References

Home · FAQ · Episodes · Transcripts · Recommendations · References · Other

(view in: · ·

This page collects any non-Pern material we reference over the course of episodes.

Main Episodes

Episode #1: Dragonflight (1968)
- Katherine Addison, The Goblin Emperor (2014)
- Elizabeth Bear and Sarah Monette, Iskryne series (2007-2015)
- Lois McMaster Bujold, Vorkosigan Saga (1986—)
- Gertrude Chandler, Box-Car Children / The Boxcar Children (1924/1942)
- Harlan Ellison, “A Voice from the Styx” (1968), available here in Psychotic #27 (Sept. 1968)
  - A longer version (with the same “Guevera” typo) is available in The Book of Ellison (1978)
- Jean George, My Side of the Mountain (1959)
- Mercedes Lackey, Arrows trilogy (1987-1988) and the rest of the Valdemar series (1987—)
- Anne McCaffrey, The Rowan / The Tower and Hive series (1990-1999)
- Gary Paulsen, Hatchet (1987)
- Kathleen Woodiwiss, The Flame and the Flower (1972)
Episode #2: Dragonquest (1971)
- Jane Austen, Emma (1816)
- Ester Boserup, Women’s Role in Economic Development (1970)
- Alberto Alesina, Paola Giuliano, and Nathan Nunnn, “On the Origins of Gender Roles: Women and the Plough” (2013; 2011 working paper version PDF here)
- Mercedes Lackey, The Last Herald-Mage (1989-1991)
Episode #3: Dragonsong (1976)
- Isaac Asimove, Foundation series (1942-1983)
- Frank Herbert, Dune series (1965-1985)
- Ursula K. Le Guin, Earthsea series (1968-2001)
- Ursula K. Le Guin, the Hainish Cycle (1964-2000)
- Tamora Pierce, Song of the Lioness quartet (1983-1988)
- Darko Suvin, “Considering the Sense of ‘Fantasy’ or ‘Fantastic Fiction’: An Effusion” (2000)
Episode #4: Dragonsinger (1977)
- Dungeons and Dragons 5th edition
- Mercedes Lackey, Heralds of Valdemar (2001-2003)
- Anne McCaffrey, The Ship Who Sang (1969)
Episode #5: The White Dragon (1978)
- Lois McMaster Bujold, Vorkosigan Saga (1986—)
- on enthusiastic vs. willing consent, see this piece by Angela Chen
Episode #6: Dragondrums (1979)
- This one is self-contained!
Episode #7: Moreta: Dragonlady of Pern (1983)
- Samuel R. Delany, Return to Nevèrÿon (1978-1987), especially Neveryóna (1983) and Flight from Nevèrÿon (1985)
- Mercedes Lackey, The Last Herald-Mage (1989-1991)
- Rogue One (2016)
Episode #8: Nerilka’s Story (1985)
- This one is self-contained!
Episode #9: Dragonsdawn (1988) (part 1)
- Firefly (2002)
- Ursula K. Le Guin, “Escape Routes” (1974, republished in The Language of the Night)
- Priest (2011)
- Andy Weir, The Martian (2011)
Episode #10: Dragonsdawn (1988) (part 2)
- Emily Brontë, Wuthering Heights (1847)
- Samuel R. Delany, Stars in My Pocket Like Grains of Sand (1984)
- Samuel R. Delany, Trouble on Triton (1976)
- Mercedes Lackey, Valdemar series (1987—)
- Ursula K. Le Guin, The Dispossessed (1974)
- Star Trek (the original series) (1966-1969)
- Robert T. Tally, jr., “Tolkien’s Deplorable Cultus” (2024)
- Jillian Weise, “Common Cyborg” (2018)
Episode #11: The Renegades of Pern (1989)
- Black Panther (2018)
Episode #12: All the Weyrs of Pern (1991)
- This one is, a bit surprisingly, self-contained!
Episode #13: The Dolphins of Pern (1994)
- This one is self-contained, in that we don’t specifically mention anything else in our conversation, but Lleu wants to particularly mention Sara Ahmed’s The Promise of Happiness and Living a Feminist Life as relevant for thinking about the ways expectation shapes Readis’s life.
Episode #14: Red Star Rising/Dragonseye (1996/1997), part 1
- This one is self-contained!
Episode #15: Red Star Rising/Dragonseye (1996/1997), part 2
- This one is self-contained!

Bonus Episodes

Bonus Episode #1: World-building
- This one is self-contained!
Bonus Episode #2: “The Smallest Dragonboy” (1973)
- This one is also self-contained!
Bonus Episode #3: Human Demographics
- Thomas E. Currie et al., “Agricultural Productivity in Past Societies: Toward an Empirically Informed Model for Testing Cultural Evolutionary Hypotheses” (2015)
- the Eragon Sporkings fan wiki’s page on chapter 26 of Eragon
- Mark Koyama, Remi Jedwab, and Noel Johnson, “Pandemics, Places, and Populations: Evidence from the Black Death” (2019)
- Massimo Livi-Bacci, “Demographic Shocks: The View From History” (2001)
- Paulo Malanima, Premodern European Economy: One Thousand Years (10th-19th Centuries) (2009)
- the Pern demographics pages at Hartley Patterson’s News from Bree (shoutout to tumblr user threadfall for pointing us to this!)
- Matthew Phelps et al., “Cholera Epidemics of the Past Offer New Insights Into an Old Enemy” (2017)
- Robert A. Scott, chapter 1 of Miracle Cures: Saints, Pilgrimage, and the Healing Powers of Belief (2010)
- Fabian Siuda and Uwe Sunde, “Disease and demographic development: the legacy of the plague” (2021)
Bonus Episode #4: Dragon Demographics
- the dragon demographics page at Hartley Patterson’s News from Bree
Bonus Episode #5: ’60s and ’70s Retrospective
- Poul Anderson, “A Chapter of Revelation” (1972)
- regrettably, Piers Anthony’s Apprentice Adept, Incarnations of Immortality, and Xanth series
- tumblr user apas-95 on terra nullius re North America
- Eleanor Arnason, Ring of Swords (1993)
- Jean M. Auel, The Clane of the Cave Bear (1980)
- Leigh Brackett, The Long Tomorrow (1955)
- Leigh Brackett, a wide range of planetary romance works including The Coming of the Terrans (1967, collecting older stories) and The Sword of Rhiannon (1953)
- Terry Brooks, Shannara series (1977-2020)
- Edgar Rice Burroughs, Martian series (1912-1943)
- Edgar Rice Burroughs, Tarzan of the Apes (1912)
- Octavia E. Butler, Patternmaster (1976)
- Suzy McKee Charnes, Walk to the End of the World (1974)
- Samuel R. Delany, Trouble on Triton (1976, also published as Triton)
- W.E.B. Du Bois, “The Comet” (1920)
- David (and Leigh) Eddings, the Belgariad (1982-1984)
- Robert A. Heinlein, especially Space Cadet (1948)
- Georgette Heyer, especially An Infamous Army (1937)
- tumblr user identitty-dickruption on terra nullius re Australia
- Robert Jordan, The Wheel of Time (1990-2013)
- Ursula K. Le Guin, City of Illusions (1967)
- Ursula K. Le Guin, Planet of Exile (1966)
- Ursula K. Le Guin, Rocannon’s World (1966)
- Ursula K. Le Guin, The Word for World Is Forest (1972)
- the Four Branches of the Mabinogi, some of the most important works of medieval Welsh literature
- Anne McCaffrey, Crystal Singer trilogy (1982-1992)
- Anne McCaffrey, Decision at Doona (1969)
- Anne McCaffrey, The Ship Who Sang (1969)
- Anne McCaffrey, Tower and Hive series (1990-1999)
- Anne McCaffrey, “Velvet Fields” (1973, republished in 1994 in the collection The Girl Who Heard Dragons)
- Anne McCaffrey and Margaret Ball, Acorna: The Unicorn Girl (1997)
- Walter M. Miller, jr., A Canticle for Leibowitz (1960)
- C.L. Moore, Northwest of Earth (1954, collecting older stories)
- Tamora Pierce, Song of the Lioness quartet (1983-1988)
- David Seed, American Science Fiction and the Cold War (1999)
- WarGames (1983)
- David Weber, Honor Harrington series (1992-2018, not counting spinoffs)
- Jamie Williamson, The Evolution of Modern Fantasy (2015)
Bonus Episode #6: “The Girl Who Heard Dragons” (1986)
- This one is self-contained!
Bonus Episode #7: Listener Q&A
- Mary Brizzi, Anne McCaffrey (Starmont Reader’s Guide 30)
- Harlan Ellison, “A Voice from the Styx” (1968), available here in Psychotic #27 (Sept. 1968)
  - A longer version is available in The Book of Ellison (1978)
- Ursula K. Le Guin, Earthsea series (1968-2001)
- Stephenie Meyer, Twilight (2005-2020)
- Patricia Monk, “The Future Imperfect of Conjugation: Images of Marriage in Science Fiction”, in Mosaic: An Interdisciplinary Critical Journal 17.2 (1984)
- Tamora Pierce, Song of the Lioness quartet (1983-1988)
Bonus Episode #8: “Rescue Run” (1991)
- Orson Scott Card, Ender’s Game (1985)
- Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987-1994)
- Michael S. Teitelbaum, “Natural increase and population growth” (Encyclopedia Britannica, last updated Feb. 2025)
- David Weber, Honor Harrington series (1992—)
Bonus Episode #9: ’80s Retrospective
- Alien series (1979—)
- Isaac Asimov, Foundation series (1942-1993)
- Blade Runner (1982)
- Marion Zimmer Bradley, Darkover series (1958-1996)
- Lois McMaster Bujold, Vorkosigan Saga (1986—)
- Octavia E. Butler, Wild Seed (1980)
- Octavia E. Butler, Xenogenesis trilogy (1987-1989)
- C.J. Cherryh, Downbelow Station (1981)
- Conan the Barbarian (1982)
- Samuel R. Delany, Flight from Nevèrÿon (1985)
- Samuel R. Delany, Stars in My Pocket Like Grains of Sand (1984)
- Suzette Haden Elgin, Native Tongue (1984)
- Mercedes Lackey, Valdemar series (1987—)
- Elizabeth A. Lynn, Chronicles of Tornor trilogy (1979-1980)
- Elizabeth A. Lynn, A Different Light (1978)
- Mad Max 2 aka The Road Warrior (1981)
- Anne McCaffrey, The Coelura (1983)
- Anne McCaffrey, Crystal Singer trilogy (1982-1992)
- Anne McCaffrey and Jody Lynn Nye, Doona trilogy (1969-1994)
- Anne McCaffrey, Dinosaur Planet duology (1978-1984)
- Star Trek franchise (1966—), especially Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987-1994)
- Star Wars original trilogy (1977-1983)
- The Terminator (1984)
- Jack Vance, Dying Earth series (1950-1984)
- WarGames (1983)
- Gene Wolfe, The Book of the New Sun (1980-1983)
Bonus Episode #10: “The Suvey: P.E.R.N.^c” (1993)
- Samuel R. Delany, Trouble on Triton (1976)
- Sarah Gailey, “Stet” (2018)
- Sarah Pinsker, “Where Oaken Hearts Do Gather” (2021)
Bonus Episode #11: “The Dolphins’ Bell” (1993)
- Orson Scott Card, Ender’s Game (1985)
- David Weber, Honor Harrington series (1992—)
Bonus Episode #12: “The Ford of Red Hanrahan” (1993)
- Órla Ní Dhúill, “Do Fantasy Writers Think Irish Is Discount Elvish?” (2019)
Bonus Episode #13: “The Second Weyr” (1993)
- This one is self-contained!