Dragonsdawn

Over 6,000 people of the Federated Sentient Planets spend fifteen years in deep sleep on a one-way trip to establish a colony on Pern. The landing is succcessful and proceeds for several years until the first arrival of Thread. The threadfall is devastating. Scientists determine that this is not a short-term problem. Realizing help cannot come from the FSP, the colonists discover they might be able to alter the genetic structure of Pern's fire-lizards. The scientists make the necessary alterations and wait with little hope for the final result.

Winner of the 1990 Science Fiction Book Club award for best novel.