I Read What?!

Last time, the Dragonriders saved the world. With some offensively unnecessary secret keeping!



So the very first paragraph vindicates my rage, by the way.

A few riders in the third group suffered some physical attrition. M’rand, one of the older bronze riders of High Reaches, returned long after the rest of the Weyr and in terrible condition. He was tormented by bad dreams, insisting that he had returned to his Weyr but it had not been his Weyr. Tileth had been frantic, recognizing none of the other dragons there and finding a strange bronze asleep on the ledge of his Weyr. M’rand couldn’t understand at first, but he had heard that bronzes could slip through time. He kept his wits and had tried to get home again, giving Tileth the most vivid images of their favorite view of High Reaches, with the blue M’rand knew was that day’s watchdragon. That time they had emerged in the right place and the right time.

HOW CAN HE JUST HAVE HEARD "bronzes could slip through time"???

Lessa's ride increased the entire dragonrider population from one Weyr to like NINE. This was within Jaxom's lifetime! The conflict with the Oldtimers only finally resolved in White Dragon, a few years at most before now.

This is utter nonsense!

Especially since he's "one of the older bronze riders". Which means he's probably an Oldtimer himself! Or at least knew many of them!

But moreover, because Jaxom never said what they actually did, his pain is dismissed. See?

“Sloppy visualization,” Lessa said when she and F’lar had also spoken with M’rand and the others: two in Fort Weyr and another in Igen. “And they’re all older riders, leaving more up to their dragons than they ought.”

Jaxom noticed that N’ton was regarding him with a quizzical expression, and he responded with a perplexed grin. He himself had felt woefully tired after the exertions of that momentous day, pausing only long enough to let Ruth feed on a juicy buck before returning home, and no one thought it odd that he slept nearly a day. Sharra was equally exhausted by her last few days in the laboratory, churning out zebedees.

Absolutely infuriating. MAYBE if he'd known what they were doing, that poor guy would have known better than to leave things up to his dragon. I don't blame Lessa, because she doesn't know either, but fucking hell.

I get why Jaxom had to go, as ill-defined as Ruth's talents are, I get that Aivas can't help them pinpoint exactly when to be to set everything off. But I will never approve of them keeping it a secret from the people who risk their lives.

Does finally having accomplished something genuinely heroic actually change Jaxom for the better?

“Jaxom, aren’t you going to watch?” Sharra asked. “You of all people ought to have the right!” She was baffled by his apparent indifference to the event.

“Frankly,” he said, “I have a lot of more important things to do here in Ruatha than floating about on the bridge, waiting for the thing to blow. Unless, of course,” he added considerately, “you really want to see it.”

Nope, he's a smug fucking asshole. Fuck you dude.

Sharra actually does want to go though, so Jaxom magnanimously agrees. He also blandly reassures Brand about Ruth's general weariness. God, I hate him so much. F'lessan is a much better character than you, even if he inexplicably didn't get to go on any of the Red Star trips.

Oh, we get another "peasant folk are stupid" bit here:

“It’s just that there have been some complaints about Fort Weyr.”

“What do you mean, Brand?” Jaxom and Ruth had not flown the most recent Fall with the Fort wings. “Have I missed something?”

Brand had shrugged expressively. “Well, because the bronzes are a big logy, they haven’t been as, well, diligent in chasing airborne Thread. There have been a lot of unhappy groundcrews. And that’s the other problem.”

“Tell me.”

“Somehow—” Brand paused to frame his explanation. “A lot of people thought that there’d be no more Thread now. That once the dragonriders had done this explosion thing, Thread wouldn’t fall again.”

I'm sure Jaxom understands and sympathizes that the common people of the world have gone through a lot of upheaval and massive cultural change and don't immediately appreciate the ins and outs of a plan they haven't really had explained to them in detail?

“Oh!” Jaxom made a face. “Bloody shards, Brand. Don’t they ever listen? Harpers have been explaining for the last four Turns that we can’t stem this Fall, but there won’t be any more!”

“They don’t see it that way, I’m afraid, from the accounts I’ve heard. And Holder Grevil isn’t a stupid man, as you know, but he hadn’t understood and feels aggrieved, especially when a clump of Thread came down on his best field.”

I added Brand's defense, because I think it's good. Maybe, Jaxom, the Harpers didn't explain things well enough. Maybe it's a really complicated concept at heart and the common people are clinging to hope and have gotten a little bit of disappointed heartbreak. Maybe it's hard to look at the fear and devastation around you and know that you're going to have to keep going through this, but in a nebulous future it might be fixed even though you can observe no sign of it.

I know a certain amount of elitism is very common in fantasy and sci-fi. Whenever you have people chosen for a special role, there's an element of "these are issues that only we really understand because they're part of our day to day life". And that's probably true for folks who work in risky service roles in the real world. I don't know what a soldier has to deal with every day, or a firefighter, or a rescue worker.

There's also the "these are concerns that the Prince/King/Governor has to face that the common folk don't have to consider" aspect. And I'm willing to tolerate SOME of that, when it comes to a story about the burdens of leadership. Fine.

But for whatever reason, that note's been REALLY prevalent in this book. Common folk shouldn't waste Aivas's time. Even though we can waste time telling the Lord Holders their pedigree. We're going to blame them from not understanding concepts that they can't learn from the source, because more important people take precedence. Even common dragonriders don't get to know the risks they're taking, and somehow forgot important concepts from a generation ago.

...to be fair, this is a group that forgot queen dragons could fly because Lessa's predecessor was fat and lazy. So maybe there is precedent for that. It's rumored that, by now, McCaffrey had one of her children helping to write these last few books, so maybe they're to blame. But I don't remember this thread (heh, pun unintended) being so prevalent in Skies of Pern. Man, I wish I were reading Skies of Pern. F'lessan is SO much more likable.

Oh well. Per Brand, Grevil also blames Aivas. And this reaction is boggling.

Jaxom compressed his lips against rash words, momentarily defeated by this news: especially coming from Grevil, who was usually a moderate man. “I thought we’d straightened all that out at the trial.”

Um, Jaxom. All the trial did was show that some dudes decided to capture Robinton. It didn't prove anything about Aivas itself. It's perfectly understandable that some folks still have doubts - and to be fair, I do appreciate that some of Jaxom's frustration comes from the fact that Grevil is a moderate and reasonable man.

Now THAT I might be willing to blame on a writing assistant. I've noticed that we've had a number of named examples of people with opposing views who aren't immediately treated like complete idiots and monsters. That IS fairly new to this book.

Brand, practically, points out that if they're blaming Aivas, they're not blaming Jaxom or even the Weyrs. But Jaxom thinks this is unjust, after all Aivas did to help Pern. Brand has an interesting point that the help isn't so visible to everyone.

That's a fair point. It seems like most of the advances going forward are in the nature of the Crafts. And how often does a common peasant deal with the glassmakers or even the paper-makers? They might appreciate the Healers having more techniques to cure people, but the rest are probably luxuries. At least for now.

You know, instead of Masterharper of Pern, I would have liked to see a book from Brand's point of view. Because I'm pretty sure he's the guy actually running things while Jaxom gallivants off to whereever.

Jaxom switches conversation to runnerbeasts, and it still boggles me that this became a thing halfway into the book. It makes me wonder if my aversion to Jaxom is more common than I thought, if she feels like she has to associate him with a much better character.

Of course, later, we get Sharra articulating the sentiment we're supposed to share:

“What I don’t understand,” Sharra said when he mentioned the matter to her over their midday meal, “is that with all that has been explained so carefully to everyone who would listen, how they can possibly misconstrue what you and the Weyrs were doing, and its immediate consequences.”

Jaxom grinned. “They probably stopped listening after the words ‘Thread will be forever destroyed.’ ” He sipped his klah pensively.

I kind of hate you both right now.

As it turns out, Sharra decides that she doesn't want to go see the explosion either. Convenient. She's seen quite enough of the Yokohama. Hey, you dicks, maybe WE want to see it? Maybe the audience who have invested our time into all this should get to see it?

I'm being irrational of course, maybe we'll just get a different viewpoint character for it.

Oh god, I still hate Jaxom:

He laughed, reaching for her hand and bringing it to his lips. “I think I won’t. This moment should be F’lar’s.”

Sharra eyed him long and thoughtfully, her eyes beginning to sparkle. “You’re a good man, but I do not concede that it is all F’lar’s triumph.”

“Don’t be silly,” he replied. “It took all the Weyrs of Pern to do it.”

“And a white dragon!”

As she turned back to her soup, Jaxom wondered exactly what she meant by that. Could Sharra have guessed Ruth’s unusual role?

I am so glad this is the last chapter, I can't take more of White Dragon style "has anyone figured out my extra special secret heroic act?!" bullshit. Especially since Jaxom didn't actually do anything more heroic than any one else, he just didn't tell them.

Oh, and just in case you thought we were going to get some emotional satisfaction from the explosion:

After so many long days of watching the round ball that was the Red Star, the explosion, when it became visible, was an anticlimax. An orange-red fireball blossomed on the side of the wanderer planet.

“Only one?” F’lar exclaimed, feeling a certain chagrin that half the planet had not exploded, too, after all Aivas had told them about the awesome power of the antimatter.

“That is how it would appear at this distance,” Aivas replied.

Fuck all of you.

Anyway, F'lar, Robinton, Fandarel, D'ram, Piemur, and others are there. They banter about the odd feeling of having worked so hard for something and now it's just...done. What do they do with their time now?

Robinton has his perspective. Of course.

“You,” Robinton said, pointing a stern finger at the journeyman, “will now have the unenviable task as a harper of explaining the true facts of the achievement to those who didn’t understand that this effort would not alter the path of Thread during the remainder of this Pass.”

To Lytol’s surprise, Robinton had not been at all dismayed by Jaxom’s report. In fact, the Harper had seemed to expect such disgruntlements.

“Menolly’s already composed one ballad,” Robinton went on, “with a chorus to hammer home the point that this is the Last Pass for Thread, that Pern will be forever free from the end of this Pass.”

I hate complimenting Robinton, but he's right that it's going to take a while for people to understand. I suspect it'll take more than one catchy tune for that though.

Aivas also points out that it will be decades before they can actually meaningfully perceive the change in orbit. Oh hey, check this offensive bullshit out:

“There is one more minor adjustment to make, however,” Aivas said, “which it is recommended to be undertaken by the lesser colors.”

“Oh? What?” Lessa and F’lar were very much aware that the brown, blue, and green riders were somewhat aggrieved by their exclusion from the project. “All the Weyrs of Pern” had been limited to most of the bronze dragons and only a few of the other colors, even if it had been obvious that there wasn’t space enough on the spars to accommodate every dragon who wished to take part, much less space suits to protect their riders in space.

Look at this bullshit. After all that set up about the smaller dragons fitting on the ships and so on, of course the "lesser dragons" never got to take part. Even though draconic strength is psychic and really shouldn't be an indicator of size. Also RUTH IS SMALLER THAN ALL OF THEM. But he's "special". AGH.

Anyway, the last part of the plan is that they'll keep the Yokohama in orbit, but the other, smaller ships should be set adrift since their orbit is likely to decay. Eventually, they'll be captured by the sun's gravity and pulled into it. Aw.

Too bad, you guys can't find a way to land them safely and use them. But I shouldn't bitch considering how much of a tech advancement they all had to achieve to begin with.

Anyway, this hadn't been mentioned before, but might ease tension in the Weyr. I think the "lesser dragons" should fucking revolt, personally. I've said from Dragonflight how fucking stupid it is to base leadership around who gets to fuck the queen dragon. It'd be pretty awesome if there was a splinter group of dragonriders that were more egalitarian or merit based in their leadership.

...if I were ever to play a Pern RPG, that'd be what I'd want to do. Start a Weyr out there where the leader is a male greenrider. The bronze and queen riders are important for reproduction but otherwise have no built in right to leadership. Fuck that bullshit.

Anyway, the dragons get to go to space and push the ship between, much like the engines. Considering that the ships are larger than the engines, I don't see why the littler dragons had to be excluded from either project, but fucking fine, whatever. This is the last fucking chapter.

Lessa and Fandarel have emotional reactions to losing the other ships. Lessa personifies them a bit, like I am, thinking it's ungrateful to "condemn those ships to death". Fandarel thinks it's a waste of material. But Aivas and Piemur both appreciate how they were never meant to land, in one piece anyway, and thus eventually disintegration and debris would be a concern.

Piemur, by the way, intends to write a ballad about the Yokohama, as he's gotten fond of her.

Back to Jaxom, he and N'ton discuss the fate of the ships. N'ton's a bit sad about the idea. And of course, just like with the egg, we get HINTS:

N’ton regarded him for such a long moment that Jaxom wondered if the Fort Weyrleader had somehow guessed what had happened. Considering his disoriented bronze riders, a man as intelligent as N’ton might extrapolate the truth. As long as Jaxom didn’t admit it, N’ton would be kept guessing.

“Maybe that’s what happened to those disoriented riders,” Jaxom went on as if the thought had just occurred to him. “Maybe they had badly fitting helmets and lost air.”

“I hadn’t thought of that,” N’ton replied. “You know, that would certainly explain a lot.”

It's still fucking infuriating. Why can't you tell them NOW? N'ton deserves to know that he traveled farther than most dragonriders ever believed possible. The risk is over.

Well, they might get mad at risking their lives with needless ignorance. N'ton should get to punch Jaxom.

N'ton is another character whose book I'd read. He's been around since the beginning and actually has a good perspective:

“You’d know better than I.” N’ton grinned at Jaxom over his wineglass. “We certainly can’t fault Hold and Hall, then, for disbelief if the Benden Weyrleader is still skeptical.”

“Again, Aivas has been right so often we have to trust him this time.” Jaxom had a whimsical desire to confide in N’ton that he knew, incontrovertibly, that Aivas’s great Plan had worked, at least as far as the orbit of the Red Star was concerned. That he had seen it with his own eyes—fifty Turns in the future.

Why can't you tell him? What's the POINT of keeping the secret now?! I really fucking hate Jaxom so damn much.

Jaxom considers that he could just reassure F'lar. Ruth advises against it as he'd have to explain everything, but Jaxom thinks maybe not. Eh, I think F'lar might figure it out. But I think you should explain to EVERYONE. There is literally no reason to keep silent anymore.

Anyway, N'ton asks what Jaxom intends to do with his new spare time:

“What spare time, N’ton? I’ve only just scraped the surface of the information in Aivas’s files. I was in the process of organizing Hold affairs before I resume my studies—at an easier pace, now that the urgency is over.”

I don't believe Jaxom has ever done any work with the Hold, so what the fuck ever. He will be flying Thread though, because we have to pretend he does shit.

But this is notable to me, and why I will never buy Jaxom as being more deserving to know than the others:

“We’ve Threadfall in two days. Are you and Ruth rested enough to join us?”

“I’d better, what with all these misconceptions about the end of Thread.”

Jaxom gets asked. Jaxom does not have to, and does not go all the time. He gets to risk his life only when he damn well feels like it.

--

The last scene now, and one that I've been waiting for for a while. Robinton comes to see Aivas. It sounds like he's maybe not recovered from the kidnapping as much as he's pretended, as even the short walk down the corridor leaves him out of breath.

And as much as I hate him, this part seems poignant.

Robinton sighed and stroked Zair, curled asleep on his shoulder. “I did forgive them, then, you know,” he began slowly, so his words would not come out at the end of a gasp, “at the trial. I’m not so sure now that I would.”

Robinton hasn't bothered to consult Oldive, figuring that Oldive has enough to do with teaching all the new techniques to his healers. And it'd get in the way of his martyrdom.

“You must consult—”

“Why? You can produce no cures for worn-out human parts, can you, Aivas?” When there was silence, Robinton went on, still stroking Zair’s soft body. “Neither Zair nor I will recover from that abduction. Sometimes, I think he stays out of spite.”

“Or love of you, Master Robinton?”

I mean, Zair might recover. The Weyrs have people who tend dragons, they might be able to help him. At most, he's like ten years old. And maybe if YOU get some help it'll help him?

Nah, we'll martyr him too. Poor baby.

Anyway, Robinton asks about the classes. They're going on, but Aivas himself has decided to pull a Robinton.

“This facility now has no further function.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Aivas,” Robinton said somewhat sharply. “You’ve just gotten your students to the point where they know enough to argue with you!”

“And to resent the superiority of this facility. No, Master Robinton, the task is done. Now it is wise to let them seek their own way forward. They have the intelligence and a great spirit. Their ancestors can rightfully be proud of them.”

It's the same thing, I suppose. I enjoy the ego of "resent the superiority". I wish, at some point, we'd gotten to see one of the craftsmen actually expand on and innovate beyond Aivas's teachings. Because human invention still happens. And one of the things that gets lost in all the rebels' bitching about "tradition" is that the people of Pern had years to master the aspects of crafting that are unique to Pern. Pernese glass may not have all of the traits of Earth glass and Aivas would have had no way to appreciate that.

I don't hate Aivas as a character, but it would have been valuable for him to have a moment where he gets to appreciate what the Pernese people have made. Rather than just praising the societal elements that would have made Emily Boll run to the beacon herself.

So the old computer and old Harper share some melancholy, then both die. D'ram finds them after. Zair is dead too. Because of course he is. Tiroth keens and everyone mourns.

We of course see Jaxom respond to Ruth's bellow of anguish. (Menolly and Sebell's reaction we don't get to see, or even Piemur's, despite the fact that they were much closer to him, but whatever.)

Piemur does get to be present when Jaxom gets there at least:

At the doorway, he came to an abrupt stop. Piemur, Jancis, D’ram, and Lytol stood around the chair, the Harper’s silver-haired pate visible where it rested against the back. Choking back the sobs that threatened to overwhelm him, Jaxom slowly approached, moving to one side so that he could see. The Harper looked as if he were merely sleeping. Zair, gray with death, curled against his neck.

“He just—went—to—sleep,” Piemur said brokenly. “He’s not even warm anymore.”

I'm still mad about Zair. #JusticeforZair.

Jaxom starts to yell at Aivas, and they realize Aivas is gone too. Jaxom of course gets to dramatically announce that he'll go back in time to when Robinton's alive and save him, but they stop him. Oldive, who'd come with Sharra and Jaxom, just says it was only a matter of time.

So we get to end on a funeral, it's beautiful of course. Robinton gets laid to rest in the waters of Cove Hold. Alemi, from Paradise River, gets to show. I wonder whatever happened to poor forgotten Elgion. I hope he got a lizard eventually. The Weyrs of Pern show up. Lord Holders and Craftsmasters too. No filthy peasants of course.

Menolly and Sebell sing all his songs, and the dragons bugle a note. It's all lovely of course, and if I cared about Robinton, I'd be moved. Of course, Jaxom, the character whose perspective matters least here, gets the viewpoint. He's grieving.

I do like this.

Not we—you. But that is the wrong way to think about this. Aivas left behind all the information you need—and you have only to access it to solve problems now.

For the first time in their long association, Jaxom resented Ruth’s words.

You've resented Ruth plenty of times you retconning piece of shit.

Anyway, the chapter and book ends with Jaxom and Ruth going back to Cove Hold "ready to delve into the legacy of knowledge that Aivas had left for them."

...and somewhere Brand resumes governing Ruatha, I presume. Anyway, the chapter and book ends here.