Territorial disputes among landed gentry. A ruling class threatened by the increasing importance of skilled craftsmen. Swords and sandals. And, most importantly, fire-breathing dragons—along with the elite humans who can communicate, coordinate and commune with the legendary beasts. It’s all basically Fantasy Novel Writing 101. But Anne McCaffrey, a trailblazing woman in the fantasy genre, subverts the genre in her 1968 novel by adding a science-fiction twist that makes it all seem much more raw, real and lived-in. It’s no spoiler to note that the story takes place on a far-flung planet colonized by Earth and then forgotten, and the “dragons” are genetically modified versions of a native lizard-like species. To write the book, McCaffrey merged two of her previously written novellas: Weyr Search, which won a Hugo Award, and Dragonrider, which won a Nebula Award. Her impact is clear: it’s hard to imagine Game of Thrones without Dragonflight. The series’ central conceit—the recovery of a world where dragons, the most powerful of beings, have not yet faded into the history books—is the driving force of Dragonflight, published some 30 years before. —Elijah Wolfson
Buy Now: Dragonflight on Amazon
- Yes, Climate Change Is Making Storms Like Hurricane Ian Worse
- 2022 Time100 NEXT: TIME’s List Of Emerging Leaders Who Are Shaping the Future
- Industrial Farming Causes Climate Change. The ‘Slow Food’ Movement Wants to Stop It
- What Reading 220 History Textbooks Taught One Scholar About Racism in America
- Artist Oliver Jeffers Wants to Paint the World Out of a Corner
- A Vibrant North Korean Community in London Finds Its Days Are Numbered
- COVID-19 Vaccines Can Make Periods Longer, Study Says
- Column: What Happened When My Entire Family Came Out
- How DeSantis Handles Hurricane Ian Will Shape His Political Future
