Gollancz acquires audio rights to original Dragonriders trilogy

Gollancz will publish three Dragonriders of Pern audiobooks from the series by Anne McCaffrey.

Orion senior audio manager Paul Stark acquired audio rights from Susan Smith at MBA on behalf of the Anna McCaffrey estate. 

Gollancz will publish the original trilogy in audiobook: Dragonflight and Dragonquest, both narrated by Sophie Aldred, and The White Dragon narrated by Joe Jameson. All three will be recorded with Neil Gardner at Ladbroke Audio and released in June 2020. 

The Dragonriders of Pern series tells the story of a distant planet and its inhabitants' struggle against an ancient enemy. The series began in 1968 with Dragonflight and McCaffrey wrote a further 22 novels in the series, both alone and with her son Todd McCaffrey. 

Stark commented: "I grew up reading Anne’s work, and it’s such an honour to have the chance to publish these classic books."

The estate added: "The Estate of Anne McCaffrey, and The Anne McCaffrey Literary Trust, is thrilled that Anne’s UK fans, and new “readers”, will now have access to these beloved works in an audio format."

McCaffrey died in 2011.