The White Dragon

Book excerpt: NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • FINALIST FOR THE LOCUS AWARD • The third novel in the legendary and magical series featuring dragons, adventure, romance, and heroism, from Hugo and Nebula Award–winning author Anne McCaffrey, “one of my favorite authors of all time” (Brandon Sanderson) “Anne McCaffrey’s Pern novels are truly foundational books; it’s hard to imagine the modern-day landscape of fantasy and science fiction without them.”—Naomi Novik, author of the Temeraire series When Lessa chose a dragon over her birthright, the hold she was to have inherited passed to Lord Jaxom instead. But Jaxom then muddied generations of Pern tradition by impulsively Impressing Ruth, the small and singularly unique white dragon, as a child. From that moment on, the debate has raged. Is Jaxom now a dragonrider, or a lord holder? All anyone agrees on is that he cannot be both. But perhaps it is all academic anyway, for no one expects Ruth to survive. But Ruth not only survives, he thrives. With Jaxom on the cusp of adulthood, the thing the pair most desire is to fight Thread side-by-side with the larger dragons. Jaxom knows what his dragon is capable of, and now that he is—mostly—grown, he is determined to buck tradition. Fortunately, a teenage rebellion may be the key to both Pern’s salvation and winning the woman of his dreams. Don’t miss the original trilogy from Anne McCaffrey’s beloved Dragonriders of Pern series: DRAGONFLIGHT • DRAGONQUEST • THE WHITE DRAGON