Al Norris

I would think that if Jevikel ever went back to his former hold, it would turn out similar to what happened with H'rek. I think that Merida suspects that Vikkel murdered his wife and would not have a thing to do with him.

If it happens it happens. Jevikel will not be able to control this. Remembering that it is about the dragons and not the rider, the urge to mate will overtake him. Of course, like we have seen, after a few successful mating flights, the rider will be able to exert some control.

I enjoyed the start of this sequel. Mostly because I totally related to the main character. It's a hard decision to make to quit a long term job (retire) that you still find somewhat enjoy. Even when you know you are expendable. Even if the job is exasperating. Even if you know upper management doesn't care a whit about loyalty. It's change, and as said, people don't like change. It's scary!

After enjoying not just the Dragons Riders of Pern, stories you have written (and still are... ahem!), I've discovered that I quite like your writing style: Clear; concise; enjoyable; witty; and ever so descriptive. I suspect I will read onwards!

Something like what H'rek did with his former family. Except it would be Jevikel doing the needling. Kadin would simply be showing his love for Merida. Then they could give each other a kiss (with tongue) in front of Vikkel! YAY!!! I'm caught up. BOO!!! Now I gotta wait a week. ... sigh...

When you stop and think about green riders, it probably helps if you were at least Bi, if not entirely gay. That's the easy part. The hard part is thinking in terms of relationships, particularly any kind of long term relationship. It's outside what we would consider committed couple. Yet that is what it is if you have a weyrmate.

Hmm, String Theory? Anyone?

Okay... Let's not add Harry Potter to this mix! 😛

You are more than welcome. I suspected that raven1 had read the specific chapter by now. But I kept in mind that others haven't. I think it's called either courtesy or keeping the suspense up... Perhaps both.

That is all laid out in 'Gone Away.' And no, I'm not about to spoil it for you (or anyone else, LOL)!!! This whole idea of seeing the riders from their POV and seeing a Weyr from the POV of hold-bred younglings is perhaps one of the best way to preserve Pern and its traditions. I really, really like the you write, Mawgrin.

In one sense, my insomnia won't allow me to sleep until I've read all of the current 20 chapters! In other news... I hate insomnia!!!

Can the plot get any thicker? Not that it will matter when the boys are discovered in the next chapter! (going by the chapter names)

It's called survivor's guilt. Happens all the time and it is hard to shake. That's what made D'gar's grief so bad when S'brin went between. I remember being on a drunk, back in 1982. For some foolish reason I was talking with a Korean Vet. I talked about a particular firefight near An Hoa and a few other people just couldn't leave it alone. They just had to know all the grisly details. I was working up to smacking a couple of people when the other Vet got me outside. People often wonder why many of us will not talk about what we went through. Mawgrin just spelled it out and drpaladin explained it. People, in some respects, are like vampires.

As stated earlier, the buildup of suspense is masterful!

I've got a sneaky suspicion that Vikkel gets word of the search and hides the kids, just like he did before.

Yes. By the time they get the necessary cleared out and don't discover a body, it will be way too late to figure out that Kemi had run. Vikkel will never allow this to be disclosed, else he would have to pay a penalty for the wedding!

Mother Nature has supplied the best diversion ever! Sure hope Kemi makes it. We should know that now is not the time for the boys to escape.

If we have already read 'Gone Away,' then we know why the boys left and about what time. What we (well, I) don't know is what happens to Kemi. Keeping fingers crossed. 🤞

Budding love. Young love. First love... Wonderful time and sad time, all in one.

When Anne began building her world, genetics was virtually a new field of medical science. So while a few very forward thinkers thought genetics had something to do with homosexuality, it was hardly accepted in the medical community. Currently, the best minds are looking into a rather new field; epi-genetics. It is thought that certain genetic 'triggers' explain a whole bunch of aspects of humanity. Hair color. Eye color. Skin tone. Sexuality. Etc., etc.

It's actually pretty easy to understand why society is against homosexuality. All you really need to do is to think about the reasons used in the past and who actually controlled the various societies. But let's just look at Pern itself and how things evolved. The original colonists were a very egalitarian bunch. They were also very dependent upon their technology, regardless of their motivation to be less inured to that same technology. Once they moved to the seemingly safer areas of the northern continent, their tech began to break down. Without the related infrastructure, some of which was undoubtedly left in the south, there was no way to fix the tech. The more this happens, the further these peoples slide back into a pre-industrial society. Not having access to the necessary means to make paper (assuming anyone actually knew how to do this), records kept become scarce and labor intensive. They are quickly reduced to a wholly agrarian society. Major landlords (Holders) and minor holders. Imagine if all of our tech suddenly quit working. How long do you really think our current civilization would last? How would that happen, you might ask? Google Coronal Mass Ejection (CME). In specific, look for the Carrington Event and what it did to our 1859 technology. Then think about what such an event would do to us today. While Pern did not have a CME, it does have 50 years of Thread (a Pass). Then a normal Interval (200 years on average). Repeatedly. Never enough time to rebuild technology to a sustainable level, since most tech died (through attrition) in the first Pass. Side Note: Personally, I think Anne went too far in not keeping at least some of the simpler surgical techniques alive, but here we are. I can readily see two things that would rapidly evolve: The first imperative that quickly develops is to breed (the ultimate survival trait). To populate the planet. Hence any behavior that would impede breeding (homosexuality), quickly becomes taboo. All too easy to see why homophobia is so much stronger outside of the Weyrs. The second imperative would be the absolute and complete authority that Holders have over anyone on their Hold. Small holders to a lessor extent, only because they are duty bound to their Holder. A real variation of a feudal society. So, given what we know about Pern, Anne McCaffrey setup a very logical world and the types of society that evolved after 2500 years of human occupation.

During a Pass, being Holdless would be tantamount to a death sentence. Hence striking a Holder would be almost unthinkable. Killing a Holder... well, I hesitate to think of such a penalty. Perhaps exiled on one of those remote islands? Penal Colony? Without women. When looking at the society of Weyrs, one can only imagine that a truly heterosexual man would be rare. More often than not, most men would fall into the middle of the Kinsey scale. Since the majority of dragons are greens, this would likely put many, if not most, men leaning towards the homosexual side. I'm sure it happens but I can't imagine how bad it would be to have a heterosexual man bonded to a green. 😬 While no one can really say, I almost imagine Anne setting up the world of Pern to show that most men, if not most people, slide somewhere towards the middle of the Kinsey scale. I've never read anything on this, but it does beg the question.

So, this must end the backstory to H'rek, since it ends just before he meets D'gar. Nice! 😍

Well this certainly explains why H'rek was so upset about Rioth's second rise. So many things I would like to say, but that would give it all away to any new readers, so I won't.

Mawgrim, you have really recreated Anne McCaffrey's world of Pern to perfection. Thank you for putting that slight slant to it that it always needed. Yes, Anne wrote from the broader perspective. It really never showed off the riders take on things. While keeping to the canons, you have acheived this. Thank you. So far, I have read this series of stories in the following order: Hatchings Weyrlings Threadfall Empty, Open, Dusty, Dead Gone Away, Gone Ahead In all the dealings with D'gar and S'brin, neither of them really learned that final mating lesson. It has taken this last flight that D'gar has finally learned. Luckily, H'rek has also learned! And at such a young age, too! I don't know what you have in store for them, but I'm thrilled to learn you will be writing a sequel to Gone Away. I think it's now time for me to read the backstories of H'rek before I tackle Jevikel and Kadin.