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kalinaraApparently, it's advised that readers conclude the Harper Hall Trilogy with Dragondrums before reading the White Dragon. However, I'm stubborn. The White Dragon was published before Dragondrums, so I'm reading it before Dragondrums. If one spoils the other, so be it.
Now, I don't really remember much about the White Dragon. I know it's basically a conclusion to the original Dragonriders Trilogy. After this point, we'll get quite a lot of prequels and side stories before we hit "All The Weyrs of Pern" which essentially finishes off the main plot of the series.
I do remember finding Jaxom annoying, but I don't know if that's a legitimate evaluation of the character or just annoyance that the book didn't feature F'lar or Lessa in main roles. As a debatably more mature adult, we'll just have to see.
So, my copy starts off with a prelude:
This is the standard retelling of the science fiction backstory. There's actually quite a bit more information here than in Dragonquest's prelude, with more discussion about the symbiotic "grubs" that protect the vegetation of the Southern Continent.
Interestingly, grubs are apparently a symbiote of Thread itself. I'm looking forward to reading the prequel novels that presumably discuss this. I've never read them before, but I'll cover them for the blog anyway, since they're part of the series.
Now we know all of this backstory, but it's not a terrible recap. Basically the Southern Continent was too unstable, folks moved to the more inhospitable north. They started in Fort, then expanded to Ruatha and others as each became overcrowded within a few generations.
There is some new information about Benden Hold specifically though. Apparently it was a relatively early construction, despite being on the other side of the continent from Fort and Ruatha. The logic was that since the Red Star rose in the east, there should also be a holding there. That makes a certain amount of sense.
Apparently Benden Weyr took a lot of work though and consumed the last of the fuel for the "great stonecutter" machines that the ancients had. Then we get kind of the rough retelling as the knowledge of the grubs and Southern Continent, as well as recollections of Earth and the origin of the Pernese people disappeared. The Pernese society as we know it developed around the time of the Third Pass.
There's also some discussion of "Long Intervals", such as the one before Dragonflight, taking us into the recap of that book.
It is interesting to see what the prelude chooses to focus on and what it doesn't. I feel like bringing up the origin of Benden Weyr here will turn out to be important in some way. I expect this book may give us more information about the beginning of the colony. We'll see if I'm right.
So the recap of Dragonflight is as it was. F'lar gets the lion's share of credit. F'nor gets second billing for having "listened to his arguments and believed in them", and is undeservedly grouped in with F'lar and Lessa's accomplishments. I'm surprised that they don't try to credit him with Lessa's flight back in time. Fuck F'nor.
I admit, I was looking forward to seeing the recap of Dragonquest, because I'd love to see how McCaffrey doesn't address F'nor's utter uselessness in that book. I mean, okay, he DOES discover fire lizards, but given that Menolly discovers her batch independently, not that long afterward, even that accomplishment is pointless.
The Dragonquest recap seems reasonably accurate though. It conveniently omits how F'nor raped Brekke, but that's that. F'lar's adventures with the grubs are detailed, and the Masterherdsman who hates the idea even gets mentioned by NAME (Sograny).
Jaxom's adventures are detailed, including bonding with Ruth, and I still don't understand how Jaxom can be both Lord and Dragonrider when Lessa can't. All they really have to do is make sure that Ramoth is available to fly!
OH, F'nor does somehow get some undue credit here too, in a book he actually stars in: "F'lar began two campaigns with the help of F'nor and N'ton: the first to seed the Northern Continent with grubs; the second, the dissemination of special knowledge to insure that no more important information would become lost or distorted.
Fucking shenanigans, McCaffrey!
F'nor did JACK SHIT. F'lar brought up the idea of the grubs. F'nor had some idiotic "what will we do without Thread" bullshit, then spent all of his time with convalescent Brekke. I'm not judging him for sticking by the woman heraped loves, but you can't then give him credit for this shit. Poor N'ton! His accomplishments are constantly undermined for a douchebag.
But see, if she didn't try to link that to F'nor, it would be very very clear that F'nor did JACK SHIT in this book. Oh, she tries to claim that F'nor's idiotic flight made it clear that the Red Star couldn't be attacked directly. But really? It was a blunder from the moment it happened.
So out of laziness, I'm not going to actually START the book until next time, but it's good to be able to bitch about fucking F'nor again. I know Menolly gets unfairly shilled, but at least she actually accomplished the things that she's getting credit for!
Now, I don't really remember much about the White Dragon. I know it's basically a conclusion to the original Dragonriders Trilogy. After this point, we'll get quite a lot of prequels and side stories before we hit "All The Weyrs of Pern" which essentially finishes off the main plot of the series.
I do remember finding Jaxom annoying, but I don't know if that's a legitimate evaluation of the character or just annoyance that the book didn't feature F'lar or Lessa in main roles. As a debatably more mature adult, we'll just have to see.
So, my copy starts off with a prelude:
This is the standard retelling of the science fiction backstory. There's actually quite a bit more information here than in Dragonquest's prelude, with more discussion about the symbiotic "grubs" that protect the vegetation of the Southern Continent.
Interestingly, grubs are apparently a symbiote of Thread itself. I'm looking forward to reading the prequel novels that presumably discuss this. I've never read them before, but I'll cover them for the blog anyway, since they're part of the series.
Now we know all of this backstory, but it's not a terrible recap. Basically the Southern Continent was too unstable, folks moved to the more inhospitable north. They started in Fort, then expanded to Ruatha and others as each became overcrowded within a few generations.
There is some new information about Benden Hold specifically though. Apparently it was a relatively early construction, despite being on the other side of the continent from Fort and Ruatha. The logic was that since the Red Star rose in the east, there should also be a holding there. That makes a certain amount of sense.
Apparently Benden Weyr took a lot of work though and consumed the last of the fuel for the "great stonecutter" machines that the ancients had. Then we get kind of the rough retelling as the knowledge of the grubs and Southern Continent, as well as recollections of Earth and the origin of the Pernese people disappeared. The Pernese society as we know it developed around the time of the Third Pass.
There's also some discussion of "Long Intervals", such as the one before Dragonflight, taking us into the recap of that book.
It is interesting to see what the prelude chooses to focus on and what it doesn't. I feel like bringing up the origin of Benden Weyr here will turn out to be important in some way. I expect this book may give us more information about the beginning of the colony. We'll see if I'm right.
So the recap of Dragonflight is as it was. F'lar gets the lion's share of credit. F'nor gets second billing for having "listened to his arguments and believed in them", and is undeservedly grouped in with F'lar and Lessa's accomplishments. I'm surprised that they don't try to credit him with Lessa's flight back in time. Fuck F'nor.
I admit, I was looking forward to seeing the recap of Dragonquest, because I'd love to see how McCaffrey doesn't address F'nor's utter uselessness in that book. I mean, okay, he DOES discover fire lizards, but given that Menolly discovers her batch independently, not that long afterward, even that accomplishment is pointless.
The Dragonquest recap seems reasonably accurate though. It conveniently omits how F'nor raped Brekke, but that's that. F'lar's adventures with the grubs are detailed, and the Masterherdsman who hates the idea even gets mentioned by NAME (Sograny).
Jaxom's adventures are detailed, including bonding with Ruth, and I still don't understand how Jaxom can be both Lord and Dragonrider when Lessa can't. All they really have to do is make sure that Ramoth is available to fly!
OH, F'nor does somehow get some undue credit here too, in a book he actually stars in: "F'lar began two campaigns with the help of F'nor and N'ton: the first to seed the Northern Continent with grubs; the second, the dissemination of special knowledge to insure that no more important information would become lost or distorted.
Fucking shenanigans, McCaffrey!
F'nor did JACK SHIT. F'lar brought up the idea of the grubs. F'nor had some idiotic "what will we do without Thread" bullshit, then spent all of his time with convalescent Brekke. I'm not judging him for sticking by the woman he
But see, if she didn't try to link that to F'nor, it would be very very clear that F'nor did JACK SHIT in this book. Oh, she tries to claim that F'nor's idiotic flight made it clear that the Red Star couldn't be attacked directly. But really? It was a blunder from the moment it happened.
So out of laziness, I'm not going to actually START the book until next time, but it's good to be able to bitch about fucking F'nor again. I know Menolly gets unfairly shilled, but at least she actually accomplished the things that she's getting credit for!