The VERY first story in the P.E.R.N. series where the antagonist is perhaps Sallah

[Claudia]

I'm looking for the VERY first book Anne McCaffrey wrote in the P.E.R.N. series where a spaceship is enroute to what will become known as P.E.R.N.

The villain (I believe is named Sallah) is motivated by greed, in the form of an entire beach of black diamonds.

Most of the people traveling from Earth (which has become so fouled by environmental abuses that life is almost untenable) have been in "deep sleep" for the period that it's taken to travel such a L-O-N-G distance.

Sallah (again, I believe that's the character's name) is murderous, vindictive, manipulating, & a host of other evil intentions.

I'm not only looking for the name of the first book in this long series but also the other characters that I've forgotten about. Any help will be GREATLY appreciated!!

[Ms.soule]

I think you want Dragonsdawn which includes a character named Sallah.

There are other character names mentioned in the reviews.

It's the first in the Pern series chronologically according to this list:
https://www.goodreads.com/series/4933...

[Claudia]

Dragonsdawn is the second book in the series. You're correct that Sallah is named in both books. The distinction is the years of deep sleep that it took the space ship to arrive at the location that was eventually named P.E.R.N.

Thanks for your response!!

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Moving to "Just to chat" since you already know the author and series you're looking for.

[Claudia]

But I don't know the name of the book, so how can I find it? Please help...

Thanks!

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

People can still make suggestions in this thread - we've just moved it to a different folder. It doesn't belong in the Unsolved folder.

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Is there an author website or a wiki for the series? That's where I would look.

[SamSpayedPI]

This is the order of publication:

https://pern.fandom.com/wiki/List_of_...

I think the only story which has its internal chronology earlier than Dragonsdawn is not a novel but a short story, "The P.E.R.N. Survey." It's included in The Chronicles of Pern: First Fall. I'm pretty sure Sallah's first appearance was in Dragonsdawn, though.

Edit: I'm pretty sure your book is The Chronicles of Pern: First Fall. The "beach full of black diamonds" scene occurs in another short story in the book, "Rescue Run" (set several years after the events in Dragonsdawn, though).