Letter from Wayne

I just wanted to drop a note and say thanks for keeping Pern alive.

It is nice to know now that I have found a series I really like that’s not going to fade away. I was wondering if you have ever toyed with the idea of connecting earth fables with Pern dragons — maybe a jump between ends up in early earth?

There are probably too many variables for that to be possible but it is a cool idea.

Keep up the good work! I am looking forward to your next book. You have picked up where your Mom left off with out missing a beat and that’s no easy task.

Thanks again,
Wayne

Hi Wayne,

I’m glad you like what I’ve been doing on Pern.

As for your question — no, never. Pern dragons are so clearly different from either Eastern or Western dragons of our culture that I couldn’t imagine them being mis-represented so poorly in art and fiction if they were to have ever returned to Earth.

However… I believe it was once suggested tongue-in-cheek by my mother’s late agent, the redoubtable Virginia Kidd, that perhaps the Pernese discovered a really, really, really old drawing and jumped back in time and — it wasn’t Uther Pendragon, it was Uther Perndragon! (Uther, you might recall, figuring prominently in the Arthurian legends.) But even Mum couldn’t stomach the idea of ending the series in one giant pun!

So, no, we’ll keep Pern separate from Earth. There is enough time there already and so many interesting stories to tell that I don’t think we’ll have to worry about traveling back in time and space to this distant planet of ours.

Cheers,
Todd