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i_read_what2023-12-05 05:51 pm
kalinara) wrote in i_read_what2023-12-05 05:51 pm
Renegades of Pern - Introduction and Prologue
Well, how about that, we've made it back to modern day Pern! To a book that I haven't actually read! This should be interesting!
Due to the fact that I've never read this book, the introduction will be short. I don't really know what to expect here. Hopefully it'll be fun though!
The introduction of the book is interesting actually. As usual, it's about a page of backstory: Third planet of the Rukbat star system in the Sagittarian Sector, et cetera and so forth.
Interestingly though, I feel like there's a little more of a science fiction tone here: mention of "mycorrhizoid organisms" and the backstory of creating the dragons has a bit more detail. We also get no mention of F'lar or Lessa or their particular deeds in this book. I'm a little sad about that. Give Lessa her recognition, darnit!
A closer look indicates that we might not be entirely caught up to modern Pern though. The last paragraph tells us that "one such long interval" is coming to a close, though there'll be a decade or two to go before another pass of the Red Star.
THAT's interesting. That means we might well be coinciding with that period of time that F'nor, Kylara, T'bor and Toric went back to in Dragonflight. Will we get to see them? Will we get to see Fax?!
--
The first paragraph of the Prologue doesn't QUITE answer that question. But it does tell us that right now, in the High Reaches, Fax is just beginning his territorial conquest.
This part of the story, though, takes place in "Lemos Hold". It is funny how Dragonsdawn gives a new context to the hold names. I suppose it makes sense that both Lemos and Nabol got Holds named after them: the men may not have gotten the recognition of that fucking rapist Sallah Telgar, but they DID go out trying to help the colonies.
Kinda curious as to how "Bitra Hold" got its name though.
I do get the sense that we're not necessarily supposed to like the inhabitants of this Hold though:
‘He’s here again,’ the woman said, peering out the dust-grimed window slit when she heard the clatter of hooves on the cobbles in front of the cothold. ‘I tol’ ya he’d come back. You’re for it now.’ There was a certain note of sly anticipation in her voice.
The slovenly man at the table glanced contemptuously in her direction. His belly was full, though he had grumbled with every mouthful that porridge was no dish to serve a grown man, and he had just decided to do a little fishing.
So anyway, the door of the hold is "vigorously pushed in" - which makes me wonder how that works, precisely, given that the Holds are literal caves, and the doors are meant to withstand Thread. Anyway, the room is suddenly full of "determined men" with shortswords at their belts.
McCaffrey is one of those authors that's really good at giving her narration a "tone", I think. Like look at this:
Uttering little shrieks of dismay, the woman flattened herself in the corner of the inner wall, oblivious to the clatter of pans and cups that spilled from the hanging cabinet. There's something about "little shrieks of dismay" that come across a lot more pathetically or cowardly than a single louder shriek of dismay would.
The man, Fellick, doesn't come across much braver, stammering excuses to the leader of the new arrivals< "Lord Gedenase". (Who has a black riding cloak that makes him look larger than life.) His voice has a "plaintive whine" as he claims they've nothing but boiled grains.
It does seem like these folks have some reason to whine though, since Lord Gedanese asserts that they've failed to tithe four times, despite the "generous help" of replacing moldy seed grain, tools and a draft animal. He orders them to get their belongings and get out.
Whoa. I suppose, since we're in the Long Interval, this isn't quite the death sentence it would be by, say, Menolly's time. But that's pretty harsh. Also, since Lemos was under the purview of Benden Weir, as I recall, they would have also had to pay a tithe to the dragonriders. Do they, then, pay both? Or do just the Lords pay the Weirs?
Just in case we're too sympathetic to these folks though, we get an instance of domestic abuse, as Fellick cuffs his sobbing wife and calls her a "stupid pig". It looks like Lord Gedanese already has a replacement in mind as there's a wagon drawn up near his empty beasthold, with a woman and children inside.
Under his breath he vowed vengeance on Lord Gedenase — and on all at Lemos Hold — for his humiliation. They would be sorry, they would! He would make every man jack of them sorry!
Interesting! This makes me wonder if Fellick is going to end up being more important than he seems. I'd assumed he was just there to establish Lord Gedenase's villainy, but this WOULD explain why he is presented so negatively, himself.
In fact, this might just be almost nuance, as neither Gedenase or Fellick seem like they're supposed to be likable or sympathetic here.
This prologue has a really interesting structure actually: separate little vignettes from different places, separated by news of what Fax is doing. We're given the update on Fax first: he's become Lord Holder of High Reaches, Crom, Nabol, Keogh, Balen, Riverbend, and Ruatha - gaining possession "by dint of marriage, murder or the ferocity of his marauders". I enjoy that alliteration. We're told Tillek, Fort and Boll have called in all able-bodied men.
Then were told that news was seeping slowly into more isolated holdings.
Here we meet Dowell. Dowell owns a mountainhold. Already he comes across a bit better than Fellick. We're told he always knows when visitors were on their way up the wagon track. It's noisy. Dowell, we're told, has been busy making a chair for Lord Kale at Ruatha. Ah. Yeah, that's a business deal apt to fall through.
He's a lot nicer to his wife, Barla, than Fellick was. And we're definitely getting to see their industriousness. Barla notes that she has fresh bread and berries for the messenger. It's not a subtle contrast. Dowell notes that there are a LOT of riders coming.
Indeed:
The visitors, ten or more men, brought their animals roughly to a halt in the clearing. One look at the unfamiliar sweaty faces and Barla stepped instinctively behind Dowell, wishing that her face was smudged with flour or soot.
The leader’s eyes narrowed, and his smile turned ugly. ‘You’re Dowell?’ The leader did not wait for a reply as he dismounted. ‘Search the place,’ he snapped over his shoulder.
Dowell’s fingers curled, wishing he had the plane still in his right hand, but he straightened his shoulders and sought his wife’s hand with his left. "I am Dowell. And you?"
"I’m from Ruatha Hold. Fax is now your Lord Holder."
So these folks are basically, immediately, ransacking the place. Barla's fear seems apt, as the leader pulls her away from her husband. Another man kinda, sorta, intervenes though:
"I wouldn’t, were I you, Tragger," someone said in a low voice. "You know Fax’s orders, and she’s already plowed for this year."
What does that mean? Fax doesn't seem the sort to mind a bit of rape when it comes to his followers.
Someone else tells the dude, Tragger, that there's no one else in the hold. They terrorize the poor folk a bit more, then leave. Barla and Dowell are pretty quick to put together what happened.
"They murdered him. I know it. That Fax! I heard about that jumped-up High Reacher. He married Lady Gemma, and it was an unpopular hurried wedding. That much the harpers said… quietly. They called him ambitious, ruthless." Barla shuddered at the thought. "Could he have murdered all in Ruatha Hold? His lady? Lessa and her brothers?" She turned scared eyes on him, her expression bleak.
Barla, by the way, is apparently a second cousin once removed of the line. AND she's pregnant...ahh, that explains the "already plowed" line. Not the other part though. They realize that they're probably on borrowed time.
OH. I get it. I seem to recall that there was a girl who talks to dragons in this book. After Brekke, I rolled my eyes at the idea, since McCaffrey seems to like to use that as short hand for "heroine" (though maybe that's unfair, Menolly could be annoyingly favored by the narrative without that. Jaxom too) - but I bet you ten to one, that we're meeting the girl's parents right now. She's probably the fetus in this scene, actually.
Oddly that annoys me a little less than Brekke inexplicably having the power does. This girl is at least related to Lessa. It makes sense that the ability would be inherited through more than one branch.
Anyway, they make their plans to leave.
Now we're told that it's five turns after Fax's "astounding coup", and Tillek still has their full complement of man at arms. The novelty has worn off though, and we're told that wrestling contests are frequent ways of keeping people fit and occupied, while giving entertainment.
Our central character in this part is a man named Dushik, who had just won his match, apparently by killing his opponent. Dushik claims it's an accident, recognizing how everyone's turned hostile against him, when they'd just been encouraging him and taunting him moments ago.
This is apparently the third time this has happened, which makes me a bit less sympathetic to the guy. One accident, fine, but by three...maybe you shouldn't drink and wrestle, dude.
Third time is third strike, apparently. That means he's getting exiled, not just from this Hold but basically ANY Hold. I'm vaguely surprised that Fax would hold to that same restriction, but maybe he's more judicious than I'd given him credit for. It'd be hard to keep his seat of power for ten years if he was in the habit of letting his men murder and rape everyone, I suppose.
Dushik, therefore, is kicked out.
--
SEVEN years after Fax's usurpation, we're told that everyone pretty much accepts it. Except Harper Hall of course.
The Masterharper, Robinton, has been hearing unsettling reports from his harpers that make him mistrust this uneasy peace. Fax is ambitious, and with all but Ruatha Hold prospering under his harsh management, it is entirely possible that he will look eastward, to the broad and fertile plains and the mines of Telgar. As if aware of Harper Hall scrutiny, Fax has begun to turn harpers out of his Holds and Halls for the most spurious reasons. Whatever teaching the harpers have provided, Fax says, the young will learn from his deputies. He has challenged authority — and succeeded. What will he challenge next?
...you know. I hate to say this. But, if everyone BUT Ruatha is prospering (and we know Ruatha isn't, because of Lessa's machinations - I love her)...is Fax really that bad a ruler?
I mean, the spousal abuse and implicit rape is bad, of course. But, well. We've seen a LOT of rapists in this series. F'lar himself was pretty fucking abusive in Dragonflight, though thankfully McCaffrey hasn't had him act like that since.
Is Jaxom better than Fax, if you think about it? He raped Corana and doesn't seem to have any real interest in his land. Larad and Kylara's dad apparently fucked everyone - MAYBE that was all consensual, but it does seem like Fax having a harem might not be that strange. Meron was pretty crap at Hold Management...
What I mean by this is, the Hold system is pretty much trash anyway. Life for women, in particular, is supposed to be bad enough that a lesser position in the Weir is worth sticking around for. No one cares if they're kidnapped, except for the insult to their Lords. Fax is a terrible person, no question, but if life is actually BETTER under his rule...
Also, while I know I'm supposed to dislike him for banning Harpers, I also know how fucking useless a Harper education actually is - thank you Menolly's series, so who the fuck cares.
I'm not, by nature, a villain apologist, so I'm sure we'll see some clarity later that "prosper" probably means something like the Holds being economically productive but the people are miserable. But we'll see.
And this...
As if there is an infection in the very winds that sweep the Northern Continent, others are challenging long-established ways. In Ista Hold, certainly one of the most conservative, a young man defies parental authority…
Oh, hey, a familiar face!
TORIC!
‘I don’t care if everyone else in the family have been happy on High Palisades Island for every generation since the First Record — I want to see what the mainland is like!’ Toric separated the last five words with emphatic thumps on the long kitchen table. His father, a Masterfisher, regarded him in shocked amazement that gradually turned to frozen anger as his second son openly — and in front of the younger children and the four apprentices — defied him. ‘There’s a lot more to Pern than this island and Ista!’
I appreciate that this seems to be an attempt by the narrative, or at least Robinton, to link Toric to Fax again. But as I pointed out in White Dragon, while you could read some similarities in the self-made aspect of both of their rise, Toric didn't need to murder or rape anyone (as far as we know) to take his power. There are considerable differences between them.
Anyway, Toric is eighteen years old apparently. And that's pretty interesting actually. That means he's only about twenty one by the time Jaxom is born. (We're seven years after the takeover of Ruatha, after all. So about three before Lessa and F'lar finally kill Fax. Thread will fall another four years later?
Anyway, Toric knows his dad has no intention of giving him his journeyman's badge as a fisher, so he's leaving. This leads to his dad telling him he'll have neither hall nor hold, and all men's hands will be turned against him. Toric, as we well know, isn't going to be cowed so easily. I love him. I'd read his book if he ever got one.
It does mean Sharra's probably quite a bit older than Jaxom. Good, I hope he chokes on it.
Now we get another transition, but this time, Fax isn't mentioned. It's another two years later though, which means we ought to be getting close to Fax's overthrow.
We're in Keroon - a woman is ranting about someone named Keita, who "filched a whole loaf of bread" - she's about to be exiled. The husband protests that it's winter, but the wife doesn't care. The "slut" is now holdless and won't get a recommendation from them.
We also get a ship making safe harbor. The third mate has apparently lost a foot (or two), so he's getting fired. He is at least getting his share of the loot, and apparently the Captain's tossing in a few "credits" extra. (What's a credit? The only money I remember seeing prior is Menolly's infamous coin.)
He IS willing to give the guy a recommendation though and has a brother who is a Portmaster who's supposed to help the dude recover and see what work is available in the Fort Holds. As exilers go, he seems a lot more likable than most.
But the guy's still getting fired. He's understandably bitter.
We're told that there's a lot of sudden rumors of Thread. Some folks blame Benden, but others scoff - Benden riders never show their face outside the mountain. This is pretty fascinating though, because most of the dragonriders themselves don't believe F'lar at all. Neither do the Lord Holders...but the common folk already know? How? What folk wisdom is out there?
We now pop in on a Lady Marella in Southern Boll. She's overseeing grove pickers, who are "prone to slack off if given any opportunity", well, gee, lady. I wonder why serfs with no real stake in what they produce are somewhat less than industrious.
The pickers are concerned about Thread rumors and ask for reassurance. Lady Marella is decisive: Lord Sangel has looked into it. Thread will not return. Ah, well...
Lady Marella doesn't seem that bad as lord-types go. She's willing to listen to their ideas about how to work faster, and wants the younger children to attend the harper and learn their traditional ballads. I suppose that's actually fairly good for McCaffrey - she usually likes to make the likable people inexplicably right about everything while the others are always wrong, even if they have no real reason to have an opinion one way or another. (See Audiva vs. Pona on going to the Red Star in Dragonsinger. Of course, Audiva is right.)
Marella though, while she doesn't believe in Thread, does seem concerned with the kids' learning, intends to implement reasonable improvement, and even orders that the man who made the suggestion get an extra mark for it. She seems like an actually decent person for her position!
The steward, on the other hand, is annoyed by Denol - the dude who made the suggestion (and was also very grateful to Marella for seeing to the kids' education) but doesn't catch him slacking off. Later, Denol asks if it's possible for his and his family to stay here. Apparently, pickers migrate and he's due next for Ruatha - but Denol doesn't want to go back there. Not with Fax in charge.
Hah, I'll bet.
Denol is worries about the Thread rumors though. He wants to settle down. The Steward is skeptical, but he does see to it that Denol is allowed to stay (helped, no doubt, by Denol slipping him the bonus mark. Hah.)
By the ninth Turn after Fax's takeover, the rumors are very well spread. There's also environmental trouble - Keroon has drought. Nerat is getting torrents. Telgar is having some collapsing mines. A lot of people are afraid of a Pass.
It really is fascinating to me that these peasants seem so certain when the Weyr itself didn't believe until practically the first Fall.
Some folks named Borgold and Ketrin are chatting about Thread. Ketrin is skeptical, but also pretty terrifed by the idea. Borgold seems quite practical, and wants to take precautions. He notes that "teh Amhold train" (seems to be a caravan of sorts) has served Holds since the very first Pass...whoa. And Thread didn't stop his ancestors.
WHOA. If one Interval is 200 years and a LONG Interval like between the Eighth and Ninth pass is 400 years. THAT's a LONG FUCKING TIME.
It is definitely interesting to get the point of view of someone who isn't a Holder though:
"Tain’t tripe!" Borgald replied, sticking his chin out defensively. "You’ll see. But don’t worry. I’ll still haul your supplies up from Keroon and Igen. I’ll be safe with my precautions. I’ll put thin metal sheets over our carts and shelter the animals in caves. Thread won’t score man nor beast in the Amhold train."
Ketrin shuddered as if he felt the hot score of Thread down his back.
"You holders," Borgald added with good-natured scorn, "you have it too easy. Thick walls and deep passages"—he gestured to the mighty prow of Telgar Hold — "make you soft and easily scared."
Maybe we've found the descendants of the Travelers?
Borgald does note that there'll be higher costs, which makes Ketrin laugh. He figures THAT's why Borgald is talking about this, and he's thus more certain Thread won't happen.
Ah, a Fax based time period again:
The next turn, F'lar kills Fax, brings back Lessa. The Lord Holder is happy about Fax's death but worried about the resurgence of Dragonriders. Apparently old longings and dreams have awakened.
We now see a "Lord Vincet" trying to get an artisan to reconsider. The artist, Perschar, admits that the terms offered are good, but he intends to move on. He needs "stimulation" more than "security" but he does flatter the lord by noting that he's been at this Hold longer than any other. The Lord Holder falls for the flattery and basically helps the guy leave. The Lord doesn't really understand: apparently the artist had it pretty swanky here: a full set of rooms, a workshop where he'd trained several talented students, a seat at the high table, THREE new suits of clothing/shoes/boots and a runner beast.
That does sound pretty good. We're in Nerat by the way.
--
Finally, in Telgar Hold, two turns later, Larad is trying to deal with his rebellious sister. Not Kylara, by the way. This one is Thella. Thella doesn't want to be married off. Apparently sexy willfullness runs in the family:
‘Derabal is not senile or snaggle-toothed, and at thirty-four he is scarcely old,’ Larad replied behind clenched teeth. Being a brother, even half-brother, he did not appreciate the defiant stance of her magnificently proportioned body, athletic and fit in her riding gear. To him, the high color in her cheeks, the flash of the hazel eyes, and the contemptuous curve of her sensuous mouth meant merely another stormy session with her. It did not help that she was within a half span of his own height, so that in the high-heeled long riding boots she preferred she was eye-to-eye with him. At that moment he would have liked to throttle her challenge and reduce her to compliance with the good beating that was long overdue. But Lord Holders did not thrash dependent kinswomen.
Hah, I like her already.
That said, apparently, she's beaten a drudge to death in the past, which their dad looked the other way on. Apparently lord Tarathel favored her, even over Larad.
Hm. Interesting. I would have assumed Larathel. The Ara naming trend for Larad and Kylara does seem to hold true. While Thella is clearly from the "Thel" part of the name. But doesn't Larad have a sister "Famira"? Maybe she has more of the mom's name.
Thella is apparently the first born, and her mother had given birth to her. Tarathel liked to see her defy convention. Apparently she even challenged Larad for right of Lord Holdership, since she's the first born. She was dismissed, of course. Hmph.
Now I really want to see the universe where Lessa got to rule Ruatha AND be a dragonrider.
I mean, I know with the drudge's death, that she's going to be a villain, but right now, I'm #TeamThella.
Anyway, Thella's not on board with the match. Larad, being a dick, physically manhandles her into her room and locks it. He does relent, the next day, and have food and drink brought to her (nice, dude. Hmph.) but there's no sign of her. Her gowns are left behind. Four runnerbeats (three already in foal - nice) are gone, as well as gear, jrouney food, and marks from his office.
Hah, nice.
Larad sends a younger half-sister (a sweet and biddable girl, who is happy to have a decent hold of her own, which makes me wonder why Larad didn't just send her to begin with) to Derabel and decides to wash his hands of it.
Lady Fira, a quiet voice in the Larad-Thella scene, is apparently more notable than she seems. She was a wife of Larad's dad - I presume Famira's mother, based on the name, and we're told she worried about Thella when Thread started to fall. That puts her a step above Menolly's parents!
She also, apparently, started hearing reports about peculiar thefts along the track that the carters used, and suspects Thella. Larad, on the other hand, persists in blaming "the holdless, the dissenters, those turned out of hold and hall for violent acts or robberies: the renegades of Pern."
I mean, I suppose Thella IS a renegade herself. But, for the first time, McCaffrey's actually managed to present an interesting villain. I'm intrigued on what she's going to do with her.
The prologue ends here.
Due to the fact that I've never read this book, the introduction will be short. I don't really know what to expect here. Hopefully it'll be fun though!
The introduction of the book is interesting actually. As usual, it's about a page of backstory: Third planet of the Rukbat star system in the Sagittarian Sector, et cetera and so forth.
Interestingly though, I feel like there's a little more of a science fiction tone here: mention of "mycorrhizoid organisms" and the backstory of creating the dragons has a bit more detail. We also get no mention of F'lar or Lessa or their particular deeds in this book. I'm a little sad about that. Give Lessa her recognition, darnit!
A closer look indicates that we might not be entirely caught up to modern Pern though. The last paragraph tells us that "one such long interval" is coming to a close, though there'll be a decade or two to go before another pass of the Red Star.
THAT's interesting. That means we might well be coinciding with that period of time that F'nor, Kylara, T'bor and Toric went back to in Dragonflight. Will we get to see them? Will we get to see Fax?!
--
The first paragraph of the Prologue doesn't QUITE answer that question. But it does tell us that right now, in the High Reaches, Fax is just beginning his territorial conquest.
This part of the story, though, takes place in "Lemos Hold". It is funny how Dragonsdawn gives a new context to the hold names. I suppose it makes sense that both Lemos and Nabol got Holds named after them: the men may not have gotten the recognition of that fucking rapist Sallah Telgar, but they DID go out trying to help the colonies.
Kinda curious as to how "Bitra Hold" got its name though.
I do get the sense that we're not necessarily supposed to like the inhabitants of this Hold though:
‘He’s here again,’ the woman said, peering out the dust-grimed window slit when she heard the clatter of hooves on the cobbles in front of the cothold. ‘I tol’ ya he’d come back. You’re for it now.’ There was a certain note of sly anticipation in her voice.
The slovenly man at the table glanced contemptuously in her direction. His belly was full, though he had grumbled with every mouthful that porridge was no dish to serve a grown man, and he had just decided to do a little fishing.
So anyway, the door of the hold is "vigorously pushed in" - which makes me wonder how that works, precisely, given that the Holds are literal caves, and the doors are meant to withstand Thread. Anyway, the room is suddenly full of "determined men" with shortswords at their belts.
McCaffrey is one of those authors that's really good at giving her narration a "tone", I think. Like look at this:
Uttering little shrieks of dismay, the woman flattened herself in the corner of the inner wall, oblivious to the clatter of pans and cups that spilled from the hanging cabinet. There's something about "little shrieks of dismay" that come across a lot more pathetically or cowardly than a single louder shriek of dismay would.
The man, Fellick, doesn't come across much braver, stammering excuses to the leader of the new arrivals< "Lord Gedenase". (Who has a black riding cloak that makes him look larger than life.) His voice has a "plaintive whine" as he claims they've nothing but boiled grains.
It does seem like these folks have some reason to whine though, since Lord Gedanese asserts that they've failed to tithe four times, despite the "generous help" of replacing moldy seed grain, tools and a draft animal. He orders them to get their belongings and get out.
Whoa. I suppose, since we're in the Long Interval, this isn't quite the death sentence it would be by, say, Menolly's time. But that's pretty harsh. Also, since Lemos was under the purview of Benden Weir, as I recall, they would have also had to pay a tithe to the dragonriders. Do they, then, pay both? Or do just the Lords pay the Weirs?
Just in case we're too sympathetic to these folks though, we get an instance of domestic abuse, as Fellick cuffs his sobbing wife and calls her a "stupid pig". It looks like Lord Gedanese already has a replacement in mind as there's a wagon drawn up near his empty beasthold, with a woman and children inside.
Under his breath he vowed vengeance on Lord Gedenase — and on all at Lemos Hold — for his humiliation. They would be sorry, they would! He would make every man jack of them sorry!
Interesting! This makes me wonder if Fellick is going to end up being more important than he seems. I'd assumed he was just there to establish Lord Gedenase's villainy, but this WOULD explain why he is presented so negatively, himself.
In fact, this might just be almost nuance, as neither Gedenase or Fellick seem like they're supposed to be likable or sympathetic here.
This prologue has a really interesting structure actually: separate little vignettes from different places, separated by news of what Fax is doing. We're given the update on Fax first: he's become Lord Holder of High Reaches, Crom, Nabol, Keogh, Balen, Riverbend, and Ruatha - gaining possession "by dint of marriage, murder or the ferocity of his marauders". I enjoy that alliteration. We're told Tillek, Fort and Boll have called in all able-bodied men.
Then were told that news was seeping slowly into more isolated holdings.
Here we meet Dowell. Dowell owns a mountainhold. Already he comes across a bit better than Fellick. We're told he always knows when visitors were on their way up the wagon track. It's noisy. Dowell, we're told, has been busy making a chair for Lord Kale at Ruatha. Ah. Yeah, that's a business deal apt to fall through.
He's a lot nicer to his wife, Barla, than Fellick was. And we're definitely getting to see their industriousness. Barla notes that she has fresh bread and berries for the messenger. It's not a subtle contrast. Dowell notes that there are a LOT of riders coming.
Indeed:
The visitors, ten or more men, brought their animals roughly to a halt in the clearing. One look at the unfamiliar sweaty faces and Barla stepped instinctively behind Dowell, wishing that her face was smudged with flour or soot.
The leader’s eyes narrowed, and his smile turned ugly. ‘You’re Dowell?’ The leader did not wait for a reply as he dismounted. ‘Search the place,’ he snapped over his shoulder.
Dowell’s fingers curled, wishing he had the plane still in his right hand, but he straightened his shoulders and sought his wife’s hand with his left. "I am Dowell. And you?"
"I’m from Ruatha Hold. Fax is now your Lord Holder."
So these folks are basically, immediately, ransacking the place. Barla's fear seems apt, as the leader pulls her away from her husband. Another man kinda, sorta, intervenes though:
"I wouldn’t, were I you, Tragger," someone said in a low voice. "You know Fax’s orders, and she’s already plowed for this year."
What does that mean? Fax doesn't seem the sort to mind a bit of rape when it comes to his followers.
Someone else tells the dude, Tragger, that there's no one else in the hold. They terrorize the poor folk a bit more, then leave. Barla and Dowell are pretty quick to put together what happened.
"They murdered him. I know it. That Fax! I heard about that jumped-up High Reacher. He married Lady Gemma, and it was an unpopular hurried wedding. That much the harpers said… quietly. They called him ambitious, ruthless." Barla shuddered at the thought. "Could he have murdered all in Ruatha Hold? His lady? Lessa and her brothers?" She turned scared eyes on him, her expression bleak.
Barla, by the way, is apparently a second cousin once removed of the line. AND she's pregnant...ahh, that explains the "already plowed" line. Not the other part though. They realize that they're probably on borrowed time.
OH. I get it. I seem to recall that there was a girl who talks to dragons in this book. After Brekke, I rolled my eyes at the idea, since McCaffrey seems to like to use that as short hand for "heroine" (though maybe that's unfair, Menolly could be annoyingly favored by the narrative without that. Jaxom too) - but I bet you ten to one, that we're meeting the girl's parents right now. She's probably the fetus in this scene, actually.
Oddly that annoys me a little less than Brekke inexplicably having the power does. This girl is at least related to Lessa. It makes sense that the ability would be inherited through more than one branch.
Anyway, they make their plans to leave.
Now we're told that it's five turns after Fax's "astounding coup", and Tillek still has their full complement of man at arms. The novelty has worn off though, and we're told that wrestling contests are frequent ways of keeping people fit and occupied, while giving entertainment.
Our central character in this part is a man named Dushik, who had just won his match, apparently by killing his opponent. Dushik claims it's an accident, recognizing how everyone's turned hostile against him, when they'd just been encouraging him and taunting him moments ago.
This is apparently the third time this has happened, which makes me a bit less sympathetic to the guy. One accident, fine, but by three...maybe you shouldn't drink and wrestle, dude.
Third time is third strike, apparently. That means he's getting exiled, not just from this Hold but basically ANY Hold. I'm vaguely surprised that Fax would hold to that same restriction, but maybe he's more judicious than I'd given him credit for. It'd be hard to keep his seat of power for ten years if he was in the habit of letting his men murder and rape everyone, I suppose.
Dushik, therefore, is kicked out.
--
SEVEN years after Fax's usurpation, we're told that everyone pretty much accepts it. Except Harper Hall of course.
The Masterharper, Robinton, has been hearing unsettling reports from his harpers that make him mistrust this uneasy peace. Fax is ambitious, and with all but Ruatha Hold prospering under his harsh management, it is entirely possible that he will look eastward, to the broad and fertile plains and the mines of Telgar. As if aware of Harper Hall scrutiny, Fax has begun to turn harpers out of his Holds and Halls for the most spurious reasons. Whatever teaching the harpers have provided, Fax says, the young will learn from his deputies. He has challenged authority — and succeeded. What will he challenge next?
...you know. I hate to say this. But, if everyone BUT Ruatha is prospering (and we know Ruatha isn't, because of Lessa's machinations - I love her)...is Fax really that bad a ruler?
I mean, the spousal abuse and implicit rape is bad, of course. But, well. We've seen a LOT of rapists in this series. F'lar himself was pretty fucking abusive in Dragonflight, though thankfully McCaffrey hasn't had him act like that since.
Is Jaxom better than Fax, if you think about it? He raped Corana and doesn't seem to have any real interest in his land. Larad and Kylara's dad apparently fucked everyone - MAYBE that was all consensual, but it does seem like Fax having a harem might not be that strange. Meron was pretty crap at Hold Management...
What I mean by this is, the Hold system is pretty much trash anyway. Life for women, in particular, is supposed to be bad enough that a lesser position in the Weir is worth sticking around for. No one cares if they're kidnapped, except for the insult to their Lords. Fax is a terrible person, no question, but if life is actually BETTER under his rule...
Also, while I know I'm supposed to dislike him for banning Harpers, I also know how fucking useless a Harper education actually is - thank you Menolly's series, so who the fuck cares.
I'm not, by nature, a villain apologist, so I'm sure we'll see some clarity later that "prosper" probably means something like the Holds being economically productive but the people are miserable. But we'll see.
And this...
As if there is an infection in the very winds that sweep the Northern Continent, others are challenging long-established ways. In Ista Hold, certainly one of the most conservative, a young man defies parental authority…
Oh, hey, a familiar face!
TORIC!
‘I don’t care if everyone else in the family have been happy on High Palisades Island for every generation since the First Record — I want to see what the mainland is like!’ Toric separated the last five words with emphatic thumps on the long kitchen table. His father, a Masterfisher, regarded him in shocked amazement that gradually turned to frozen anger as his second son openly — and in front of the younger children and the four apprentices — defied him. ‘There’s a lot more to Pern than this island and Ista!’
I appreciate that this seems to be an attempt by the narrative, or at least Robinton, to link Toric to Fax again. But as I pointed out in White Dragon, while you could read some similarities in the self-made aspect of both of their rise, Toric didn't need to murder or rape anyone (as far as we know) to take his power. There are considerable differences between them.
Anyway, Toric is eighteen years old apparently. And that's pretty interesting actually. That means he's only about twenty one by the time Jaxom is born. (We're seven years after the takeover of Ruatha, after all. So about three before Lessa and F'lar finally kill Fax. Thread will fall another four years later?
Anyway, Toric knows his dad has no intention of giving him his journeyman's badge as a fisher, so he's leaving. This leads to his dad telling him he'll have neither hall nor hold, and all men's hands will be turned against him. Toric, as we well know, isn't going to be cowed so easily. I love him. I'd read his book if he ever got one.
It does mean Sharra's probably quite a bit older than Jaxom. Good, I hope he chokes on it.
Now we get another transition, but this time, Fax isn't mentioned. It's another two years later though, which means we ought to be getting close to Fax's overthrow.
We're in Keroon - a woman is ranting about someone named Keita, who "filched a whole loaf of bread" - she's about to be exiled. The husband protests that it's winter, but the wife doesn't care. The "slut" is now holdless and won't get a recommendation from them.
We also get a ship making safe harbor. The third mate has apparently lost a foot (or two), so he's getting fired. He is at least getting his share of the loot, and apparently the Captain's tossing in a few "credits" extra. (What's a credit? The only money I remember seeing prior is Menolly's infamous coin.)
He IS willing to give the guy a recommendation though and has a brother who is a Portmaster who's supposed to help the dude recover and see what work is available in the Fort Holds. As exilers go, he seems a lot more likable than most.
But the guy's still getting fired. He's understandably bitter.
We're told that there's a lot of sudden rumors of Thread. Some folks blame Benden, but others scoff - Benden riders never show their face outside the mountain. This is pretty fascinating though, because most of the dragonriders themselves don't believe F'lar at all. Neither do the Lord Holders...but the common folk already know? How? What folk wisdom is out there?
We now pop in on a Lady Marella in Southern Boll. She's overseeing grove pickers, who are "prone to slack off if given any opportunity", well, gee, lady. I wonder why serfs with no real stake in what they produce are somewhat less than industrious.
The pickers are concerned about Thread rumors and ask for reassurance. Lady Marella is decisive: Lord Sangel has looked into it. Thread will not return. Ah, well...
Lady Marella doesn't seem that bad as lord-types go. She's willing to listen to their ideas about how to work faster, and wants the younger children to attend the harper and learn their traditional ballads. I suppose that's actually fairly good for McCaffrey - she usually likes to make the likable people inexplicably right about everything while the others are always wrong, even if they have no real reason to have an opinion one way or another. (See Audiva vs. Pona on going to the Red Star in Dragonsinger. Of course, Audiva is right.)
Marella though, while she doesn't believe in Thread, does seem concerned with the kids' learning, intends to implement reasonable improvement, and even orders that the man who made the suggestion get an extra mark for it. She seems like an actually decent person for her position!
The steward, on the other hand, is annoyed by Denol - the dude who made the suggestion (and was also very grateful to Marella for seeing to the kids' education) but doesn't catch him slacking off. Later, Denol asks if it's possible for his and his family to stay here. Apparently, pickers migrate and he's due next for Ruatha - but Denol doesn't want to go back there. Not with Fax in charge.
Hah, I'll bet.
Denol is worries about the Thread rumors though. He wants to settle down. The Steward is skeptical, but he does see to it that Denol is allowed to stay (helped, no doubt, by Denol slipping him the bonus mark. Hah.)
By the ninth Turn after Fax's takeover, the rumors are very well spread. There's also environmental trouble - Keroon has drought. Nerat is getting torrents. Telgar is having some collapsing mines. A lot of people are afraid of a Pass.
It really is fascinating to me that these peasants seem so certain when the Weyr itself didn't believe until practically the first Fall.
Some folks named Borgold and Ketrin are chatting about Thread. Ketrin is skeptical, but also pretty terrifed by the idea. Borgold seems quite practical, and wants to take precautions. He notes that "teh Amhold train" (seems to be a caravan of sorts) has served Holds since the very first Pass...whoa. And Thread didn't stop his ancestors.
WHOA. If one Interval is 200 years and a LONG Interval like between the Eighth and Ninth pass is 400 years. THAT's a LONG FUCKING TIME.
It is definitely interesting to get the point of view of someone who isn't a Holder though:
"Tain’t tripe!" Borgald replied, sticking his chin out defensively. "You’ll see. But don’t worry. I’ll still haul your supplies up from Keroon and Igen. I’ll be safe with my precautions. I’ll put thin metal sheets over our carts and shelter the animals in caves. Thread won’t score man nor beast in the Amhold train."
Ketrin shuddered as if he felt the hot score of Thread down his back.
"You holders," Borgald added with good-natured scorn, "you have it too easy. Thick walls and deep passages"—he gestured to the mighty prow of Telgar Hold — "make you soft and easily scared."
Maybe we've found the descendants of the Travelers?
Borgald does note that there'll be higher costs, which makes Ketrin laugh. He figures THAT's why Borgald is talking about this, and he's thus more certain Thread won't happen.
Ah, a Fax based time period again:
The next turn, F'lar kills Fax, brings back Lessa. The Lord Holder is happy about Fax's death but worried about the resurgence of Dragonriders. Apparently old longings and dreams have awakened.
We now see a "Lord Vincet" trying to get an artisan to reconsider. The artist, Perschar, admits that the terms offered are good, but he intends to move on. He needs "stimulation" more than "security" but he does flatter the lord by noting that he's been at this Hold longer than any other. The Lord Holder falls for the flattery and basically helps the guy leave. The Lord doesn't really understand: apparently the artist had it pretty swanky here: a full set of rooms, a workshop where he'd trained several talented students, a seat at the high table, THREE new suits of clothing/shoes/boots and a runner beast.
That does sound pretty good. We're in Nerat by the way.
--
Finally, in Telgar Hold, two turns later, Larad is trying to deal with his rebellious sister. Not Kylara, by the way. This one is Thella. Thella doesn't want to be married off. Apparently sexy willfullness runs in the family:
‘Derabal is not senile or snaggle-toothed, and at thirty-four he is scarcely old,’ Larad replied behind clenched teeth. Being a brother, even half-brother, he did not appreciate the defiant stance of her magnificently proportioned body, athletic and fit in her riding gear. To him, the high color in her cheeks, the flash of the hazel eyes, and the contemptuous curve of her sensuous mouth meant merely another stormy session with her. It did not help that she was within a half span of his own height, so that in the high-heeled long riding boots she preferred she was eye-to-eye with him. At that moment he would have liked to throttle her challenge and reduce her to compliance with the good beating that was long overdue. But Lord Holders did not thrash dependent kinswomen.
Hah, I like her already.
That said, apparently, she's beaten a drudge to death in the past, which their dad looked the other way on. Apparently lord Tarathel favored her, even over Larad.
Hm. Interesting. I would have assumed Larathel. The Ara naming trend for Larad and Kylara does seem to hold true. While Thella is clearly from the "Thel" part of the name. But doesn't Larad have a sister "Famira"? Maybe she has more of the mom's name.
Thella is apparently the first born, and her mother had given birth to her. Tarathel liked to see her defy convention. Apparently she even challenged Larad for right of Lord Holdership, since she's the first born. She was dismissed, of course. Hmph.
Now I really want to see the universe where Lessa got to rule Ruatha AND be a dragonrider.
I mean, I know with the drudge's death, that she's going to be a villain, but right now, I'm #TeamThella.
Anyway, Thella's not on board with the match. Larad, being a dick, physically manhandles her into her room and locks it. He does relent, the next day, and have food and drink brought to her (nice, dude. Hmph.) but there's no sign of her. Her gowns are left behind. Four runnerbeats (three already in foal - nice) are gone, as well as gear, jrouney food, and marks from his office.
Hah, nice.
Larad sends a younger half-sister (a sweet and biddable girl, who is happy to have a decent hold of her own, which makes me wonder why Larad didn't just send her to begin with) to Derabel and decides to wash his hands of it.
Lady Fira, a quiet voice in the Larad-Thella scene, is apparently more notable than she seems. She was a wife of Larad's dad - I presume Famira's mother, based on the name, and we're told she worried about Thella when Thread started to fall. That puts her a step above Menolly's parents!
She also, apparently, started hearing reports about peculiar thefts along the track that the carters used, and suspects Thella. Larad, on the other hand, persists in blaming "the holdless, the dissenters, those turned out of hold and hall for violent acts or robberies: the renegades of Pern."
I mean, I suppose Thella IS a renegade herself. But, for the first time, McCaffrey's actually managed to present an interesting villain. I'm intrigued on what she's going to do with her.
The prologue ends here.
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(Anonymous) 2023-12-06 07:26 pm (UTC)(link)= Multi-Facets.
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A "mark" and a "credit" are the same thing. In the Harper Hall trilogy, it's mentioned that marks are used for trading and that ones from certain holds are valued more than others. In the Dragonlover's Guide, it's explained that each hold issues marks with their badge on it - the badge being the heraldic emblem of a particular hold/craft/weyr - that are used for trading and as a form of cash. Pre-Fax, those of Ruatha were valuable, post-Fax, Benden Hold's were. It seems to be related to how the Lord/Mastercrafter/Weyrleader honors them. Not fully sure how it works as a payment method, but there you go.
Tithes - The small holders tithe a certain percentage of their corps to the Lord Holder of the hold they are "beholden" to... and then the Lord Holder does an accounting of everything and tithes a certain percentage of that to the weyr that protects them. It reminds me a bit of a cross between a feudal estate and sharecropping. The smallholders get protection, support - ie. seeds, replacement animals, traveling harpers and healers - from the Lord Holder in return for the tithe that they give the Lord. The main difference is that the small holders have the right to change the alligence of their hold whenever they wish. It is more common for that to happen in a "border region" between two holds than closer in. Also, as you saw, if a small holder fails to tithe for a certain period of time, then the Lord can "turn them out" and replace them. If they feel they were wrongly removed from the hold, then can appeal to the Harper Hall for arbitration. "Cot Holders" are usually people who work in the main hold but live in smaller stone built structures close by the main doors to the hold... the woman who plays "house mother" to the female paying students at the Harper Hall in Menolly's books is a "cot holder."
The Armhold Train - like the Lilcamp Train you'll come across later in this book - are indeed the descendants of the Travellers and "like-minded folk" who as the people began to spread out across the Northern Continent took up moving goods from one side of the place to the other so as to "ease the burden on the dragonriders" so they could concentrate on dealing with Threadfall. The original trading caravans soon ended up being called trains often named after the leader of the train who was generally the descendant of the founder and/or of the same bloodline.
As to the "Pickers" that are referenced, I think, they are just traveling migrant workers - more industrious than most of the "holdless" - than the people who were come to know as the Renegades. I always thought of the Pickers as the Pernese version of the migrant farm workers in the US; the Holdless as the Homeless population; and the Renegades as a sort of roving criminal gang. Best I can do without giving things away later.
The short stories are collected in Chronicles of Pern: First Fall which has four "early" stories about the initial settlement of Pern and the First Pass. A Gift of Dragons has four stories mostly set around the Ninth Pass. I think the hardest stoies to find are "Beyond Between" (from Legends II) which is a very depressing story - I can give you a summary if you want it - and "The Impression" which is only found in the Dragonlover's Guide to Pern. However, that's where all of them are if you decide to go looking for them.
And, once again, sorry for the lengthy ramble there! Honest.
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I'll keep an eye out for the short stories! I actually have read Beyond Between (as well as Honeymoon, the decidedly depressing epilogue for Ship Who Sang!), funnily enough. Not sure of the others though!