When the first humans came to settle the planet Pern, they did not come alone: intelligence-enhanced dolphins also crossed the stars to colonize the oceans of the new planet while their human partners settled the vast continents. But then disaster struck. The deadly silver spores called Thread fell like rain from the sky, and as the human colonists' dreams of a new, idyllic life shattered into a desperate struggle for survival, the dolphins were forgotten.

Now, centuries later, as the dragonriders of Pern were preparing to complete the momentous task of ridding their world of Thread forever, T'lion, a young bronze rider, and his friend Readis, son of the Lord Holder of Paradise River Hold, made contact with the legendary "shipfish." And as the dragonriders grappled with the ending of an era, T'lion, Readis, and the dolphins faced the start of a new one: reviving the bond between land and ocean dwellers and resurrecting the dreams of the first colonists of Pern!

Dick at his wildest and strangest - a mystifying but brilliant book - SF: 100 Best Novels

In the overcrowded world and cramped space colonies of the late 21st century, tedium can be endured through the drug Can-D, which enables users to inhabit a shared illusory world. When industrialist Palmer Eldritch returns from an interstellar trip, he brings with him a new drug, Chew-Z. It is far more potent than Can-D, but threatens to plunge the world into a permanent state of drugged illusion controlled by the mysterious Eldritch.

Cover illustration: Chris Moore

The beautiful planet Pern seemed a paradise to its new colonists - until unimaginable terror turned it into hell. Suddenly deadly spores were falling like silver threads from the sky, devouring everything - and everyone - in their path. It began to look as if the colony, cut off from Earth and lacking the resources to combat the menace, was doomed.Then some of the colonists noticed that the small, dragonlike lizards that inhabited their new world were joining the fight against Thread, breathing fire on it and teleporting to safety. If only, they thought, the dragonets were big enough for a human to ride and intelligent enough to work as a team with a rider...And so they set their most talented geneticist to work to create the creatures Pern so desperately needed - Dragons!

The Legacy of Heorot unfolds on the lush, verdant planet of Avalon, where two hundred colonists from Earth have arrived after a century in cold sleep. They seek to establish a permanent colony on this seemingly perfect world, but their presence disrupts Avalon's ecology.

Cadmann Weyland, a professional soldier, warns the settlers of the potential dangers lurking in this prehistoric paradise. His concerns are dismissed until a large, unnaturally fast, and cunning predator begins to stalk the colony, threatening their very existence.

As the colonists struggle to survive, they must learn to kill the beast and reevaluate everything they know about Avalon's ecology. This gripping tale of suspense and adventure challenges the boundaries of imagination and realism in a new world.