From: rbrunner@sedona.intel.com (Richard Brunner~)
Newsgroups: alt.fan.pern
Subject: Inconsistencies re: Thread
Date: 3 Jan 93 22:06:26
Organization: Intel at Chandler, AZ
Distribution: alt
NNTP-Posting-Host: vanadium.intel.com


Hi. I've just started reading this group and noticed the discussion
on inconsistencies within the books.

There are a few that I have found and  I would like to know if anyone
has discussed these previously or come up with any rational explanations for
them. Many thanks in advance for any comments or insight provided! 

1. When the first colonists first encountered thread:

     The quote "For two generations, the colonists gave the bright red star
little thought..." is included in the prologue, forward, or prelude to
Dragonsong, Dragonquest, The White Dragon, Nerilka's Story, and Moreta.
     The introduction to Dragonflight says that "within a few generations
they had forgotten its existence."
     Then in Dragonsdawn, the story of the first colonists, thread first
begins to fall relatively soon after their arrival, definitely during the
first  generation and probably after only about eight years if I read the
begining of Part II correctly.
     So what happened here?  There is a big difference between two
generations and eight years.
       
2. What is thread?:

     I realize that the pernese understanding of thread might change or
develop but one would expect the author's to stay the same.
     In the forward to Dragonsong, thread is described as " spore life which
proliferated at an incredibel rate on the Red Star's wild surface..".
     It is called "the indigenous life of the wanderer (Red Star)..." in the
prelude to Dragonquest, the inro to Dragonflight, and the prologues to The
White Dragon, and Moreta.
     The prologue to Nerilka's Story calls it "parasitic organisms indigenous
to the wandering planet...".
     In All the Weyers of Pern,  it is pretty well established that thread
comes from the Oort cloud and is not indigenous to the Red Star but is simply
carried by it to Pern.
     This is a major difference. Either thread is indigenous to the Red Star
or it isn't.  And, in order to make this new explanation of thread work, a new
interpretation of what happened to F'nor and Canth is developed which is
obviously a change from the original meaning when it was written.  

3. Two Phase Plan for the destruction of thread:

      This is refered to in practically every prologue and prelude as if the
leaders of the original colonists had actually developed a two phase plan.
However, in Dragonsdawn, it is obvious that the development of the dragons is
the only plan devised by the leaders.  The development of the grubs was done
by Ted Tubberman while he was ostracized by the colony for his behavior and
the leaders did not know about it nor did they utilize it once they did know
of it.  They didn't have time - the volcano began to erupt quite soon after
that.  


I'm not complaining.  I really like Anne McCaffrey's books because of her
plot and character development.  I guess that I just thought that in a
subject  so vital to the development of the series that consistency would be
especially important.

         - Chris & (Rich) Brunner





--

[Rich Brunner / ** Intel ** / rbrunner@sedona.intel.com]













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