Dragonsong - Chapter Five
Nov. 22nd, 2019 10:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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i_read_whatSo last time on Dragonsong, Menolly went a wandering and helped save some fire lizard eggs. I wonder if those will become significant later.
So we rejoin Menolly as she gets back to the hold. The narrative quickly reminds us that our protagonist is a teenager by telling us that "No one, as usual" noticed her when she got back. Hah.
When she goes to report to the harbormaster, he tells her that Thread is due "any day now". Mostly though she's wrapped up in the whole fire lizard experience. She's realizing that the fire lizards, like dragons, clearly see into the hearts and minds of people. She wonders at the queen's ability to hear her, since dragons apparently only hear their riders. (I kind of wish Menolly had gotten the chance to meet Mnementh. He'd have dispelled her of that notion. Mnementh doesn't give a fuck.)
She wonders about fire lizard lifespans, whether they'd be longer than a dragon, since dragons only live as long as their riders. You know, that's a damn good question. How long would an unImpressed dragons live?
I like this part because we get to see Menolly's observational skills at work. I keep joking about how she basically make's F'nor's one contribution from Dragonquest worthless. She doesn't know they can Impress, but she's already made a lot of useful analyses. WITHOUT having any background experience with dragons.
The next morning, Menolly's hand is particularly achy and the weather is bad. Worse, because everyone's doing chores inside all day, the Harper was probably going to play for them. This is a sore point for Menolly because of her injury. Worse, even though she tries to console herself by the fact that she can still sing along, Mavi pinches her and tells her that she may sing softly as befits a girl her age, or not sing at all. (In contrast, Sella gets to sing badly and loudly. But Menolly gets pinched when she tries to argue.) So Menolly doesn't sing at all. She ends up leaving, upset. (We're told that the people who see her leave think it's a shame that she hurt her hand and doesn't want to sing anymore.)
Being fifteen (and having crappy parents), Menolly starts making mountains out of molehills. Being admittedly unfairly forced to sing softly becomes no one wants to hear her sing at all, becomes I should go away in the morning to see the fire lizards because they like my singing!
To avoid punishment, she takes her sleeping furs and some clothes to one of the unused caves. I feel like that probably wouldn't stop her mom if she actually wanted to find her, but it works. The next morning, Menolly wakes up first, grabs some bread and opens the big metal doors of the Hold. I think this is the first we've heard about how the Holds actually seal themselves off. I wonder where they get the metal.
So anyway, the doors are really big and heavy and Menolly doesn't have a way to bar them again. Leaving the doors unbarred is a pretty big deal, safety wise, but she's focused on her goal. Happily the tide is right to catch "spiderclaws" which she intends to offer to the fire lizard queen. Later she thinks about how no one is likely to notice her gone until there's some unpleasant or tedious job to do, so they're not likely to blame her for the open doors. She might not be even noticed until evening. This thought makes Menolly realize that she had no intention of going home.
So Menolly spends a lot of time thinking about this. The revolutionary freedom of no chores/being able to sing when she wants vs. where to sleep. Also, there's Thread. And she's had it drilled into her that everyone had to be inside at night. There's an interesting bit here where Menolly remembers vaguely things being different: caravans of traders, lots of singing and feasting, but that was before Thread fell.
I'm reminded of F'lar's unexpected sympathy for T'ron having lived a life that had Thread and nothing else. The adults of modern Pern remember more, of course. But then we see children like Menolly whose memories are mostly of Thread. That'll probably be true for any children she has as well. Until the pass is over. I wonder which would be worse: being one of the adults who remember better or being one of the kids who don't.
Speaking of Thread, there's a pretty big damper on Menolly's plans: a gray...or silver...smudge on the horizon. Menolly realizes that she's too far from the Hold. And soon they're going to bar the doors. And no one will come for her if they notice she's gone. She runs for the cliffs, but realizes part way there that the queen's ledge isn't big enough for her. She considers the sea, but she wouldn't be able to keep under water for the time it takes Thread to pass. She sees flashes in the spreading gray cloud: dragons fighting thread.
Menolly hears a sound and realizes the cliff is hollow. She goes back to where she helped hide the eggs the other day with the intention of widening the entry. She has trouble though when she hits an outcropping. She can't get passed with her shoulders, but figures out she can go in feet first and get in most of the way. Her head is exposed, but covered by the cliff overhang. Menolly wonders if Thread sees where it's going and if it would notice her in her hole as it flashed by. Which is another interesting question: How sentient is Thread? She ends up having to go back for her sack of spiderclaws, which leads to a minor disaster which collapses part of the ledge. On the plus side, there is now a much bigger cave for Menolly to hide in.
Inside the cave are a LOT of fire lizards, who are focused on the mound of eggs and making a thrumming noise. The eggs are hatching. The first born is a brown which takes off toward the sea. More hatch and fly for the opening. But the timing is very bad. When one blue one hatches and exits, he gets immediately enveloped by Thread. He goes between. Poor little blue.
Menolly frantically tries to prevent the rest from leaving. She begs adult lizards to help, but they don't seem to understand. There's a weird bit where McCaffrey tries to explain what doesn't need to be explained:
The thrill of being the witness to a Hatching of fire lizards gave way to horror. Dragons had to be protected because they protected Pern. In Menolly’s fear and confusion, the little fire lizards were linked to their giant counterparts.
I think it's fine to just not want to see creatures die. We don't need the dragon connection here. Anyway, the lizards won't help, so she keeps trying to turn the babies around. She starts getting overwhelmed with the feeling of extreme hunger, which she realizes comes from the lizards. She remembers hearing that dragons had to eat immediately, and she starts feeding them from her pack. They're still hungry, but they're at least staying inside. And the heretofore useless adults are now nuzzling and stroking them.
Menolly is exhausted, watching their antics. She notices that the Thread seems to be no longer falling, and the queen and her clutch dart outside, the babies awkwardly following, leaving Menolly behind. She eats some of the bread we saw her pocket at breakfast (I hadn't mentioned that, but it was mentioned), with guilt, because she'd forgotten about it during the chaos. Then she goes to sleep.
So we're finally at the fun part. This is the part I remember best from the books as a kid. I'm pretty sure it's the part everyone remembers best. Menolly and the fire lizards!
In fairness, I don't think it actually took that long to get here. The downside of chapter by chapter reviews is that it kind of wrecks the pacing. Similarly with Crystal Shard. If you're reading straight through, the many MANY villain chapters aren't quite as grating. But anyway, this is the part everyone skips to on reread. It's much more fun.
I think Ms. McCaffrey has a knack for writing teenagers. Menolly is a practical girl, but she's still a kid and it shows. Both here and in previous chapters, we've seen a tendency toward feeling persecuted. And some of that does have merit, given her parents' unfair treatment of her. But she interprets it as being a widespread dislike of her/discouragement of her abilities. She often assumes that she's being punished for things that the others legitimately forgot about. (Sometimes an unpleasant chore is just an unpleasant chore). And she does get to act selfishly sometimes: she's focused on her own needs and wants. She doesn't generally spare much if any empathy toward people like Old Uncle or Sella. And I like that actually. I like that Menolly isn't perfect.
Menolly isn't a collection of virtues wrapped up in a dress. She feels "real" and I like her much more for that.
Next time: wilderness survival and fire lizards!
So we rejoin Menolly as she gets back to the hold. The narrative quickly reminds us that our protagonist is a teenager by telling us that "No one, as usual" noticed her when she got back. Hah.
When she goes to report to the harbormaster, he tells her that Thread is due "any day now". Mostly though she's wrapped up in the whole fire lizard experience. She's realizing that the fire lizards, like dragons, clearly see into the hearts and minds of people. She wonders at the queen's ability to hear her, since dragons apparently only hear their riders. (I kind of wish Menolly had gotten the chance to meet Mnementh. He'd have dispelled her of that notion. Mnementh doesn't give a fuck.)
She wonders about fire lizard lifespans, whether they'd be longer than a dragon, since dragons only live as long as their riders. You know, that's a damn good question. How long would an unImpressed dragons live?
I like this part because we get to see Menolly's observational skills at work. I keep joking about how she basically make's F'nor's one contribution from Dragonquest worthless. She doesn't know they can Impress, but she's already made a lot of useful analyses. WITHOUT having any background experience with dragons.
The next morning, Menolly's hand is particularly achy and the weather is bad. Worse, because everyone's doing chores inside all day, the Harper was probably going to play for them. This is a sore point for Menolly because of her injury. Worse, even though she tries to console herself by the fact that she can still sing along, Mavi pinches her and tells her that she may sing softly as befits a girl her age, or not sing at all. (In contrast, Sella gets to sing badly and loudly. But Menolly gets pinched when she tries to argue.) So Menolly doesn't sing at all. She ends up leaving, upset. (We're told that the people who see her leave think it's a shame that she hurt her hand and doesn't want to sing anymore.)
Being fifteen (and having crappy parents), Menolly starts making mountains out of molehills. Being admittedly unfairly forced to sing softly becomes no one wants to hear her sing at all, becomes I should go away in the morning to see the fire lizards because they like my singing!
To avoid punishment, she takes her sleeping furs and some clothes to one of the unused caves. I feel like that probably wouldn't stop her mom if she actually wanted to find her, but it works. The next morning, Menolly wakes up first, grabs some bread and opens the big metal doors of the Hold. I think this is the first we've heard about how the Holds actually seal themselves off. I wonder where they get the metal.
So anyway, the doors are really big and heavy and Menolly doesn't have a way to bar them again. Leaving the doors unbarred is a pretty big deal, safety wise, but she's focused on her goal. Happily the tide is right to catch "spiderclaws" which she intends to offer to the fire lizard queen. Later she thinks about how no one is likely to notice her gone until there's some unpleasant or tedious job to do, so they're not likely to blame her for the open doors. She might not be even noticed until evening. This thought makes Menolly realize that she had no intention of going home.
So Menolly spends a lot of time thinking about this. The revolutionary freedom of no chores/being able to sing when she wants vs. where to sleep. Also, there's Thread. And she's had it drilled into her that everyone had to be inside at night. There's an interesting bit here where Menolly remembers vaguely things being different: caravans of traders, lots of singing and feasting, but that was before Thread fell.
I'm reminded of F'lar's unexpected sympathy for T'ron having lived a life that had Thread and nothing else. The adults of modern Pern remember more, of course. But then we see children like Menolly whose memories are mostly of Thread. That'll probably be true for any children she has as well. Until the pass is over. I wonder which would be worse: being one of the adults who remember better or being one of the kids who don't.
Speaking of Thread, there's a pretty big damper on Menolly's plans: a gray...or silver...smudge on the horizon. Menolly realizes that she's too far from the Hold. And soon they're going to bar the doors. And no one will come for her if they notice she's gone. She runs for the cliffs, but realizes part way there that the queen's ledge isn't big enough for her. She considers the sea, but she wouldn't be able to keep under water for the time it takes Thread to pass. She sees flashes in the spreading gray cloud: dragons fighting thread.
Menolly hears a sound and realizes the cliff is hollow. She goes back to where she helped hide the eggs the other day with the intention of widening the entry. She has trouble though when she hits an outcropping. She can't get passed with her shoulders, but figures out she can go in feet first and get in most of the way. Her head is exposed, but covered by the cliff overhang. Menolly wonders if Thread sees where it's going and if it would notice her in her hole as it flashed by. Which is another interesting question: How sentient is Thread? She ends up having to go back for her sack of spiderclaws, which leads to a minor disaster which collapses part of the ledge. On the plus side, there is now a much bigger cave for Menolly to hide in.
Inside the cave are a LOT of fire lizards, who are focused on the mound of eggs and making a thrumming noise. The eggs are hatching. The first born is a brown which takes off toward the sea. More hatch and fly for the opening. But the timing is very bad. When one blue one hatches and exits, he gets immediately enveloped by Thread. He goes between. Poor little blue.
Menolly frantically tries to prevent the rest from leaving. She begs adult lizards to help, but they don't seem to understand. There's a weird bit where McCaffrey tries to explain what doesn't need to be explained:
The thrill of being the witness to a Hatching of fire lizards gave way to horror. Dragons had to be protected because they protected Pern. In Menolly’s fear and confusion, the little fire lizards were linked to their giant counterparts.
I think it's fine to just not want to see creatures die. We don't need the dragon connection here. Anyway, the lizards won't help, so she keeps trying to turn the babies around. She starts getting overwhelmed with the feeling of extreme hunger, which she realizes comes from the lizards. She remembers hearing that dragons had to eat immediately, and she starts feeding them from her pack. They're still hungry, but they're at least staying inside. And the heretofore useless adults are now nuzzling and stroking them.
Menolly is exhausted, watching their antics. She notices that the Thread seems to be no longer falling, and the queen and her clutch dart outside, the babies awkwardly following, leaving Menolly behind. She eats some of the bread we saw her pocket at breakfast (I hadn't mentioned that, but it was mentioned), with guilt, because she'd forgotten about it during the chaos. Then she goes to sleep.
So we're finally at the fun part. This is the part I remember best from the books as a kid. I'm pretty sure it's the part everyone remembers best. Menolly and the fire lizards!
In fairness, I don't think it actually took that long to get here. The downside of chapter by chapter reviews is that it kind of wrecks the pacing. Similarly with Crystal Shard. If you're reading straight through, the many MANY villain chapters aren't quite as grating. But anyway, this is the part everyone skips to on reread. It's much more fun.
I think Ms. McCaffrey has a knack for writing teenagers. Menolly is a practical girl, but she's still a kid and it shows. Both here and in previous chapters, we've seen a tendency toward feeling persecuted. And some of that does have merit, given her parents' unfair treatment of her. But she interprets it as being a widespread dislike of her/discouragement of her abilities. She often assumes that she's being punished for things that the others legitimately forgot about. (Sometimes an unpleasant chore is just an unpleasant chore). And she does get to act selfishly sometimes: she's focused on her own needs and wants. She doesn't generally spare much if any empathy toward people like Old Uncle or Sella. And I like that actually. I like that Menolly isn't perfect.
Menolly isn't a collection of virtues wrapped up in a dress. She feels "real" and I like her much more for that.
Next time: wilderness survival and fire lizards!
no subject
Date: 2019-11-23 08:55 pm (UTC)And like you I really love Menolly being a teenager that feels very real. She's observant and compassionate and prone to feeling persecuted and decides to run away from home for not particularly good reasons, and it's all so good.
no subject
Date: 2019-11-23 09:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-09-21 12:57 am (UTC)Except for the scene of Menolly trying to keep the fire lizards from going out into Threadfall.
no subject
Date: 2024-09-21 01:54 am (UTC)