This story could be a fantasy about Egyptologist Ted Craven, who studies Pharaoh Ras Hati-Ka so deeply that he eventually becomes the ancient Egyptian; but there are clues that the whole story is only a delusion in Craven’s overworked mind. Or perhaps it’s all a dream of the pharaoh himself.

By the time that Lessa of Ruatha Hold becomes Weyrwoman of the only remaining dragon weyr, the end of all Pern seems imminent since a single weyr is not enough to fight off the falling threads from the Red Star.

“Dragonrider,” which was first released as a two-part Analog serial (December 1967 and January 1968), was the second Pern story, appearing after the shorter novella “Weyr Search” (October 1967). Together, the two stories formed the first Pern novel, Dragonflight (1968). When the online version of the ITTDB was in a nascent stage, my friend Allison Thompson-Brown reminded me that the dragons can travel to a new when as well as a new where, and that time travel first appeared near the end of “Dragonrider.” Time travel on Pern occurs in a single, static timeline, so the dragons and their riders can never change anything known to be certain in the past.

By the time that Lessa of Ruatha Hold becomes Weyrwoman of the only remaining dragon weyr, the end of all Pern seems a possibility since a single weyr is not enough to fight off the falling threads from the Red Star.

Allison Thompson-Brown reminded me that dragons can go when as well as where, and the travel through time always results in a stable time loop, so that dragon travel can never change anything known to be certain in the past. The actual whening part (or going between time, as it’s called) didn’t come until the third installment (Part 2 of “Dragonrider” in the Jan 1968 Analog), but I’ll date the concept back to the slightly earlier appearance of the first story (“Weyr Search” in Oct 1967). The two stories were fixed up into the first Pern novel, Dragonflight, in July of 1968, but it was another ten years before I discovered it.

Seventeen year-old Saira Elian’s mother has disappeared, as she does for a few days every couple of years. But this time, Saira ends up searching for her—in time. Along the way she makes friends for the first time in her nomadic life, and she learns that Vampires, Seers, and Shifters are real. But she also makes enemies, including Jack the Ripper.