers by Michael Whelan (US) and Les Edwards (UK). Retrieved 2011-10-12. - ^
McCaffrey has lived in the vicinity of Dublin, Ireland since September 1970, when she emigrated from greater New York City at age 44, with the second Pern book (Dragonquest) nearing completion and a contract for the third.
• Todd McCaffrey (1999). Dragonholder: The Life and Dreams (So Far) of Anne McCaffrey by her son. New York: Ballantine. ISBN 0-345-42217-1. Pages 54–55, 68–71, 74. - ^
Dragonriders of Pern series listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database (ISFDB).
• Select a title to see its linked publication history and general information. Select an edition (title) for data at that level, such as a front cover image or linked contents. Select a story (title) from the contents for data at that level, such as previous publication history. - ^ "Amazing Stories, September 1993". ISFDB.
"The P.E.R.N. Survey". ISFDB. - ^ "The Dolphins' Bell". ISFDB.
- ^ "The Ford of Red Hanrahan". ISFDB.
- ^ "The Second Weyr". ISFDB.
- ^ "Rescue Run". ISFDB.
External links
The Chronicles of Pern: First Fall title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database