Mawgrim

Because Vikkel is one of those people who is something of a miser as far as money is concerned. They could certainly buy in extra supplies to make up for the poor harvest but he's too mean.

Not sure exactly what the penalties would be, but on Pern, the worst fear of most people is to be Holdless. Given the fear of Thread and the necessity of having somewhere to shelter when it falls, that's understandable. Once people have been thrown out of a Hold, it would probably be difficult for them to find work somewhere else without recommendations, meaning they would have to travel well outside of the area.

Lovely story. I do like a happy ending after all the trauma.

Reading this for the first time. 'Satan's Spawn' was well named.

Jevikel is going to have a tense few days of worrying, especially as his injuries mean he can’t walk that far to find out. They were very lucky Thread didn't fall on the part of the Hold roof that had been re-covered in reeds. Had it done so, it would have been people eaten rather than herdbeasts. They'll have to wait a few days to find that out.

Thanks. Always appreciate praise.

Anyone on the ground is so helpless. Having a fire thrower helps, but they couldn't have reached the Thread on the roof in time. Vikkel is learning the reasons for the Teaching Ballads the hard way. Just a pity the herdbeasts had to suffer.

Before this they only knew about Thread from stories. Now Jevikel has seen for himself what it can do. This chapter gives a sobering reminder of why the area around dwellings have to be kept free of growing things and why people and beasts can only be safe when enclosed in buildings impervious to Thread. Even dragons can't destroy all of the Thread before it gets to the ground.

They’d been on the road since dawn, climbing steadily. Only Vikkel remained on the cart, driving the runner beasts with care. Any weight that could be spared helped, but progress was painfully slow. The sun rose higher, marking the time slipping away. Jevikel’s thoughts kept turning to Kadin, up in the hills. How soon before Thread began to fall would he and Berrand receive a warning? Herding the beasts to a place of safety would take time and there were always a few stragglers who weren’t

Not too long to wait now for the next one!

I live in a relatively small village in Derbyshire. Quite a few local towns, such as Derby, Nottingham and Chesterfield hold Pride events and most have at least one gay bar. Manchester and Birmingham are just a short drive away (around 45 minutes) for clubs and nightlife (although I'm a bit old for that these days!). I've never personally encountered any prejudice, even though I'm out to everyone and all my neighbours are aware I have a husband. Yes, there is homophobia and transphobia in the UK, often driven by the more rabid right-wing newspapers, but on the whole, things are a lot better than they were in the days when I was growing up. There will always be ignorant yobs, of course, same as anywhere. It may be there is less in your face prejudice because the UK in general is not very religious - it's considered socially unacceptable to wave your religious credentials in people's faces and will probably lose you friends.

Great story, full of tension. The moment where he realises moving the eggs has activated them and he has to find them all in order to deactivate ramped up the levels even higher.

Interesting that everyone has immediately jumped on Trevor as being Jack's potential love interest back in the past. Of course, I couldn't possibly say whether you are correct or not at this point.

It's not been mentioned that Karen has been working at the cinema for as long as some of the other staff. There is some foreshadowing there, but presentiments can be vague.

Thank goodness Parker's dad (unlike a lot of others) supported his son and went straight to the police station to get the phone back. Parker's eyes are really being opened to the inequality and injustice he's not had to confront so far. I'm sure there will be a media circus arriving in town very soon.

I like your theories. 😄 All I'm going to say at this point is that ultimately, everything is connected with the cinema.

Terry hasn't witnessed anything like this before. It's as if the cinema and what happened there is bringing out his psychic powers. Terry doesn't definitely know Jack is still alive. He just knows that Jack worked at the cinema for around a year after the building works finished, before walking out, therefore he can't be the body in the well.

You're right. Jack is the one who threw his keys at a manager and walked off. The smell was mentioned by Maurice as well, saying it was something that usually occurred at 'that time of year'. Terry is definitely getting more attuned to the site; the more he discovers about the past, the more the past is able to connect with him.

Dan and I stood beside the hole in the stalls floor, looking into the depths. Tall, powerful lights had been set up all around it. It reminded me of the scene in 2001: A Space Odyssey, when the monolith has been discovered on the Moon. It was a long way down, but I could just about make out a human skull at the bottom of the shaft. ‘You were right,’ Dan said. His words jogged a memory. Jenny and Trevor; a dream of falling. Cliff saying those same words. ‘Hey!’ Someone called out f

Presumably the dragon riders will give Pinnacle Hold sufficient warning of what's coming. But yes, it would make sense to send someone to make sure. I think that Vikkel just can't bear the thought of not being there in person.

It's just like waiting for the next episode of the serials at Saturday morning pictures (showing my age, there)

As so many people - including the Holder at Valley Narrows - were believing what was being said, I reckon Vikkel realised he had suddenly become a minority. And although he's a bastard, he still cares about his Hold enough to not want to put his family, workers and beasts in jeopardy. Trouble is, he's left it a bit late.

People are going to start paying attention to what Dragonriders say from now on, that's for sure. If there was any way Jevikel could get to be with Kadin before Fall starts, he would, but there just isn't time.

I'm not certain on this, but I would say it's probably due to an ISP setting. As you've said, you are accessing GA via your data plan on your phone and it works fine. When I've been in hospital a few times, using their wifi, I got the same message when trying to view GA. The only way I got in was to set up my phone as a hotspot and connect my laptop to the internet through the phone as a workaround. Does your ISP have parental guidance settings which have been enabled, so it won't allow you to connect to any sites flagged up as 'adult'?

They've run out of time to make any alterations. Thread is going to fall tomorrow. I bet there are a few farms where people have saved money by not building with stone and slate due to the general feeling Thread wasn't going to return. I bet also that the price of building materials will skyrocket once all those people panic!