Dragondrums - Chapter Two
Apr. 10th, 2021 12:42 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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i_read_whatSo last time, Piemur suffered an inevitable personal setback and got a new job offer. Robinton and Menolly actually behaved like sympathetic people, and aside from some residual negativity from prior books, I don't actually dislike anyone yet.
We rejoin Piemur, who is understandably jubilant. It's a big deal to be working for Robinton, even indirectly, and being apprenticed to Olodkey is of comparable prestige to his old position. Piemur explains to us that while he'd been Shonagar's special apprentice, Shonagar also taught every singer in the Hall. Olodkey, on the other hand, has only about ten people looking to him: four apprentices, all senior types, five journeymen and now Piemur. As he sees it, he's in an exclusive group.
He skittered down the steps, balancing the tray deftly. Maybe, once he'd proved to the Masterharper that he could keep his mouth sealed... And Master Robinton was wrong to think that any could extract information from Piemur that Piemur didn't care to divulge. Nothing pleased Piemur more than 'knowing'. He didn't necessarily have to show off to other people how much he 'knew'.
The fact that he, Piemur, an insignificant herdsman's son from Crom, knew, was sufficient.
The class element here is an interesting aspect that we didn't see in Menolly's stories. Of course, disgraced or not, Menolly is still the daughter of a Lord Holder. The female students, who pay for the privilege of studying at Harper Hall, are all aristocratic. (What happens to the peasant girls? What opportunity do THEY have, Robinton?)
I also have to compliment Ms. McCaffrey, because I can easily see where a problem might arise here. But more on that later.
Piemur starts thinking about the Southern Continent. He wishes he hadn't been so brash in mentioning it, but feels vindicated by their responses. He figures that Sebell, and possibly Menolly, have already been south.
If they'd gone, then the Harper needn't risk the trip with such eyes and ears to do the hard work.
...I mean, yes, that's how delegation works. I still hate though that Robinton is called "the Harper" when it's supposed to be a whole group of people. I know Robinton is the only one that really matters, McCaffrey, but you don't have to make that so obvious.
And okay, this offends me:
Piemur hadn't had much to do with the Oldtimers before F'lar had ordered them exiled to the Southern Continent. For this he was fervently grateful as he'd heard enough about their arrogance and greed. But if he, Piemur, had been exiled, he wouldn't have just stayed put. He ouldn't understand why the Oldtimers had quietly accepted their humiliating dismissal. Piemur calculated that some two hundred and forty-eight Oldtimers and their women had gone to the Southern Continent, including the two dissatisfied Weyrleaders, T'ron of Port and T'kul of the High Reaches. Seventeen Oldtimers had returned north, accepting Benden as their leader or so Piemur had heard. Most of the exiled men and dragons had been well on in Turns, so they were no real loss to the dragon strength of Pern. Old age and sickness had claimed almost forty dragons in the first Turn, and almost as many had gone between this Turn. Somehow that struck Piemur as being rather careless of dragons, even Oldtimer ones.
Why are we getting more substantial information about the Oldtimers and their exile in the fucking side trilogy than we ever got in White Dragon, the book that was supposed to conclude the original trilogy??
Why does a fourteen year old have a better grasp of politics and current events than the fucking grown heir of Ruatha?
Also, I'm not a big fan of that "and their women" bit, like the women don't count, but I'm not going to hold that against Piemur. Pern's a sexist society and he's a kid.
Piemur is distracted by the smell of "bubbly berry pies". He's disheartened to hear Silvina's voice in the kitchen, because he can usually swindle some pies out of Abuna with no trouble. But Silvina isn't often taken in by his schemes.
Probably because she's never actually doing her job, if Dragonsinger is any indication. Sorry, sorry.
But hell, Piemur HAS just gone through a genuine setback, so why not make it work for him. He starts off pretending to be upset, forcing tears into his eyes. But genuine disappointment does creep in when he thinks about how he won't be able to sing Domick's music. He also thinks that women's voices don't change, so she couldn't possibly imagine his feelings of loss and crushing disappointment.
Have I mentioned how much I enjoy that Piemur gets to be unashamedly petty and childish? Because I really do. He's a kid. He's allowed to be sulky and selfish, as long as he's not malicious or mean. And I am very happy for him that Silvina does end up giving him two of the pies.
Piemur brings up his need for wherhide, and Silvina seems to have an idea that he's not just going to be learning drum patterns. (Honestly, her observation and cleverness here just makes her look worse in Dragonsinger.) They end up going to the storerooms, where Piemur gets kitted out.
The jacket fit, the stiff new leather bucking against his thighs as he pranced about, swinging his arms to make the shoulders settle. It was long in the body, but Silvina was pleased: he'd need the length. Fitting him with new boots showed her how ragged his trousers were, so she found him two new pairs, one in harper blue and the other in a deep gray leather. Two shirts with sleeves too long, but which no doubt would fit him perfectly by midwinter, a hat to keep his ears warm and his eyes shaded, and heavy riding gloves with down-lined fingers.
...I love that she only now realizes how ragged the apprentice's clothes are. You are terrible at your job, Silvina.
Piemur shamelessly preens and enjoys his new clothes for the rest of the morning. At some point, he notices that the rehearsal has let out and a displeased Domick is leading a downcast Tilgin (Piemur's understudy/replacement) to Shonagar. Piemur grins, thinking about how he'd warned Tilgin to study the part, but is also upset again, since he'd actually really been looking forward to singing Lessa's part, and had hoped to win her notice that way.
Ah well, there were more ways of skinning a herdbeast than shaving him with a table-knife.
Heh. I always enjoy when authors take recognizable sayings and try to adapt them to science fiction or fantasy settings. This one seems a little cumbersome though. You'd think Harpers could make it pithier.
I like this bit too:
A shame really. Lessa's melody was the loveliest Domick had ever written. It had so suited his range. Once again a lump pushed up in his throat at the sadness of the lost opportunity. And probably a Turn before he could try to sing again. Nor was there a guarantee that he'd have anywhere near as good a singing voice as an adult as he'd had as a boy. None at all. He'd miss being able to astonish people with the pure tone he could produce, the marvelous flexibility, the perfect sense of pitch and timing, not to mention his particularly acute skill at note-reading.
Aw. Poor kid.
Piemur notices that his reflections are getting him attention. Everyone seems very worried about him, so he decides to play it up: eating lightly, feigning dejected indifference, and by the time the pies come out for desert, his friends all contribute one of theirs to cheer him up. He gets EIGHT. Hah, good show!
Then comes the announcements. Piemur is preparing to hear his own name. He's got to pretend to be surprised, of course, since he just used his dejected sorrow to wheedle pie from his friends. But then he's distracted by the announcement that a journeyman named Sherris has been assigned to Master Shonagar.
Interestingly, that makes Piemur so furious that he doesn't even hear his own name and assignment. His friends have to stop him from interrupting the announcements even. He's thinking that there are a few truths Master Shonagar ought to know about the guy.
But his friends call his attention back to his own news. And apparently not everyone is happy about that:
Bonz's elbow suddenly digging into his ribs alerted him, and there was Dirzan, Master Olodkey's senior journeyman, staring down at them, fists against his belt, a wary and disapproving expression on his weathered face.
“So we get saddled with you, eh, Piemur? I'll tell you this, you watch your step with our Master. Quickest man in the world with a drumstick, and he doesn't always use it on the drums!” He eyed Piemur significantly and then, with a sharp gesture, indicated that Piemur should follow him.
The chapter ends with this somewhat ominous note.
But really, I want to know what the fuck is going on with Sherris!
We rejoin Piemur, who is understandably jubilant. It's a big deal to be working for Robinton, even indirectly, and being apprenticed to Olodkey is of comparable prestige to his old position. Piemur explains to us that while he'd been Shonagar's special apprentice, Shonagar also taught every singer in the Hall. Olodkey, on the other hand, has only about ten people looking to him: four apprentices, all senior types, five journeymen and now Piemur. As he sees it, he's in an exclusive group.
He skittered down the steps, balancing the tray deftly. Maybe, once he'd proved to the Masterharper that he could keep his mouth sealed... And Master Robinton was wrong to think that any could extract information from Piemur that Piemur didn't care to divulge. Nothing pleased Piemur more than 'knowing'. He didn't necessarily have to show off to other people how much he 'knew'.
The fact that he, Piemur, an insignificant herdsman's son from Crom, knew, was sufficient.
The class element here is an interesting aspect that we didn't see in Menolly's stories. Of course, disgraced or not, Menolly is still the daughter of a Lord Holder. The female students, who pay for the privilege of studying at Harper Hall, are all aristocratic. (What happens to the peasant girls? What opportunity do THEY have, Robinton?)
I also have to compliment Ms. McCaffrey, because I can easily see where a problem might arise here. But more on that later.
Piemur starts thinking about the Southern Continent. He wishes he hadn't been so brash in mentioning it, but feels vindicated by their responses. He figures that Sebell, and possibly Menolly, have already been south.
If they'd gone, then the Harper needn't risk the trip with such eyes and ears to do the hard work.
...I mean, yes, that's how delegation works. I still hate though that Robinton is called "the Harper" when it's supposed to be a whole group of people. I know Robinton is the only one that really matters, McCaffrey, but you don't have to make that so obvious.
And okay, this offends me:
Piemur hadn't had much to do with the Oldtimers before F'lar had ordered them exiled to the Southern Continent. For this he was fervently grateful as he'd heard enough about their arrogance and greed. But if he, Piemur, had been exiled, he wouldn't have just stayed put. He ouldn't understand why the Oldtimers had quietly accepted their humiliating dismissal. Piemur calculated that some two hundred and forty-eight Oldtimers and their women had gone to the Southern Continent, including the two dissatisfied Weyrleaders, T'ron of Port and T'kul of the High Reaches. Seventeen Oldtimers had returned north, accepting Benden as their leader or so Piemur had heard. Most of the exiled men and dragons had been well on in Turns, so they were no real loss to the dragon strength of Pern. Old age and sickness had claimed almost forty dragons in the first Turn, and almost as many had gone between this Turn. Somehow that struck Piemur as being rather careless of dragons, even Oldtimer ones.
Why are we getting more substantial information about the Oldtimers and their exile in the fucking side trilogy than we ever got in White Dragon, the book that was supposed to conclude the original trilogy??
Why does a fourteen year old have a better grasp of politics and current events than the fucking grown heir of Ruatha?
Also, I'm not a big fan of that "and their women" bit, like the women don't count, but I'm not going to hold that against Piemur. Pern's a sexist society and he's a kid.
Piemur is distracted by the smell of "bubbly berry pies". He's disheartened to hear Silvina's voice in the kitchen, because he can usually swindle some pies out of Abuna with no trouble. But Silvina isn't often taken in by his schemes.
Probably because she's never actually doing her job, if Dragonsinger is any indication. Sorry, sorry.
But hell, Piemur HAS just gone through a genuine setback, so why not make it work for him. He starts off pretending to be upset, forcing tears into his eyes. But genuine disappointment does creep in when he thinks about how he won't be able to sing Domick's music. He also thinks that women's voices don't change, so she couldn't possibly imagine his feelings of loss and crushing disappointment.
Have I mentioned how much I enjoy that Piemur gets to be unashamedly petty and childish? Because I really do. He's a kid. He's allowed to be sulky and selfish, as long as he's not malicious or mean. And I am very happy for him that Silvina does end up giving him two of the pies.
Piemur brings up his need for wherhide, and Silvina seems to have an idea that he's not just going to be learning drum patterns. (Honestly, her observation and cleverness here just makes her look worse in Dragonsinger.) They end up going to the storerooms, where Piemur gets kitted out.
The jacket fit, the stiff new leather bucking against his thighs as he pranced about, swinging his arms to make the shoulders settle. It was long in the body, but Silvina was pleased: he'd need the length. Fitting him with new boots showed her how ragged his trousers were, so she found him two new pairs, one in harper blue and the other in a deep gray leather. Two shirts with sleeves too long, but which no doubt would fit him perfectly by midwinter, a hat to keep his ears warm and his eyes shaded, and heavy riding gloves with down-lined fingers.
...I love that she only now realizes how ragged the apprentice's clothes are. You are terrible at your job, Silvina.
Piemur shamelessly preens and enjoys his new clothes for the rest of the morning. At some point, he notices that the rehearsal has let out and a displeased Domick is leading a downcast Tilgin (Piemur's understudy/replacement) to Shonagar. Piemur grins, thinking about how he'd warned Tilgin to study the part, but is also upset again, since he'd actually really been looking forward to singing Lessa's part, and had hoped to win her notice that way.
Ah well, there were more ways of skinning a herdbeast than shaving him with a table-knife.
Heh. I always enjoy when authors take recognizable sayings and try to adapt them to science fiction or fantasy settings. This one seems a little cumbersome though. You'd think Harpers could make it pithier.
I like this bit too:
A shame really. Lessa's melody was the loveliest Domick had ever written. It had so suited his range. Once again a lump pushed up in his throat at the sadness of the lost opportunity. And probably a Turn before he could try to sing again. Nor was there a guarantee that he'd have anywhere near as good a singing voice as an adult as he'd had as a boy. None at all. He'd miss being able to astonish people with the pure tone he could produce, the marvelous flexibility, the perfect sense of pitch and timing, not to mention his particularly acute skill at note-reading.
Aw. Poor kid.
Piemur notices that his reflections are getting him attention. Everyone seems very worried about him, so he decides to play it up: eating lightly, feigning dejected indifference, and by the time the pies come out for desert, his friends all contribute one of theirs to cheer him up. He gets EIGHT. Hah, good show!
Then comes the announcements. Piemur is preparing to hear his own name. He's got to pretend to be surprised, of course, since he just used his dejected sorrow to wheedle pie from his friends. But then he's distracted by the announcement that a journeyman named Sherris has been assigned to Master Shonagar.
Interestingly, that makes Piemur so furious that he doesn't even hear his own name and assignment. His friends have to stop him from interrupting the announcements even. He's thinking that there are a few truths Master Shonagar ought to know about the guy.
But his friends call his attention back to his own news. And apparently not everyone is happy about that:
Bonz's elbow suddenly digging into his ribs alerted him, and there was Dirzan, Master Olodkey's senior journeyman, staring down at them, fists against his belt, a wary and disapproving expression on his weathered face.
“So we get saddled with you, eh, Piemur? I'll tell you this, you watch your step with our Master. Quickest man in the world with a drumstick, and he doesn't always use it on the drums!” He eyed Piemur significantly and then, with a sharp gesture, indicated that Piemur should follow him.
The chapter ends with this somewhat ominous note.
But really, I want to know what the fuck is going on with Sherris!