Posted-By: auto-faq 2.4
Archive-name: pern-intro/part1
Last-Modified: 11 Jun 94

Version: 2.2

WELCOME TO ALT.FAN.PERN!

CONTENTS OF PART 1:
1.  Introductory Material
    1a.  What is this group?
    1b.  Introduction to Pern
    1c.  Appropriate subject matter
    1d.  Other newsgroups of interest
    1e.  Common abbreviations
    1f.  Fan Fiction
2.  Pern in Print
    2a.  Book List  (McCaffrey-written)
    2b.  Suggested reading order
    2c.  Chronological order of books/stories
    2d.  'References'
    2e.  Obtaining hard-to-find books

CONTENTS OF PART 2:
3.  Frequently Asked Questions about Pern
    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 _Renegades of Pern_?
4.  On-line Simulations of Pern
    4a.  Accessing Pern-type MU*s
    4b.  List of Pern-type MU*s
5.  "Real Life" Fan Organizations

Note: Starting 1 November 1992, 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 <etc.>
Name (rtfm.mit.edu:<foo>): [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_<X>_of_2)]

(Where <X> 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<X>.)

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 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' 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.  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.  Other newsgroups of interest

rec.arts.sf.written:  The primary discussion group for Speculative
     Fiction in general.  Please remember to indicate the author or
     title in the Subject: line.

alt.fan.dragons:  Discussion of dragons of all types - mythological,
     fictional, etc.
===
1e.  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"
<g>                   A grin
;-), :-), :), 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.)

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_
===
1f.  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
and DragonsFire MOO 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 getting 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.]

=-=-=-=
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 of 1st printing in parentheses.  ISBNs are from the editions in my 
personal library or obtained from copies in local bookstores.  Publisher
is Del Rey Books unless otherwise noted.]

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_        (July 1968.  ISBN: 0-345-33546-5)
_Dragonquest_         (May 1971.  ISBN: 0-345-33508-2)
_The White Dragon_    (June 1978.  ISBN: 0-345-31336-4)

_The Dragonriders of Pern_ (Trade Paperback - ISBN: 0-345-34024-8)

The _Harper Hall of Pern_ trilogy (Available as a single hardbound
copy through the SF book club).

_Dragonsong_          (March 1976.  Bantam Books - ISBN: 0-553-12044-1)
_Dragonsinger_        (February 1977.  Bantam Books - ISBN: 0-533-11835-8)
_Dragondrums_         (March 1979.  Bantam Books - ISBN: 0-553-20722-9)

Others:

_Get Off the Unicorn_[1]     (June 1977.  ISBN: 0-345-27464-4)
_Moreta: Dragonlady of Pern_ (November 1983.  ISBN: 0-345-29873-X)
_Nerilka's Story_            (March 1986.  ISBN: 0-345-33949-5)
_Dragonsdawn_                (November 1988.  ISBN: 0-345-36286-1)
_The Renegades of Pern_      (November 1990.  ISBN: 0-345-36933-5)
_All the Weyrs of Pern_      (December 1991.  ISBN: 0-345-36893-2)
_Rescue Run_  [2]            (Science Fiction Book Club Hardcover)
_The Chronicles of Pern:
  First Fall_ [3]            (October 1993.  *ISBN: 0-345-36898-3)
_The Dolphins' Bell_ [5]     (Science Fiction Book Club Hardcover)
_The Girl Who Heard          (May 1994. TOR books - *ISBN: 0-312-93173-5)
  Dragons_ [6]
[* ISBN is for Hardcover edition.]

[1] Collection of MCCaffrey short fiction; contains "The Smallest
Dragonboy" (Originally published 1973 for _Science Fiction Tales_).

[2] Originally published in _Analog_ (Aug. 1991)

[3] Contains short stories:  "Survey: P.E.R.N."[4], "The Dolphins' Bell",
"The Ford of Red Hanrahan", "The Second Weyr", and "Rescue Run" (ibid
[2] above).

[4] Previously published as "The P.E.R.N. Survey" in _Amazing Stories_
(Sep. 1993).

[5] Included in [3] ibid.

[6] Collection of McCaffrey short fiction.  Includes novella of same
title originally published (limited edition - 100 signed copies) in 1985.

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.

Word from Del Rey Books has it that _The Dolphins of Pern_ will be
released (presumably in hardcover) in October 1994.

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 kinda tricky, as some books depict the same events from
different points of view.  Here's what the concensus seems to be:

[Heavily revised on 18 April - Quirk.]

+--------------------+                       Backwards
| "Survey: P.E.R.N." |                           ^
+--------------------+                           |
+--------------+                               Time
| Dragonsdawn  +----------------------+          |
+--------------+ "The Dolphins' Bell" |          v
               +----------------------+       Forwards
+----------------------------+
| "The Ford of Red Hanrahan" |
+----------------------------+
+-------------------+
| "The Second Weyr" |
+-------------------+

+--------------+
| "Rescue Run" |
+--------------+

+------------+-----------+
|  Moreta:   |           |
| Dragonlady | Nerilka's |
|  of Pern   |   Story   |
+------------+           |
             +-----------+

            +-----------+
            |           | +--------------+
            |           | | Dragonflight |
            |           | +--------------+
            |           |               +--------------+
            |           | +-------------+  Dragonsong  |
            |           | |             +--------------+
            |           | | Dragonquest | Dragonsinger |
            |           | |             +--------------+
            |           | +-------------+
            |    The    +-------------+
            | Renegades | Dragondrums |
            |  of Pern  +-------------+
            |           | +---------------+
            |           | | "The Smallest |
            |           | |   Dragonboy"  |
            |           | +---------------+
+-----------+           +----------------+
|           |           | "The Girl Who  |
| The White |           | Heard Dragons" |
|  Dragon   |           +----------------+
|           |           |
+-----------+           |
            |           |
            +-----------+-----------+
            | All the Weyrs 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. References.

Several Pern-related "Reference Books" have been published.  The most 
frequently mentioned on this newsgroup are:

_The Atlas of Pern_ by Karen Fonstead
  (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_ with sketches/paintings by Robin Wood,
                        text by McCaffrey.
  [1988, Donning Publishing.  ISBN: 0-89865-635-4 hardcover
                                    0-89865-751-2 softcover
   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 Lyn Nye with Anne McCaffrey
  [November 1989. 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 the published material and therefore do not
    consider it particularly authoritative.)

[* Frequently abbreviated as 'DLG'.]
===
2e. 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
     

-- 
Capt. Gym Z. Quirk - kogoma@unm.edu   | "I'll get a life when someone
(Known to some as Taki Kogoma)        |   demonstrates that it would be
Retired 'Secret Master of             |   superior to what I have now."
      rec.arts.startrek'              |          -- Gym Quirk
