Chronological Order of Pern Stories

Please note that for first time readers, this is not the best order to read the books in.
Instead, the order that the books were originally published is highly recommended by Anne McCaffrey, by myself, and by countless others. For further explanation on the importance of reading order and a list of books by publication date, visit my suggested reading order page.

The more experienced Pern reader may wish to re-read the stories in chronological order, or something approxomating it. Many books/stories overlap in time, some by only a few days at the start or end of the story, and some completely. For simplicity's sake I'm ignoring the minor overlaps and only indicating major ones.

Pass/Int	Turn at start	Book or "Short Story"
0th Int	190 BL	"Survey P.E.R.N.^c"
	0	Dragonsdawn
1st Pass	8
	9			"The Dolphins' Bell"
	19	"The Ford of Red Hanrahan"
	28	"The Second Weyr"
1st Int	58	"Rescue Run"
	257	Red Star Rising / Dragonseye
2nd Pass	258
		"Ever the Twain"
2nd Int		Dragon's Kin
6th Pass	1550	Moreta			Nerilka's Story
		"Beyond Between"
6th Int	1558
8th Int	2452	Masterharper of Pern
	2505	Dragonflight	Renegades of Pern		"Runner of Pern"
9th Pass	2508
	2514	Dragonquest			Dragonsong
	2515				Dragonsinger
	2518	"The Impression"			Dragondrums
		"The Smallest Dragonboy"
	2519	The White Dragon			"The Girl Who Heard Dragons"

		All the Weyrs of Pern
					Dolphins of Pern

	2538	The Skies of Pern

Links of interest:
Taki Kogoma put together a great chronological listing showing the time overlaps more precisely than I did; it can be found as part of the alt.fan.pern FAQ.