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i_read_whatSo it's been a while since I've done a Pern book. I blame White Dragon. Yes, Dragondrums was actually decent, but White Dragon sucked so hard that it kind of drags everything else down with it.
But according to Wikipedia, the next published book is "Moreta: Dragonlady of Pern", which was originally published in 1983.
To be honest, I'm not if I've read this one or not. I was always the kind of reader who got attached to a particular group of characters, and for Pern, it was F'lar and Lessa. It's still F'lar and Lessa, to be honest. So I was never terribly enthused about reading the stories set in eras before they existed.
I do know how Moreta ends though. I feel like I must have read that part. I'm just not sure I read any of the rest. So that might be interesting.
So this is the first book that's NOT set during the Ninth Pass. In fact, as you may recall, we've heard ABOUT Moreta before. She was a historical Weyrwoman who inspired Lessa, especially when it came to getting Ramoth to fly. We also saw that there were choral/operatic pieces about her in the Harper Hall trilogy. So this could be interesting.
Hopefully we'll return to the days when female protagonists got to have actual agency, as opposed to having everything handed to her without any visible effort (Menolly), having her interests and preferences completely sidelined for the sake of her romance (Sharra) or...well, honestly, just Brekke in general. Poor Brekke.
Because I'm lazy, I'm only reviewing the Prologue today.
The prologue is the usual spiel about how Rukbat is a G-type star in the Sagittarian Sector, with five planets, two asteroid belts, and a stray planet it had attracted and held in recent millennia. I'm not sure why they didn't just say "six planets, one of which had been attracted and held..." But that's probably just me being nitpicky.
We get the backstory about the colonists struggling with Thread, cannibalizing their own resources, and losing contact with their origin point. And of course the origins of the Dragons, as well as the seeding of the grubs. There's a note about how the grubs are actually developed from a symbiote from the same strain of spore as Thread itself. I feel like that probably came up in White Dragon's prologue too, but I find it attracting my attention more this time around.
It makes me wonder if some of the immediate revulsion that people have toward grubs may be an instinctive reaction. Humans aren't native to Pern, obviously, but things do develop quickly on Sci-Fi worlds.
It is interesting though that when the colonists then sought refuge in the North, none of them thought to bring grubs with them.
More history: Fort Hold was first permanent settlement, but they expanded outward. Fort Weyr and Benden Weyr were the first dragon Weyrs. And we get a nice refresher on the intervals, the down time between each "pass" or fall of thread (200 years) and length of time Thread actually falls (fifty years).
All the same stuff, really. Except, instead of going into the Long Interval/Ninth Pass, the prologue then starts telling us more societal details of the Sixth Pass. Because that's where we are chronologically.
We're told by this time, the complicated socio-political-economic structure has been developed. There are Holds, and tithes, and Crafts. And of course, how the Weyrs are structured. There is emphasis on how during and after a Pass, it's the Weyrwoman's job "to nurture and preserve the dragons, to sustain and improve the Weyr and all its folk" and lip service to a strong Weyrwoman being as essential to the survival of the Weyr and dragons were to the survival of Pern. Okay. I'm actually pretty skeptical about this, considering that T'bor could lose two in one go and still run his Weyr. I mean, Lessa is awesome, but that's kind of in spite of everyone else.
Oh, more info: It's also the Weyrwoman's job to supply the Weyr and foster the children. Interesting, because one of Lessa's issues is that she didn't get to raise F'lessan herself. I wonder if that's a subtle indicator as to how the Weyrwoman's role changed over time.
Anyway, the big gist is that there really haven't been major societal changes between the Sixth Pass and the Ninth. The familiar structures are all there. (Though maybe some individual crafts, like the lumber folks who emerged during the Long Interval, may not.) We'll see new faces in old recognizable roles, I guess. But nothing too out of the ordinary.
Anyway, the story begins "toward the end of the Sixth Pass of the Red Star, some fourteen hundred Turns after men first came to Pern".
And next week, we'll jump in!
But according to Wikipedia, the next published book is "Moreta: Dragonlady of Pern", which was originally published in 1983.
To be honest, I'm not if I've read this one or not. I was always the kind of reader who got attached to a particular group of characters, and for Pern, it was F'lar and Lessa. It's still F'lar and Lessa, to be honest. So I was never terribly enthused about reading the stories set in eras before they existed.
I do know how Moreta ends though. I feel like I must have read that part. I'm just not sure I read any of the rest. So that might be interesting.
So this is the first book that's NOT set during the Ninth Pass. In fact, as you may recall, we've heard ABOUT Moreta before. She was a historical Weyrwoman who inspired Lessa, especially when it came to getting Ramoth to fly. We also saw that there were choral/operatic pieces about her in the Harper Hall trilogy. So this could be interesting.
Hopefully we'll return to the days when female protagonists got to have actual agency, as opposed to having everything handed to her without any visible effort (Menolly), having her interests and preferences completely sidelined for the sake of her romance (Sharra) or...well, honestly, just Brekke in general. Poor Brekke.
Because I'm lazy, I'm only reviewing the Prologue today.
The prologue is the usual spiel about how Rukbat is a G-type star in the Sagittarian Sector, with five planets, two asteroid belts, and a stray planet it had attracted and held in recent millennia. I'm not sure why they didn't just say "six planets, one of which had been attracted and held..." But that's probably just me being nitpicky.
We get the backstory about the colonists struggling with Thread, cannibalizing their own resources, and losing contact with their origin point. And of course the origins of the Dragons, as well as the seeding of the grubs. There's a note about how the grubs are actually developed from a symbiote from the same strain of spore as Thread itself. I feel like that probably came up in White Dragon's prologue too, but I find it attracting my attention more this time around.
It makes me wonder if some of the immediate revulsion that people have toward grubs may be an instinctive reaction. Humans aren't native to Pern, obviously, but things do develop quickly on Sci-Fi worlds.
It is interesting though that when the colonists then sought refuge in the North, none of them thought to bring grubs with them.
More history: Fort Hold was first permanent settlement, but they expanded outward. Fort Weyr and Benden Weyr were the first dragon Weyrs. And we get a nice refresher on the intervals, the down time between each "pass" or fall of thread (200 years) and length of time Thread actually falls (fifty years).
All the same stuff, really. Except, instead of going into the Long Interval/Ninth Pass, the prologue then starts telling us more societal details of the Sixth Pass. Because that's where we are chronologically.
We're told by this time, the complicated socio-political-economic structure has been developed. There are Holds, and tithes, and Crafts. And of course, how the Weyrs are structured. There is emphasis on how during and after a Pass, it's the Weyrwoman's job "to nurture and preserve the dragons, to sustain and improve the Weyr and all its folk" and lip service to a strong Weyrwoman being as essential to the survival of the Weyr and dragons were to the survival of Pern. Okay. I'm actually pretty skeptical about this, considering that T'bor could lose two in one go and still run his Weyr. I mean, Lessa is awesome, but that's kind of in spite of everyone else.
Oh, more info: It's also the Weyrwoman's job to supply the Weyr and foster the children. Interesting, because one of Lessa's issues is that she didn't get to raise F'lessan herself. I wonder if that's a subtle indicator as to how the Weyrwoman's role changed over time.
Anyway, the big gist is that there really haven't been major societal changes between the Sixth Pass and the Ninth. The familiar structures are all there. (Though maybe some individual crafts, like the lumber folks who emerged during the Long Interval, may not.) We'll see new faces in old recognizable roles, I guess. But nothing too out of the ordinary.
Anyway, the story begins "toward the end of the Sixth Pass of the Red Star, some fourteen hundred Turns after men first came to Pern".
And next week, we'll jump in!
no subject
Date: 2022-01-21 09:24 am (UTC)More history: Fort Hold was first permanent settlement, but they expanded outward. Fort Weyr and Benden Weyr were the first dragon Weyrs. And we get a nice refresher on the intervals, the down time between each "pass" or fall of thread (200 years) and length of time Thread actually falls (fifty years).
I love this worldbuilding!
Hopefully we'll return to the days when female protagonists got to have actual agency, as opposed to having everything handed to her without any visible effort (Menolly), having her interests and preferences completely sidelined for the sake of her romance (Sharra) or...well, honestly, just Brekke in general. Poor Brekke.
Then again, if the female protagonist has no agency, you can skewer the book with no remorse.
Oh, more info: It's also the Weyrwoman's job to supply the Weyr and foster the children. Interesting, because one of Lessa's issues is that she didn't get to raise F'lessan herself. I wonder if that's a subtle indicator as to how the Weyrwoman's role changed over time.
Having seen little of these books, this is generational, and the differences are shown, not just told? Nice!
no subject
Date: 2022-01-23 05:38 am (UTC)I hope so! I don't actually know/remember!
Yay!
Date: 2022-01-21 04:52 pm (UTC)Just brace for impact, 'cause it can be a heavy story.
= Multi-Facets.
Re: Yay!
Date: 2022-01-23 05:38 am (UTC)I remember the ending, I think, but it'll be really interesting to see how it gets there.
Re: Yay!
Date: 2022-01-24 12:42 am (UTC)= Multi-Facets.
no subject
Date: 2024-11-06 12:50 pm (UTC)*Anyway, the big gist is that there really haven't been major societal changes between the Sixth Pass and the Ninth. The familiar structures are all there. *
Missed opportunity, there. Societies and social structures don't stay the same for a thousand years irl, and the second Long Interval really should've changed how weyrs run.