What is "dragonsdawn"

Dragonsdawn is a science fiction novel by the American-Irish author Anne McCaffrey. It was the ninth book published in the Dragonriders of Pern series by Anne or her son Todd McCaffrey. It was published in 1988, by Del Rey in the US and Bantam in the UK.

While the Dragonriders of Pern series is recognized as science fiction (due to its origin discussing the nature of the star Rukbat and its planetary system), many of its elements in the earlier books were primarily fantasy in origin. Dragonsdawn' establishes the science fiction nature of the series by defining the science behind McCaffrey's dragons.