Dragonquest - Chapter 4 - Enter Kylara

[kalinara]

So this is the chapter where we finally, after a book and a half of negative commentary and comparisons, get to meet the infamous Kylara.

Kylara is an interesting character because she's basically here just to be a contrast to the female characters that we're supposed to like. She was only referenced in Dragonflight, probably because Lessa was a strong and dynamic enough character that she really didn't need to be defined by contrast. In Dragonquest though, Lessa's been demoted to background character (an injustice!), with Brekke taking over the main female role. Brekke is, in my opinion, a far less dynamic and vivid character. Therefore we're going to see a lot of Kylara, who is set up as the anti-Brekke, in the hopes that our dislike of Kylara will render Brekke more likable in contrast.

It's not really a matter of whether or not Kylara will merit her reputation (she will), as what this means about Brekke.



So the first establishing trait of Kylara, the one that F'nor complained about a lot in Dragonflight, is vanity. To demonstrate this, our first actual glimpse of Kylara is in front of a mirror, where she models a red dress. She is annoyed that the hem is uneven, and she notices that her scowling facial expression displeases her, so she carefully schools herself against an inadvertant re-use"

There is a fairly interesting hint at a freudian excuse here, as Kylara remembers her foster mother telling her again and again to cultivate a pretty [frown] in case her face froze that way.

By this, of course, we can guess that Brekke will be modest and self-conscious, of course. That is of course a more desirable trait.

But I find myself feeling more sorry for Kylara than anything else. It seems pretty clear that she was raised from a very young age to prioritize her appearance as possibly her only real weapons. She goes from being chattel meant for an arranged marriage to being a weyrwoman, whose primary power comes from who she ends up banging in a mating flight. And I feel like Ms. McCaffrey is going both ways here: Jora was castigated for letting herself go, Kylara is scorned for caring too much.

Kylara is also spoiled and aristocratic, as we see when her servant, Rannelly, comes in to fuss over her. Apparently the dress had been promised in three days, but Kylara wanted it sooner. Rannelly is surprised that Kylara was away from the Weyr without saying a word, and Kylara has a moment of tantrum:

'I go where I please,' Kylara said, stamping her foot. 'I’m no babe to be checking my movements with you. I’m the Weyrwoman here at Southern. I ride the queen. No one can do anything to me. Don’t forget that.'

We're supposed to see her as being a brat here, I suspect, especially with the stamped foot. But here's the thing, I remember Lessa's training in Dragonflight. I remember how trapped she felt in the Weyr. I remember how F'lar and F'nor seem to be able to go anywhere they like. Even minor riders like T'reb and B'naj were free to go and harass a craftsman.

So why shouldn't Kylara do as she pleases, when the men clearly do?

Ultimately that's the main problem I have with Kylara. It's not that she isn't awful. She's pretty awful. But I can't see how she's particularly worse than F'nor, or especially F'lar. She just happens to be female and an asshole which is far less forgivable.

Anyway, Rannelly brings up him in italics, and I suspect she means T'bor. She also notices marks on Kylara, and asks if he left them on her. Kylara's response is interesting and slightly horrifying:

'Be quiet!' Kylara stepped quickly from the collapsed dress at her feet, all too aware of the livid bruises that stood out on her fair skin. One more reason to wear the new gown. She shrugged into the loose linen robe she had discarded earlier. While sleeveless, its folds almost covered the big bruise on her right arm. She could always blame that on a natural accident. Not that she cared a whistle what T’bor thought but it made for less recrimination. And he never knew what he did when he was well wined-up.

I think we're supposed to believe these bruises came from amorous encounters. But why would she be bruised on her arm. And what is this about recriminations? We've heard over and over that the Weyr folk aren't subjected to the sexual mores of the rest of Pern, so why would Kylara be subjected to recriminations? As long as she sleeps with the right person during mating flight, she ought to be able to sleep with others. The men clearly do. F'lar and F'nor aren't virgins.

And are we supposed to take this to mean that T'bor gets drunk to the point of lack of memory often and either Kylara takes advantage of that, or he gets violent? God, this dynamic is a mess.

Rannelly tries to tell her that weyrfolk shouldn't mix with holders, and Kylara cuts her off saying that the whole point of being Weyrwoman is that she can do what she pleases.

Isn't that what F'lar promised Lessa, essentially? Kylara's a bitch, sure, but is she so wrong to want what she was essentially promised?

Kylara's vanity strikes again as she notes her flat belly, even after five pregnancies. She gloats that there'll be no more, since she figured out the knack of using between to abort her pregnancies. I get the feeling that we're supposed to dislike her for this, but why? We've heard mention of weyrfolk knocking up Holder girls. No one seems concerned by that, except where it might piss off the Lord. Why shouldn't Kylara have access to whatever birth control is available?

Kylara's main paramour, and the subject of Rannelly's rant is Meron. Prideth disapproves because Meron isn't a dragonrider, though that's less about classism and more about Prideth being bored when Kylara's excursions take her to a Hold instead of a Weyr.

She thinks briefly about F'lar, but Prideth cuts that off by saying Mnementh is Ramoth's. Kylara points out that Mnementh could be Prideth's instead (could he? I mean, they'd have to consent to join the mating flight, so I'm thinking no.) But Prideth says she wouldn't contend with Ramoth. I am intrigued by the dragon side of the mating dynamic actually, if only because it seems interestingly matriarchal. A shame that never translated to the dragonriders.

Kylara gives us some unsubtle foreshadowing: 'You would quick enough if you were in mating heat,' Kylara replied, wishing she had the nerve to attempt such a coup. 'It’s not as if there was anything immoral about mating with your father or clutching your mother . . .'"

I still wonder how dragon genetics work, because holy hell they must be totally inbred at this point.

We also learn a bit about Kylara's own family: her mother had been a paramour of Lord Telgar, only to be cast aside for younger models. She does seem to genuinely love Prideth though, and it appears mutual.

They're interrupted by T'bor, who Kylara dislikes immensely. She thinks of him as ineffectual and notes that he never came close to making her feel like Meron, except during the mating flight which was "bearable"

Oh, Kylara. I hate this set up so much. I hate the dragonriders so much. And I hate that I'm supposed to dislike Kylara for not being satisfied with "bearable". Why should anyone have to be satisfied with "bearable"?

She notes that Meron, even without a dragon, was almost enough for her and she enjoys his ruthlessness and ambition.

It's very obvious we're supposed to side with T'bor here. We're told he's tall and not-ill favored, that Prideth likes him because he's devoted to her and thinks Kylara is not kind to him. But why should she be? What indication do we have that she ever really consented to him at all?

As awful as F'lar is, and as horrible as his and Lessa's dynamic was in Dragonflight, we did see that Lessa ultimately wanted to continue the relationship. I deplore her taste, but she made it clear that she wanted Mnementh and Ramoth to continue flying together, and she wanted to continue to lead with F'lar.

Does Kylara want to continue to lead with T'bor? It honestly looks like she does not. What out does she have exactly?

Oh, and we see Kylara's fourth sin here. Her third is lust, in case that wasn't obvious. And of course Brekke, like Lessa before her, will be a virgin. Bah.

Her fourth sin is laziness and we get an explicit comparison to Brekke here. T'bor asks how many weyrs are free to house injured riders/dragons, and she says to ask Brekke. Kylara is pretty bitter about the fact that Southern Weyr is the unofficial nursing grounds for every injured rider and dragon, when they haven't had any casualties themselves.

Kylara's selfish and self-absorbed and very unlikable here, of course, but because I'm contrary, I continue to look at it from her perspective. She didn't sign on to be a nurse. There was nothing in what F'lar promised to Lessa that involved nursing. She is partnered with a dragon, she mates when told, her dragon has clutches as commanded. She even spent four years back in time, an experience which was excruciating for everyone involved.

It's good to help injured people, sure. But we're supposed to blame her for dodging a job that she never agreed to do to begin with.

She and T'bor finally degenerate into a shouting match. We find out that she thinks T'bor is sleeping with Brekke, even though Brekke is pining after F'nor. Kylara is legitimately awful here:

'Brekke is twice the woman and far more fit to be Weyrwoman than you!' T’bor said in a tight, controlled voice.

'You’ll pay for that, you scum, you snivelling boy-lover,' Kylara screamed at him, enraged by the unexpectedness of his retaliation. Then she burst out laughing at the thought of Brekke as the Weyrwoman, or Brekke as passionate and adept a lover as she knew herself to be. Brekke the Bony, with no more roundness at the breast than a boy. Why, even Lessa looked more feminine.

Okay, Kylara is legitimately awful here (and homophobic, which fits oddly with how the weyrs work anyway, but okay), but a few things stand out. Notice the similarity between Brekke and Lessa's appearance. Both small, slender, dark haired. Kylara, in contrast, is blond, tall and buxom and fits all of the mean girl stereotypes.

Also, shut up, T'bor. You're her rapist in this really fucked up society, so you do not get to talk.

We get a nice monologue about Lessa from Kylara's point of view too: basically she thinks Lessa is too subservient, "aching to be pregnant again, playing the dutiful Weyrwoman" and that she foolishly gave up the chance to rule all of Pern by bringing back the Oldtimers. (Though if she hadn't brought them back, presumably those Weyrs would still exist now?)

Anyway, Kylara is planning to do something at the upcoming wedding.

-

We switch scene to Brekke. And look, I know I'm not being fair to Brekke, but by chapter four of Dragonflight I had a very vivid idea of who Lessa is. Brekke, I only know as a contrast. I know she's modest, self-conscious, dutiful and chaste only because Kylara isn't. I have no reason to care about her yet.

Brekke is changing the dressing on F'nor's arm. F'nor considers her to be a "serious child, too old for her years." but notes that he finally got her to accept his teasing, or at least to humor him.

F'nor and Brekke will be love interests in this book. I am not optimistic by him referring to her as a child.

T'bor enters and bitterly asks about their capacity for wounded, which is four, but "Varana at West" can handle twenty more. Apparently R'mart wants to send ten riders to recuperate.

F'nor thinks that Brekke is spreading herself too thin, and that she gets few of the privileges and all of the responsibilities that Kylara ought to handle.

Why? Why should Kylara handle this? Why shouldn't the male dragonriders step in? We've heard that threadfall is lighter here. Where in the Weyrwoman job description does it say "nurse"?

Anyway, Brekke's queen is still growing and she's also fostering a girl named Mirrim. She also doesn't share anyone's bed.

Basically just confirmation that, like I said, Brekke is defined by being the anti-Kylara. Honestly, it annoys me. The poor girl doesn't seem to have a personality of her own, just a list of virtues that go on and on.

Lessa was an interesting character because she was flawed as well as strong. She's indomitable, courageous, independent, harsh, impatient, prickly, we saw all of those from day one and they all coalesce to create a strong and vivid personality. Brekke's flaws so far seem to be "too accommodating" and "too nice", which could theoretically work, if they were actually portrayed as flaws. But so far, they're just reasons for Lessa or F'nor to want to look out for her.

I want to be invested in F'nor and Brekke's relationship, and I'll give F'nor credit that he actually seems to be thinking of her and her wellbeing in a way that F'lar never really seemed to manage, but I'm not seeing anything resembling a dynamic here. Brekke is a blank slate more than a character. Please, Ms. McCaffrey, who is Brekke??

So F'nor suggests that maybe they should make other arrangements, since the Weyrs managed for hundreds of years taking care of their own people. We learn that Benden, of course, sends very few. Fort sends a lot, which allows for the first sign of personality that Brekke shows:

'T’ron’s no leader—' T’bor said in a disparaging tone.

'So Mardra would like us to believe,' Brekke interrupted with such uncharacteristic asperity that T’bor stared at her in surprise.

'You don’t miss much, do you, little lady?' said F’nor with a whoop of laughter. 'That’s what Lessa said and I agree.'"

Okay, look, F'nor, F'lar was a creepy abusive asshole in Dragonflight, but at least he didn't keep referring to Lessa as a child. If I'm going to get invested in you as a pairing, I need you to stop that now.

When you're out-creepying F'lar, that's a fucking problem.

Anyway, we get a moment of fire here that actually seems a little interesting! Is Brekke defending T'ron? Does she dislike Mardra? Why? Please tell me.

We learn that most of the wounded men were flying in Mardra's wing. Everyone acts like this is a shock, but I remember the end of Dragonflight, and T'ron telling F'lar that Mardra leads a "Queen's Wing" during Threadfall, which Lessa would be a part, and indeed with flamethrowers.

Oh, okay, apparently the issue is that they're flying "on an upper level", because the dragons fly close to protect the queen and the flamethrower doesn't shoot out or wide enough to catch the thread.

F'nor is aghast by how stupid this is, and so am I. Mardra, what happened? You were the best part of Dragonflight.

F'nor and T'bor discuss current events, particularly Kylara's plans to go to the wedding in Telgar and her relationship with Meron. F'nor is unconcerned by that, stating that Meron had been outmaneuvered and discredited at the "abortive battle at the Benden Weyr Pass". And really, what can Kylara do at the wedding, since she's Larad's sister and he can manage her, and F'lar and Lessa will be there. That seems shortsighted.

Honestly, I feel like Ms. McCaffrey really has forgotten her first book. F'nor ought to know Kylara almost as well as T'bor. He DID spend four years in the past with both of them. It doesn't sound like she's changed in seven years. Why is he acting like this is all new to him.

A side remark causes T'bor to reveal to F'nor that Thread is falling out of pattern, which Brekke had kept from him. There is a moment of almost personality from her again, as she says, calmly, that she'd kept it from him because there wasn't anything he could do and he had been feverish when the news came.

When T'bor storms off with a bitter comment about how F'lar's precious patterns never included the South (...which is because he based them off of old records, and no one had collected data from the south, T'bor, god, I feel gross enough for defending F'lar at this moment. Fuck you, T'bor.), Brekke expresses sympathy and worry, which causes F'nor to wonder if she was fond of T'bor.

"A shame she had to waste affection on someone so totally committed to a clutching female like Kylara."

Thanks for the misogyny, F'nor. Also, please tell me we're not going for a miscommunication based love triangle here?!

Anyway, Brekke fills F'nor in, and points out that T'bor doesn't have it easy dealing with Kylara. Which, well, you know my stance. I'm sorry that the woman you're sleeping with mostly against her will dislikes you, T'bor.

And more proof that McCaffrey forgot her canon:

F’nor had had his run-ins with Kylara when she was still at Benden Weyr and, like many other riders, had been relieved when she’d been made Weyrwoman at Southern. The only problem with convalescing here in Southern, however, was her proximity. For F’nor’s peace, her interest in Meron of Nabol couldn’t have been more fortunate.

You spent FOUR YEARS in the past together, and you complained about her to F'lar whenever you saw him! I remember that part of the book, why don't you?

But then, maybe Ms. McCaffrey realized that if F'nor did spend four years in the past, then he should be a year older than F'lar now, which would make him approximately forty-two. Which would make the age difference between him and Brekke almost a full twenty years. (Brekke's established later to be the same age Lessa was when she and F'lar had their first flight. So twenty-two or twenty-three.)

I suspect she doesn't really want F'nor to be old enough to be Brekke's father, and she's not inclined to age Brekke up past ingenue, so we have to forget F'nor's actual plotline in the first book.

(It occurs to me that I'd be far more interested in this book if the main romantic pairing was F'nor and Kylara. Kylara is a much stronger personality than Brekke, and the politics of Southern Weyr, with Kylara, T'bor and F'nor could be very interesting. Brekke is too wilting and dutiful, and when compared with F'nor's laid back attitude, they come across as awfully bland.)

Anyway, we learn that there's been some exploration of the Southern Continent, though there are obstacles too: desert winds to the west turned riders back, eastward, there's just ocean. I'm glad they've been trying at least, that annoyed the shit out of me before. You have teleporting dragons, find shit out!

Anyway, Brekke yells at F'nor when it looks like he's about to go charging back to duty, which pleases F'nor. It seems like it's a hereditary trait that F'jackass men enjoy being yelled at by their women.

Oh, and because Brekke isn't virtuous enough on her own, we get the reveal that she, like Lessa, can hear all dragons.

Are you fucking kidding me, McCaffrey? Really?

Look, I have nothing against a female character being special. I LIKED that Lessa could hear all dragons. It gave her an edge and it made sense. We had been told all along that Ruatha was a special bloodline because dragonriders and former dragonriders kept contributing to it. We knew why Lessa kept it a secret: she hadn't known whether or not it was unique at first, then she wanted an edge over F'lar. And she used it to her benefit and the benefit of the Weyr regularly, even before she knew.

Okay, I was fine with that.

But Brekke? Why exactly does Brekke have this gift? She's not from a special family, so there's no textual basis for it. It'd be one thing if we saw that she used it as part of her nursing duties, but there's no indication of that at all. It'd be one thing if she tried to use it to undermine Kylara or at least lessen Kylara's effect on the Weyr, but there's nothing about that. And she's apparently kept it secret for at least a year, despite knowing full well that it's a special skill and one that's very helpful during Thread attack.

For Brekke to have kept it secret for a year, implies a secretive, scheming or suspicious personality. Like Lessa is. But that's not how Brekke has been characterized!

Honestly, it just comes across as one thing: the ability to hear all dragons is yet more shorthand that we're supposed to love Brekke just like we do Lessa.

This is lazy and it's infuriating. I don't need some special talent to love a character. And if you're going to give Brekke a special talent, why not something that suits her role a little more. Perhaps she could have the ability to project calm or ease pain. That would make sense, and we could buy that she uses it in her role as Weyrwoman without necessarily mentioning it until now.

Ultimately, the problem with this is the problem I've been having with Brekke so far: she's not a character, she's a collection of traits. And not even a balanced collection of traits, but a list of virtues. I don't want a list of virtues. I want to know who Brekke is!

Anyway, we find out that Canth knew but never told F'nor because F'nor never asked. I feel like this is another element stolen from Dragonflight really, but like the talent itself, it doesn't really make sense in this context.

It made sense that Mnementh didn't tell F'lar about Lessa's ability because of the complex dynamic that Ms. McCaffrey created between the three characters. Mnementh and F'lar have the most developed dragon-rider dynamic we've seen so far, and we've seen how Mnementh favors Lessa and challenges F'lar when he thinks F'lar isn't giving Lessa her due. Mnementh had mislead F'lar before (for example: telling him what Lessa was doing but not where she was, so F'lar ends up almost trampling her, which sets him at a disadvantage for their confrontation). So I buy that Mnementh kept the secret of Lessa's powers until she wanted to share it.

This doesn't work for Canth, F'nor and Brekke though. For one thing, Canth and F'nor don't seem to have the same kind of dynamic that Mnementh and F'lar does. F'nor doesn't seem to use Canth to translate human social expectations. Canth doesn't seem to challenge F'nor or go behind his back. We know nothing about Canth's interactions with Brekke. So this bit just doesn't work.

Please, Ms. McCaffrey, stop this. You ruined what had been a really appealing burgeoning dynamic between F'lar and Lessa with rape and abuse. Stop trying to take the parts that actually worked for those characters and graft them onto new ones. At least not without developing them first!

Well, okay, I will be corrected on one part. Apparently Canth does go behind F'nor's back like Mnementh does F'lar, as he knew about the Thread pattern changing.

Since this is the first time we really get to see the dynamic between Canth and F'nor in any sort of depth, I'm interested. Though I'm a little perplexed by the following exchange:

'Why, you, wher-faced, wherry-necked . . .'

Sometimes a dragon knows what’s best for his rider. You have to be well to fight Thread. I want to swim. And there was no arguing with Canth further, F’nor knew. Aware he’d been manipulated, F’nor also had no redress with Canth so he put the matter aside. Once he was well, his arm completely healed, however . . .

What exact redress will you have when your arm is healed, F'nor?

It is an interesting contrast though. When Mnementh manipulates F'lar, the latter doesn't tend to react verbally. Instead, he just bitches mentally and goes along with it. There's no indication of future retaliation or an intent to resume the confrontation.

F'nor on the other hand, complains aloud, with what looks like an insult string in the style of Niall Parollan from The Ship Who Sings and clearly intends to follow up with this later, when he's well. There's something more sibling-like about this interaction, though I'd want to see more before I stick with that conclusion.

I am rather fascinated by the idea that Weyr society is so broken that the dragons are used to taking a more hands on management of their riders than they were ever meant to do, without their riders ever realizing it. (Someday, someone will write a Shadowhunters-style deconstruction of this universe. And I will love it.)

So now F'nor and Canth decide to go to the beach, where they relax, when Canth gently alerts F'nor to a surprise: a very tiny dragon is perced on his forearm. F'nor and Canth coax the little thing to stay, while it projects curiosity and wonder.

It's a very cute scene. We learn that people have tried to catch fire lizards in the past, and F'nor may be the first person to get so close. F'nor realizes that, based on the lizard's empathy and ability to go between, the stories of dragons being bred from fire lizards must be true. There's a really intriguing moment where Canth says he doesn't remember, but also implies that dragons have ways to remember "important matters" even when the dragonriders forgot.

F'nor asks if Canth would mind if he helped/bonded with the lizard, which is sweet of him, and Canth has no problem with it. F'nor has thoughts that the lizard might make a good messenger if she can be trained.

They feed the fire lizard and F'nor manages to Impress her. Then they realize there must be a clutch nearby and call for others, before the other hatchlings get eaten.

Canth had called Brekke because "she is the best one". Of course she is. I honestly wouldn't have minded if Ms. McCaffrey had given us a chapter in which we actually got to see Brekke and Canth interact, perhaps while F'nor was still convalescing. But we didn't, so this just feels like more of Brekke's list of virtues.

Seven of the hatchlings are saved: Brekke got a bronze (of course. F'nor has a gold after all...), her fosterling Mirrim managed three (two greens and a brown), and a few other riders managed more. We learn that they saved seven out of fifty, the rest were eaten by carrion birds or each other.

Credit where it's due, Brekke does have the idea of spraying the beach with agenothree, to discourage predators from coming back.

Back at the Weyr, they all coo over their fire lizards. F'nor is concerned that Mirrim may be young for the responsibility, but Brekke defends her: she's as old as most weyrlings at first Impression (ugh, please, don't remind me of the child abusing tendencies of the Weyrs, Brekke).

There's some banter, where F'nor teases Brekke about "The female of the species in staunch defense...' only to be cut off by Brekke's sharpness, which of course puts F'nor in mind of Lessa.

a) Fuck you, F'nor.

b) Really, Ms. McCaffrey, I know you can write banter. You don't need to try to recreate F'lar and Lessa here. These are two different characters. And if you do, don't reference Lessa by name!

Anyway, Kylara enters, upset at having missed all the fun, which seems fair to me. Canth had called Brekke directly, rather than Prideth and Wirenth as ordered. And it looks like no one bothered to tell her anything was going on. On one hand, Kylara is pretty unlikable, but on the other, if they wanted to save more hatchlings, then they SHOULD have told everyone.

That said, Kylara shouldn't be bitching at Brekke. We get the mean girl bully moment where she "advanced on the girl, with such overt menace that F'nor stepped around Brekke".

Kylara spares a moment to glare at Mirrim, and then decides that she wants to take the bronze hatchling that's on another rider's shoulder. (G'sel! Another named Green Rider! Thank you, Ms. McCaffrey), but the lizard isn't interested in being moved.

Kylara then demands to know how to Impress one, her intentions transparent. Which strikes me as a little hypocritical. Sure, F'nor arguably wooed his lizard by accident, but he also had plans for her once he realized it was a possibility. Everyone who went down to the beach was trying to Impress a fire lizard. Why is it so bad that Kylara wants a try?

Oh, but see, Kylara has ambitions beyond the Weyr, which makes her just awful. There are more confrontational words, mostly so that after Kylara leaves, Brekke can be saintly and compassionate.

When Mirrim starts to bitch about Kylara's behavior, Brekke shuts her down with 'Make no judgments where you have no compassion.'. God, please, can Brekke not have one flaw? One little trait that makes her human? Please?

Anyway, Brekke does hit on something clever: Mirrim isn't a weyrman but bonded with three fire lizards, and most "commoners" dream of catching a fire lizard and that it might help mellow some of the anti dragonrider sentiment, if they got a "small taste of dragon"

(We're also told that it's only in the last eight years that commoners were permitted as candidates for Impression, and I STILL think that's a retcon, because how else was C'gan a harper AND a dragonrider, but I'll let that go.)

F'nor is skeptical but the others back her up. F'nor is actually the only weyrbred in the room: Mirrim and G'sel are holdbred (and I'd love to see more of his viewpoint: a holdbred greenrider would have a very different viewpoint than most of the characters we've seen so far), and Brekke is craftbred (which craft? Harper? Weaver? Please tell us!), and they all have an insight he doesn't.

I'd love to see that explored more. In fact, that would be a really interesting hook for Brekke. We know that dragonrider society is fucked up, that most of the male dragonriders were indoctrinated into this shit from childhood, and even Impressed as children. Except for the occasional Weyrwoman, there's no one from an outside point of view, to really call out how fucked up this is. Lessa really couldn't do that, seeing as how she spent the last ten years as a slave in even worse conditions, but Brekke...Brekke might well have had a normal upbringing. She'd be in the perfect position to call this shit out.

Unfortunately, that would require that Brekke actually speak critically of anything, and I don't think Ms. McCaffrey is willing to do that. Shame.