References
Home · FAQ · Episodes · Transcripts · Recommendations · References · Other
(view in: textured mode · light mode · dark mode
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)
Episode #4: Dragonsinger (1977)
Dungeons and Dragons 5th editionMercedes 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)
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!
Episode #16: The Masterharper of Pern (1998)
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
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
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)
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)
Bonus Episode #13: “The Second Weyr” (1993)
This one is self-contained!
Bonus Episode #14: A Literary History of Dragon(rider)s
Baldur’s Gate 3 (2023)Leigh Brackett, e.g. The Coming of the Terrans (1967)
Marion Zimmer Bradley (at least initially), Darkover series (1958—), particularly Hawkmistress! (1982)
Mary Brown, Pigs Don’t Fly series (1986-1999)
Anne Claude de Caylus, “Le prince Courtebotte et la princesse Zibeline ” (1741)
Cressida Cowell, How to Train Your Dragon series (2003-2015)
Samuel R. Delany, Return to Nevèrÿon series (1978-1987)
Peter Dickinson, The Flight of Dragons (1979)
Diane Duane, Middle Kingdoms series (1979—)
Dungeons & Dragons (1974—)Edward Plunkett aka Lord Dunsany, The Book of Wonder (1912), specifically “The Hoard of the Gibbelins”
Walter Farley, The Black Stallion (1941)
Susan Fletcher, Dragon’s Milk (1989)
Diana Pharaoh Francis, Path series (2003-2006)
Ruth Stiles Gannett, My Father’s Dragon (1948)
Randall Garrett and Vicki Ann Heydron, the Gandalara Cycle (1981-1986)
Geoffrey of Monmouth, Historia regum Britanniae (ca. 1136)
Stephen Gilbert, The Landslide (1943)
Kenneth Grahame, “The Reluctant Dragon ” (1898)
Maria Dahvana Headley (tr.), Beowulf (ca. 10th century/2020)
Marguerite Henry, Misty of Chincoteague (1947)
Laura Hickman, Tracy Hickman, and Margaret Weis, Dragonlance (1984—)
Jaida Jones and Danielle Bennett, Havemercy series aka the Volstovic Cycle (2008-2011)
Mercedes Lackey, Dragon Jousters series (2003-2006)
Mercedes Lackey, Obsidian Mountain trilogy (2003-2006)
Mercedes Lackey, Valdemar series (1987—)
Andrew Lang and Leonora Blanche Alleyne, “Heart of Ice ” (1892)
Ursula K. Le Guin, Earthsea series (1968-2001)
Luo Guanzhong, Romance of the Three Kingdoms (ca. 14th century)
Anne McCaffrey, To Ride Pegasus (1973)
Patricia A. McKillip, The Forgotten Beasts of Eld (1974)
Sarah Monette and Elizabeth Bear, Iskryne series (2007-2015)
Michael Moorcock, Elric of Melniboné series (1961—)
Robert Munsch and Michael Martchenko (ill.), The Paper Bag Princess (1980)
E. Nesbitt, The Book of Dragons (1899/1901)
John Norman, the Gor series (1966—)
Christopher Paolini, the Inheritance Cycle (2002-2011)
Tamora Pierce, the Trickster duology (2003-2004)
Terry Pratchett, The Colour of Magic (1983)
Anna Sewell, Black Beauty (1877)
Wikipedia article on solomonari
Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene (1590/1596)
Dugald Steer and a bunch of illustrators, Dragonology (2003)
J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit (1937)
J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings (1954-1955)
Johnny Valentine, The Duke Who Outlawed Jelly Beans (1991)
Vivian Vande Velde, Dragon’s Bait (1992)
Patricia C. Wrede, the Enchanted Forest Chronicles (1985-1995)
Wu Cheng’en, Journey to the West (ca. 1592)
Rebecca Yarros, Fourth Wing (2023)
Jane Yolen, Pit Dragon Chronicles (1982-2009)