This is the first book in Anne McCaffrey's dragons of Pern trilogy. Last time I read these, MTV did not yet exist. Carter was still president and the Not Ready for Primetime Players were still on SNL.

How feminism and debates about women riding horses helped produce first, horse-girl stories, and then dragon-babe fiction.

Although her best-known works are the books in the Dragons of Pern series, we suggest starting with Catalyst, a tale about space travel, telepathy, and all-powerful cat. Buy a copy here.

Tired of science fiction stories in which women simply functioned as “props” to tell the heroes’ stories, McCaffrey ensured that women on Pern held crucial political roles because they rode the only ...