phil@Rice.EDU@caip.RUTGERS.EDU (01/28/86)
From: William LeFebvre <phil@Rice.EDU> warren@pluto.UUCP writes: >While mentioning Moreta, has anyone in this group commented on the >fact that the Ballad of Moreta's Ride that is sung in Dragonsinger >(p119) has Moreta, dying of the disease, flying @i(between) with >Orlith, while in the book Moreta and Leri's Holth are lost >@i(between)? BEGIN SPOILER; I was quite dissapointed when I finished M,DLoP. I read the Dragonriders trilogy in order, then I read the Harper Hall trilogy in order. When M,DLoP came out in hardback, I eagerly borrowed the first copy offered me and devoured it. I was expecting a tale on the scale of the narrative related to us in Dragonsinger. A very noble lady on *her* queen, dying a very noble death while trying to save her world. But the end of the book left me with the very definite impression that the death could have been so easily avoided. She never should have gone between that last time. The job was done. Moreta and Holth were exhausted. The Holder even offered (as I recall) his hospitality. He would have welcomed them with open arms. But, no, Moreta had to get back to her queen, and Holth her rider. So, an exhausted rider on an exhausted dragon lost themselves between. I read that and said to myself, "Boy, that was stupid. Why did they do that?" It seemed like there was no need to take that extra risk. The pressure was off. Relax and take it easy. Now this could be rationalized away by saying that the mounting pressures of riders being away from their dragons (especially with one dragon brooding over eggs) made them take that final, fatal, risk. But that was not the impression the story left me with --- indicating a flaw on the part of the writer! END SPOILER; And, yes, the inconsistencies abound. One that has yet to be mentioned in the current discussion (although it has been mentioned in this forum before) is this: F'lar says that Ruatha hold has provided Pern with many good Weyrwomen, like Torene and *Moreta*. But, the Moreta of M,DLoP is from a beasthold in the plains of Keroon(? --- I can't be sure and my books are at home). NOT from Ruatha. umcp-cs!israel@caip.rutgers.edu (Bruce Israel) writes: > The other explanation is loss of information over time. > Lots of things got lost, such as the verifiable existence of > firelizards, accepted in Moreta's time, but relegated to children's > fairy tales by Lessa'a. Accepted in Moreta's time by whom? The only mention of fire lizards in M,DLoP was when a bronze dragon reported that he had seen nothing during the past hours except fire lizards flying. His rider's response was that he had a sense of humor! The rider, and everyone else in the scene (including Moreta), thought the dragon was joking. However, a good example of information loss is the dragon's ability to "time" it. That technique was known but kept secret in Moreta's time, the knowledge being resticted to bronze and gold dragons and their riders (Moreta was surprised to find out that the Masterhealer knew), but no one in Lessa's time knew of the trick. She rediscovered it. William LeFebvre Department of Computer Science Rice University <phil@Rice.edu>