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Pern is: A series of sometimes deeply Off the Wall Weird speculative fiction books that have had a far-reaching but oft-forgotten effect on later genre fiction.

We are: Lleu (tumblr) and Tequila Mockingbird, a pair of literature nerds who were deeply invested in (some) of these books as tweens.

You are: Someone who vaguely remembers these books, or never heard of them but has some time to kill, or is wincing right along with us—we're not picky! And c'mon, who doesn't like dragons?

Are the books good?

What a great question. No.

Should I (re)read them?

Also no.

Should I spend several hours of my one wild and precious life listening to you talk about them?

Of course you should!

How often do you update?

Every other week.

Where should I start?

If you’re familiar with Pern, head to Episode #1: Dragonflight (transcript). If you’re not, or if you want a refresher on the world, we recommend starting with Bonus Episode #1 (transcript), which gives an overview of world-building things that may help you follow the main episodes.

Is there anything really important that I need to know before starting?

Yeah: the sexual politics of these books is. Bad. Heads-up that we will be discussing coercive sexual behavior and sexual assault in most episodes. Much of McCaffrey's worldbuilding rests on a mostly unspoken foundation of racism and ableism, which we'll discuss in the specific episodes where it bubbles to the surface.

Can I subscribe to this podcast?

You can follow us on tumblr for updates (and we’ll be reblogging people’s Pern posts and fanart!), and/or you can subscribe to our handcrafted RSS feed (Lleu made this by hand and cannot guarantee its functionality, but it seems to be working so far).

Is F'lar as much of a twerp as I remember from reading these once when I was, like, 12?

Even more of a twerp, we're sorry to say.