Quotes from Anne McCaffrey

The first six of the quotations tweeted from @sueannbowling over the past week are from All the Weyrs of Pern, by Anne McCaffrey.

“It is the function of a machine to do what it is designed to do. Fandarel, approving of Aivas’ insistence on doing exactly as told.

“Success will depend on the learning of new skills and disciplines.” Aivas to the assembled Pernese, after he has told them it is possible to eradicate Thread.

“Learning is not limited to the young.” Aivis speaking to Robinton, who by this time is a very old man and painfully aware of that fact.

“Mankind has always put great faith in oracles.” Aivas to Robinton, when a crowd wishes to question it.

“The winds of change create a climate of resistance. That is to be expected.” Aivas, after it is attacked.

“A full purse can close many a mouth.” Lytol, when the talk turns to how people are getting to Southern.

“He almost missed the escape route, dismissing it as their own trail.” Roi is trying to track the escaping horses. Sue Ann Bowling, Tourist Trap.

Quotes from Anne McCaffrey

Quotes tweeted from November 29th through December 4^th were all by Anne McCaffrey, but from three different books.

“We can always cut forest down, but you can’t build it back up so easily.” The White Dragon, by Anne McCaffrey. A group of northern dragonriders and builders is planning a new house in Southern for Robinton, and intend to start by removing all greenery. Sharra sets them straight.

“Neither human nature nor human needs have changed since the earliest Records we have.” The White Dragon, by Anne McCaffrey. Robinton, arguing that the Ancestors would have divided space into work and storage areas much as was done in his own day.

“In the dancing square, all were equal.” The Renegades of Pern, Anne McCaffrey. Jaygee is hoping to see more of the dark-haired girl who appears to be a Benden fosterling.

“Anyone with any sense stays out of the hot!” The Renegades of Pern, Anne McCaffrey. Jaygee, settled in to Southern continent, has become used to the idea of resting through the heat of the day.

“Why ignore useful things?” The Renegades of Pern, Anne McCaffrey. Piemur and Jancis are having a bit of a disagreement about using things the Ancients left behind.

“It must be nice to know everything.” All the Weyrs of Pern, Anne McCaffrey. Piemur, after Aivas states it has a list of everything stored.

“There were certain rules of civilized behavior we had to follow.” Homecoming, Sue Ann Bowling. Cinda is explaining the beginnings of the Confederation to Marna.

Quotes from Anne McCaffrey

The first six quotes tweeted from @sueannbowling between November 8 and 14 were all from The White Dragon, by Anne McCaffrey.

“You have to be a lot of people. That is hard.” Ruth’s comment to Jaxsom, after listing the multiple roles Jaxsom has to fill.

“There’s a difference between communication and gossip.” Jaxsom, reprimanding F’lessan for talking about Weyr business in a public meeting.

“There’s such a thing as being too popular.” Jaxsom is trying to teach Ruth to chew firestone in secret. But the white dragon attracts a swarm of fire-lizards wherever he goes, and some of them undoubtedly look to people who should not know what Jaxsom is doing.

“Looking ahead is far more constructive than looking behind.” Robinton, in a discussion of the Southern continent. What is to be done about it?

“It’s never easy to be patient, but patience can be rewarding.” F’lar, talking to Jaxsom about Jaxsom’s ambiguous position—but his mind is more than half on his relationship with Lessa.

“Things were not as they seemed.” Jaxsom is growing up.

“A plague isn’t going to spread through vacuum!” Bowling, Homecoming. Lai is arguing to the crew of the Bounceabout that finding or even orbiting a plague planet is not a risk.

Quotes from Anne McCaffrey

All but the last of this week’s Twitter quotes are from Anne McCaffrey, from the Dragonsong trilogy. The first five are from Dragonsinger, the sixth is from Dragondrums.

“There will always be fools in the world, fearful of anything new or strange.” Silvina, commenting on Dunca’s reaction to Menolly’s fire lizards.

“She wondered if envy was akin to fear?” Menolly, trying to understand why the girls who are supposedly her fellow students seem to hate her.

“Find you own limitations, but don’t limit yourself with false modesty.” Seball to Menolly after she has told him how she was treated for “tuning” at home.

“The young of every kind tend to be easily alarmed.” Robinton to Menolly when she refers to her concern for Piemur, who Robinton knows is quite capable to taking care of himself.

“You want things badly when you’re young.” Lord Groghe to Menolly, when she tells him that she thinks the key to her fire lizards fetching her pipes was that she wanted them so badly.

“I wish we hadn’t changed so.” Robinton, in a rare moment of feeling his age and being aware of how much Pern had changed in the 400 turns without Thread, and how much it has had to change since.

(If you’re wondering why the yellow sticker, this is one of the books I replaced after the fire.)

“I shouldn’t let you get away with just taking over like that.” Sue Ann Bowling, Tourist Trap. Penny to Roi after Roi has taken charge from Penny, the tour guide, when a wild stallion kidnaps one of their saddle horses.

Quotes from Anne McCaffrey

This week’s quotes, tweeted from September 27 through today, are all (except the last) from Anne McCaffrey’s Pern series.

“The best solution is not always easy to accept.” Dragonquest. Brekke, arguing that the grubs, not an expedition to the Red Star, are the proper solution to Pern’s problems with Thread.

“Honor was always accompanied by responsibility.” Dragonsong. Menolly’s thought as she stands on the windy deck after singing Petiron to his rest.

“Maybes seldom are.” Dragonsong. A saying of Menolly’s mother, recalled as Menolly is running for her life from Thread.

“There are other things in life than fish.” Dragonsong. N’Ton, when he finds that Yanus is not even searching for Menolly.

“Size is irrelevant.” Dragonsong. After Menolly’s first encounter with the small, but intense, Lessa.

“Conscientious effort on your part will determine the rate of progress.” Dragonsinger. Oldive, the Master Healer, instructing Menolly on how to get back the use of her hand.

“It’s never easy, saying good-bye.” Bowling, Homecoming. Lai to Marna, as they are leaving her home planet, Riya.

Quotes from Anne McCaffrey

These are the quotes tweeted between September 6 and September 12 from @sueannbowling. All but the last of these quotes are from Dragonquest, by Anne McCaffrey.

“Adolescence was only a step of life, not a career in itself.” F’nor musing on how some dragonriders, able to impress a dragon in adolescence, never really moved on from that time.

“You solve one problem and five more appear from between. F’lar, when Lessa points out that Groghe wants the dragonriders to go to the red star and wipe out thread at the source.

“Nothing can be decided in heat or hatred.” F’lar, after Kylara has been responsible for the death of two queens, and effectively lost her mind as a result.

“It was one matter to keep dangerous secrets privy. Quite another to guard Craft skills to extinction.” Robinton’s thought, recognizing that many of the losses of information were due to Craftmasters dying before they had passed on all the craft matters kept secret.

“A man ought not to be afraid to say he didn’t know.”  Lessa, approving of Wansor’s refusal to state more than he knows when they are first viewing the Red Star through a telescope.

“They’re learning because they love.” F’nor, after her fire lizards have stood between Brekke and a possible second Impression.

“It was less trouble to read the message than to speculate about it.” Sue Ann Bowling, Homecoming. Derik, when he gets a high-priority message from his son Coryn, who supposedly knows better than to mark a message high priority. (Coryn is actually right on this one.)

Pern

The first time I read a Pern story I was in high school, and I generally grabbed my father’s Analog and read it cover to cover before he even had a chance to see it. In October 1967 there was a short novel, called “Weyr Search,” by Anne McCaffrey. It was followed in December and January by a serial called “Dragonrider.” The following year the two were put together in a book called Dragonflight, and the Pern series was on its way.

I haven’t read everything by Anne McCaffrey, and probably won’t. Some of her collaborations, in particular, just don’t interest me. But the story of Pern fascinates me, and I enjoy keeping track of the characters and their relationships. I wish Ms. McCaffrey were still here, to let us know how the story of Toric and the Abominators came out.

Just for the heck of it, I once worked out how the various Pern books and stories fit into the internal timeline. Here’s what I came up with, with the aid of the timeline in First Fall. The years are approximate; even the Pernese couldn’t quite get them right!

“The Survey: P.E.R.N.”, in First Fall. ~200 years before colonization.

Dragonsdawn. First 10 years of the colony; Thread; breeding of dragons from fire-lizards.

“The Dolphins’ Bell,” in First Fall. Overlaps end of Dragonsdawn.

“The Ford of Red Hanrahan,” in First Fall. Year 19, founding of Ruatha, whose bloodline produced many dragonriders.

“The Second Weyr,” in First Fall. Year 28, founding of Benden Weyr.

“Rescue Run,” in First Fall. Year 49, the result of Ted Tubberman’s emergency beacon.

Dragonseye. Year 258, beginning of second pass, the star stones.

Moreta: Dragonlady of Pern. Year about 1505, near the end of the 6th pass. The plague.

Nerilka’s Story. Overlaps Moreta, from a different point of view.

The Masterharper of Pern. Robinton was born about 50 years before the end of the second long interval; this book goes through the beginning of Dragonflight.

Dragonflight. Covers Lessa’s Searching and Impression of Ramoth through the end of the long interval 3 years later. Book ends about 2408.

Dragonquest. Year 2415, 9 years into ninth pass. Problem of oldtimers.

Dragonsong. Overlaps Dragonquest; starts Harper Hall emphasis. The Masterharper of Pern was actually written considerably later., though it is set in an earlier time.

Dragonsinger. Overlaps Dragonquest.

Dragondrums. Overlaps The White Dragon.

The White Dragon. 2420 through 2425; 12^th through 17^th years of ninth pass. Includes discovery of Aivas.

The Renegades of Pern. 1^st through 17^th years of ninth pass.

“The Girl Who Heard Dragons,” in The Girl who Heard Dragons. This short novel was reworked and modified into The Renegades of Pern.

All the Weyrs of Pern. Ninth pass, 17^th through 21^st years. First appearance of the Abominators.

The Dolphins of Pern. Overlaps All the Weyrs of Pern.

“The Smallest Dragonboy,” in Get Off the Unicorn. This was first published in 1973, but the names of dragon and rider make it clear that this was the Impression of the same K’van and Heth that appear in The Dolphins of Pern, though the story is somewhat changed there.

The Skies of Pern. Ninth pass, 31^st year. More about the Abominators, and the threat of planetary impacts. What will dragons do when there is no more Thread?

I have not included the books with Todd McAffrey; sadly, I have found it a chore to finish those I’ve bought. If anyone knows of books or stories I’ve missed, please let me know.

Quotes from Anne McCaffrey

These are the quotes that have been tweeted from @sueannbowling over the last seven days. All but the last quote are from Dragonquest, by Anne McCaffrey.

“There are other ways of remembering important matters.” Canth to F’nor, when they have first found a fire lizard and neither human records no Canth’s memory holds any trace of dragons being bred from them.

“Is age a prerequisite for a loving heart?”  Brekke, when F’nor seems to question Mirrim’s impression of three fire lizards.

“Does maturity always bring compassion?” More of the same.

“Make no judgments where you have no compassion.” Brekke scolding Mirrim when she suggests Kylara is less than would be expected of a weyrwoman.

“Silly people waste time assigning or assuming guilt.”  Robinton, when Lessa tries to consider herself at fault for the present disagreement between the oldtimers she brought forward in time and the modern dragonriders.

“Talk makes no miracles.” Fandarel, speaking to F’lar and Lessa after they have laid out the problem of the oldtimers.

“While saying good-bye forever was hard, it was harder yet not to have the chance.” Lai, grieving over Cloudy. Sue Ann Bowling, Homecoming.

Quotes from Anne McCaffrey

These are the quotes tweeted over the past week, and all but the last of them were from Anne McCaffrey’s Pern books.

“It would be simple … but … it wasn’t simple.” The Masterharper of Pern. “It” is suicide, after Robinton’s wife has died, partly of her exposure on their honeymoon.

“A man convinced against his will is of his old opinion still.” The Masterharper of Pern. An old saw that Robinton repeats to F’lon, trying to keep him from further antagonizing the Lord Holders.

“There’s nothing wrong in doubting. It sometimes leads to greater faith.” Dragonflight, the first book written in the Pern series. F’lar to Lessa, when she is expressing her doubt that Thread will fall again.

“Living was striving to do something impossible.” Dragonflight. Lessa’s thought after the first fall. It continues, “to succeed or die, knowing you had tried!”

“I don’t know how to get to a when that has not yet happened.” Dragonflight. F’lar, in response to Robinton’s suggestion that he use the dragons’ ability to go across time to see if his plan is working.

“The real problem is to reconcile the old with the new.” Dragonquest. F’lar, speaking to Lessa and realizing that the fight over the knife was only a symptom of the gap in perceptions of those brought forward in time 400 years and the present-day Pern.

“I’d get myself in serious trouble someday because I couldn’t tell love from lust.” Sue Ann Bowling, Homecoming. Derik is speaking to Roi, saying what he’d been told long ago. He has had to invade Roi’s memories to tell why he didn’t key a response properly, and found what Roi really thought of his advances.

Quotes from Ann McCaffrey

The first six quotes are from The Masterharper of Pern, by Anne McCaffrey. All of these quotes were tweeted from @sueannbowling over the last week.

“Learn to take honest praise with the same dignity with which you’ve received criticism.” Masterharper Gennell to Robinton, as he is deciding where to send him for his first assignment as a Journeyman.

“Let’s not borrow trouble until it comes our way.” Lobirn, when Robinton is his journeyman and Fax is still merely a holder.

“Knowledge had a way of penetrating any barriers set to exclude it.” Robinton is hoping that parents will pass their knowledge to their children in Fax’s hold, since Fax will not allow the harpers to educate them.

“A wall has two sides, my friends.”  Robinton, mediating a dispute over who should rebuild a broken wall.

“If you believe in anything—anything—keep that faith. ” Masterharper Minnarden talking to Robinton, about Robinton’s (and his) belief that Thread will fall again.

“Got yourself in, get yourself out.” Robinton’s chant as he tries to sail his and Kassia’s honeymoon sloop to safety.

“Lions don’t climb trees.” Roi’s frantic thought as he is attacked by a puma (which he has never seen before) from a tree branch. Bowling, Tourist Trap.