The Smallest Dragonboy

Anne McCaffrey is one of science fiction’s most popular authors. She was Grandmaster of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association and received several prestigious awards, including her induction into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame, the Margaret A. Edwards Award for writing for teenagers, and the Golden Pen Award. In 1968, she was the first woman to win a Hugo Award for fiction, and she became the first woman to win the Nebula Award the following year.

“The Smallest Dragonboy” is a middle grade short story set on Pern, a planet that is besieged approximately every 250 years by Thread, deadly silver spores that rain down from the Red Star and devour any organic material that is in their path. To combat Thread, fire-breathing dragons “Impress” upon hopeful dragonriders and fly out during Threadfall, reducing the spores to harmless ash. The story is set in the same universe as McCaffrey’s Dragonriders of Pern series, which began in 1967. The series comprises a total of 24 novels and two collections of short stories. McCaffrey died in 2011, at age 85, after suffering a stroke. Following her death, one additional Pern novel was published: Dragon’s Code (2018), written by her daughter, Gigi McCaffrey.

This guide refers to “The Smallest Dragonboy” as it appears in her short story collection A Gift of Dragons (2002).

The story follows Keevan, a hopeful dragonrider candidate who is constantly looked down upon due to his small stature and yearns to prove himself at his first Hatching Day by Impressing a dragon. At the opening of “The Smallest Dragonboy,” Keevan struggles to maintain the brutal pace set by the eldest boy in his group of dragonrider candidates, Beterli, as the group ventures to the Hatching Ground cavern to visit the dragon eggs.

Keevan can feel the heat of the sands through his boots, and the sensation causes him to remember how vexed the bootmaker was when challenged with sewing a pair so small. This leads to another recollection of his bully, Beterli, mocking Keevan’s size and declaring him not likely to Impress a dragon. This constant censure of his size—often called “too small,” “too young,” or “babe”— has Keevan “constantly working, twice as hard as any other boy his age, to prove himself capable” (5).

Keevan secretly wonders whether a dragon’s choice is influenced by factors outside physical size and strength. His foster mother, Mende, believes so, claiming dragons “see into a man’s heart” and value “goodness, honesty, a flexible mind, patience, courage” (6). She claims that their Weyrleader, F’lar, was also small in size when he claimed the rare and prestigious large bronze during his Hatching Day. Keevan doesn’t dare hope he might Impress a bronze, because they are massive, and a bronze rider’s career aspirations are nearly infinite. Instead, he decides to settle for Impressing a green, the least in-demand, as they’re the smallest, like him, and the most common.

In the Hatching Ground cavern, a wingsecond stresses the nearness of Hatching Day, pointing out stretch marks on a “promising egg” (8). It is suspected to be a bronze, and Beterli already claimed it. None of the candidates is willing to challenge Beterli, who has already been to eight Impressions and is the largest in the group. There are only 40 dragon eggs available, but there are 72 candidates, making Keevan even more discouraged about his chances of Impressing.

When the group breaks apart to touch the eggs, Beterli seizes the opportunity to mock Keevan’s size. He wittily retorts, causing Beterli to step forward with an upraised fist, unconcerned with the rule that forbids fighting on the Hatching Ground. Keevan is saved by the call for pre-dinner chores. At dinner, he eagerly anticipates listening to the dragonriders talk, yet he becomes distressed as they debate the parameters for candidates. Many of them argue in favor of eliminating the smaller, younger candidates. If implemented, this change will expel Keevan from the process.

Fearing his fate, Keevan sleeps uneasily and goes through his next day of chores distractedly. When Mende points this out, Keevan expresses his concerns. She assures him that the discussion about eliminating certain candidates comes up quite often, yet nothing ever changes. She sends him out once again to complete his chores, where he crosses paths with Beterli, who seems more animated than usual. Beterli asks if Keevan has heard the news. When it becomes clear that the eggs aren’t yet hatching, Keevan fears that a decision was made that eliminated him due to candidacy restrictions. However, he ignores Beterli’s goading, refusing to give him the satisfaction of guessing. The boys get into a scuffle over Keevan’s shovel, which Beterli attempts to steal; Beterli hits him with the handle, knocking him to the ground. Keevan has pain in his skull and his left leg before he loses consciousness.

Keevan wakes bedridden with a broken skull and leg. Mende and Lessa—the Weyrwoman—wait by his bedside. Lessa asks for his side of the story, but “much as he hated Beterli, he couldn’t bring himself to tattle on Beterli and force himself out of candidacy” (20). Lessa reveals that while Keevan will have the opportunity to attend future Impressions, Beterli won’t because of his actions. After the women leave him to rest, Keevan’s anxieties grow. A humming begins, which he quickly recognizes as a sign of the eggs’ hatching. Keevan despairs at missing Impression: “Even the small voice telling him that he’d have other opportunities failed to alleviate his crushing depression” (23). He placed so much importance on this particular Impression because he wanted to show that even at his smallest, he’s “worthy of being a dragonrider” (23).

Enduring the pain, Keevan drags himself from bed and dresses in a white candidate’s tunic, determined to make it to the Hatching Ground. Crawling like a child, he obtains a pole for a walking stick. He limps, moving faster when the humming stops, because that is a sign that the eggs are starting to hatch. The distance never seemed as far as it does now, and he falls into the sand multiple times on his journey but continually gets back up. Finally, Keevan enters the Hatching Ground. Certain that no dragons remain, he wishes he had never come: “Now everyone would see his ignominious failure” (28). He disappears into the shadows, hoping to remain unseen, before collapsing into the sand and sobbing. The last remaining dragon—which had been approaching the exit, choosing to leave the Hatching Ground rather than Impress on any of the remaining candidates—changes direction and walks up to Keevan, who doesn’t notice its presence.

Thinking someone is there to mock him, Keevan screams to leave him be. When the dragon telepathically asks why, sounding hurt, Keevan looks up and locks eyes with Heth, a small bronze dragon. Seeming anxious and unsure, the dragon asks if he likes him. Keevan does, “wordlessly assuring the hatchling over and over again that he was the most perfect, most beautiful, most beloved dragon in the Weyr” (31). Lessa addresses Keevan as “K’van,” a shortened version of his name “that raised him forever to the rank of dragonrider” (32). The Weyrleader, F’lar, deems K’van the smallest and bravest dragonrider. Full of “pride and joy” (32), K’van and Heth exit the Hatching Ground together.