Dragonquest

Dragonquest

Cover of the paperback original
Author	Anne McCaffrey
Cover artist	Gino D'Achille (early US editions)
Country	United States
Language	English
Series	Dragonriders of Pern
Genre	Science Fiction novel
Publisher	Ballantine Books
Publication date	May 1971
Media type	Print (Paperback original; 1973 Hardcover)
Pages	333 pp (first)
ISBN
OCLC	181089205
LC Class	PS3563.A255 D76 x, 1971
Preceded by	Dragonflight
Followed by	Dragonsong

Dragonquest is a science fiction novel by the American-Irish author Anne McCaffrey. It is the sequel to Dragonflight, set seven years later and the second book in the Dragonriders of Pern series.Dragonquest was first published by Ballantine Books in May 1971.

According to her son Todd, McCaffrey's agent Virginia Kidd and editor Betty Ballantine provided crucial advice and assistance in her struggle with the sequel to Dragonflight. After the agent first read a draft, the author followed her advice to "burn it", and she met with the editor in long sessions. It was near completion before she emigrated to Ireland in September 1970, with her two younger children Todd and Georgeanne, one month after divorcing her husband. She finished it soon after the move.

As it opens, tensions are rising between the Oldtimers, those dragonriders who came forward in time 400 turns (Pernese years) to help the undermanned contemporary dragonriders protect the planet Pern and its inhabitants from the destructive Thread. F'nor attempts to mediate, but things escalate to the point that an Oldtimer, T'reb (who is disturbed by his green dragon being in heat), stabs F'nor. F'nor is sent to the Southern Continent to recover, where he falls in love with Brekke and discovers the wicked deeds of Weyrwoman Kylara. F'lar, F'nor's half-brother, is eventually forced into a duel with T'ron, the leader of the Oldtimers, which ends in banishment for the Oldtimers who will not accept F'lar's leadership and in a grave injury for F'nor. Brekke's queen dragon (Wirenth) rises in mating flight but is attacked by Kylara's queen dragon (Prideth), and both dragons die, leaving their riders in near-catatonic states. Only Brekke recovers, mostly because she can hear other dragons (besides her own queen, Wirenth).