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in: Pern Series

Inconsistencies

Revision as of 09:44, 13 July 2018 by Natalya-ru (Message Wall | contribs)
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Introduction

As monumental works of Science Fiction, the stories of Pern are meant to entertain. Even though Anne consulted with Scientists and other experts to maintain factual consistencies, there are many instances where information in one book appears to contradict information in another. Anne's loyal fans refer to these as "Anne-consistencies".

Additionally, Anne commissioned other authors to write "reference" books to go into more detail regarding the world of Pern. These books, The Dragonlover's Guide to Pern and The Atlas of Pern, do provide much more detail. However, certain facts that they discuss are in direct conflict with what Anne has written in her novels.

One consistency, it appears, is that debates will go on, unresolved, forever.

Character Inconsistencies

Name Inconsistencies

Several character names have changed throughout the course of the series; perhaps most notably the character / T'ton; the Weyrleader of Fort Weyr at the end of the Eighth Pass, whose name was changed without explanation to T'ron in all subsequent material. This can be considered a simple retcon, although in a few cases this can be explained in the story - for instance, T'ron could be said to have changed his name for some reason...

Age Inconsistencies

Identity Inconsistencies

Death/Exile Inconsistencies

Mix-ups

  • In Dragonsblood, D'mal and Nara are the Weyrleaders of Fort Weyr during the late First Pass, yet the text in Dragonheart states they were the Weyrleaders immediately before K'lior and Cisca.
  • In All the Weyrs of Pern, N'ton's dragon Lioth is mistakenly called Monarth; which is the name of T'gellan's dragon.
  • In Sky Dragons, T'rennor's green Kisorth is repeatedly confused with V'lex's green Sarinth.
  • Robinton is retconned in The Masterharper of Pern, as he speaks to dragons his entire life. In earlier books he is beyond gratified every time a dragon speaks to him and is very surprised and alarmed at times when it happens. If he grew up being able to speak to any dragon at will.. it does not make sense when compared to the Dragonrider Trilogy.

Location Inconsistencies

Foundation Inconsistencies

Original (Moreta: Dragonlady of Pern) Retconned (Red Star Rising, Dragonsblood)
Fort Weyr and Benden Weyr were built in the First Pass; the other Weyrs were built during the Intervals - the last of which; Telgar Weyr, was built by the Sixth Pass. All six Weyrs were built by the end of the First Pass.

The information that Telgar Weyr was built by the Sixth Pass is not mentioned in any of the novels covering this time; instead, it came from an interview with Anne McCaffrey (referenced in the Atlas of Pern); giving this as the reason for Fort Weyr flying Thread over Crom Hold.

While this could be explained as the result of the Weyr borders being different in the Sixth Pass, or Fort Weyr aiding Telgar Weyr for some unknown reason, it could also be that Telgar Weyr was abandoned at some point in time - similar to the abandoning of Igen Weyr in the Second Interval - and had only recently been re-established by this point.

Original (Moreta: Dragonlady of Pern) Retconned (Red Star Rising/Dragonseye)
The exterior of the Harper Hall was built in the Sixth Pass; around the time of the Plague. The exterior of the Harper Hall was built towards the end of the First Interval.

In Moreta: Dragonlady of Pern, Capiam notes that

In an interview, Anne McCaffrey stated that this was the

Since the exterior buildings were later shown being built in the First Interval, it could be that the changes noted by Capiam were renovations, or additions to the existing buildings.

Original (Dragonflight) Retconned
Telgar Hold was "new" Telgar Hold was the sixth hold to be settled on the Northern Continent.

It could be said that F'lar was referring to an addition to the Telgar Hold complex, instead of the main Hold building.

Original Retconned (Chronicles of Pern: First Fall)
Ruatha Hold was the second major hold to be founded on the Northern Continent Ruatha Hold was the third major hold to be founded on the Northern Continent

This is easily explained as the result of records b

Original Retconned
  • According to the earlier

Fort Weyr, Benden Weyr, High Reaches Weyr, Igen Weyr, Ista Weyr, Telgar Weyr. However, the short story The Second Weyr depicts Ista Weyr and Telgar Weyr being established as Weyrs alongside Benden Weyr, with the locations of High Reaches Weyr and Igen Weyrbeing noted for later dates. It is not clear whether the It should be noted, however, that the Ista Weyr and Telgar Weyr sites were being used by the dragonriders long before the establishment of Benden Weyr; which was still considered "the Second Weyr" despite this. This could suggest that Ista Weyr and Telgar Weyr were occupied, but not formally established as Weyrs until after High Reaches Weyr and Igen Weyrwere settled. Alternatively, the spread of settlements across the Northern Continent might have forced the dragonriders to abandon the Ista Weyr and Telgar Weyr sites in favour of choosing sites at High Reaches Weyr and Igen Weyr that were nearer to the settlements.

Layout Inconsistencies

Fax's Seven Holds

Original (The Renegades of Pern Retconned The Masterharper of Pern

(In earlier novels, Fax was said to have originally been the Lord Holder of Nabol Hold.)

NOTE: In earlier novels, Fax is listed as being the Lord Holder of Nabol Hold. This was later retconned.

In both cases it is not entirely clear why Fax invaded Holds that would technically be under his control as Lord Holder - such as Riverbend Hold - although it could suggest the Holders resisted his control, or it could be that Fax simply wanted to have greater control over particularly productive Holds.

In The Masterharper of Pern, Fax is shown to have invaded Keogh Hold - beholden to Nabol Hold - before invading Nabol Hold; perhaps to get a base in Nabol. Despite now being Lord Holder of Nabol, Fax may have decided to keep his title as holder of Keogh Hold - which would make sense, considering his attitude in Dragonflight that all his

Fax is also mentioned in this version as having invaded Ogren Hold and Lewis Hold some time after capturing Radharc Hold. Since these holds would already have been under his control as they were beholden to High Reaches (like Balen and Riverbend), it could be that they were against his rule.

Timeline Inconsistencies

In a number of the Pern novels, dates or character ages are given that occasionally contradict each other. As a part of creating accurate and detailed pages, the Pern Wiki has analysed and adjusted several dates to deal with these inconsistencies - and also mentioning the incorrect date along with the adjusted date.

This section lists the problems encountered throughout the Pern novels, and the steps taken to rectify the timeline.

Turn Date Errors and Aivas Adjusted Turns

Ninth Pass Inconsistencies

Problem - Jaxom is said to be nearly twelve turns of age, and Felessan three turns his younger. However, only ten turns have passed since his birth in Dragonflight.
Possible Solution - The events of Dragonflight can't be moved back without affecting the date of Ramoth's first rising to mate, and while shifting Dragonquest forwards two years would fix the problems in The White Dragon, it also affects the Harper Hall trilogy, The White Dragon and Renegades of Pern; messing up the date various characters end up at the Southern Continent, and creating more inconsistencies - and worsening the existing ones. In short, this cannot be fixed, and should be thought of as an age inconsistency; Jaxom really being ten turns of age and Felessan seven.
Problem: Multiple lines state that the events of Dragonquest happened on a different date than 8PP.
  • Jaxom flying Ruth after he's reached his full growth - taking two turns - in 12PP; implying he was hatched in 10PP.
  • Menolly claiming in 15PP that Ruth and Beauty were hatched five turns back (10PP).
  • Jaxom musing in 15PP that Southern Weyrleader T'kul has been in Southern for six turns (9PP).
Solution - A major theme of The White Dragon is Jaxom's coming-of-age - he is eighteen turns as of 15PP; meaning that this date is accurate. This leaves the only option to shift the date of Ruth's first flight with Jaxom from 12PP to 10PP; with the only side-effect being that Jaxom now spends five turns at the Smithcrafthall instead of three.
Sebell's age, rank and duties are inconsistent (in the case of duties, almost opposite) with Dragonsong. In The Masterharper of Pern Sebell is 10 or 11 when he arrives at the Hall, shortly before Lessa is seen as a toddler (making him 30 or so when the 15th Pass starts as Lessa was about 20 when she Impressed and the Pas began 3 years later) and having become a Journeyman at the same approximate age as Robinton, 15, but is indispensable to the Harper and is considered his "shadow." Therefore he was only briefly away from the Hall. He was old enough to have joined the stand against Fax by the Masters and Holders (and was the Hall's most talented at self-defense) but Robinton refused to risk him and kept him in the Hall. In DragonSong Sebell has just become a journeyman shortly before Menolly's arrival (7 years after the Pass started), and is seen still wearing a faded apprentice badge (several others wear older clothing showing a former rank). Sebell also tells Menolly that his main job is journeying outside the Hall. In DragonDrums Sebell is shown doing undercover work much as Nip and Tuck did in The Masterharper of Pern.
Solution: His stated absence from the Harper Hall of several months in The White Dragon can be explained by Journeywoman Menolly's assistance to Robinton at the Hall lessening Robinton's need for him (although Sebell was planning to leave to impersonate a fisherman when he met her). If he was born 10 years before Lessa and became a Journeyman at 15 he would be 37 in Dragonsinger and hardly a new Journeyman
Problem: F'lessan and Mirrim are seen Impressing Golanth and Path in 11PP, when the dates given in The White Dragon suggest they should have Impressed in 13PP. This also means F'lessan is nearly ten turns, when The Smallest Dragonboy states twelve turns is the youngest a candidate can be.
Solution: As mentioned in the solution for Dragonquest's timeline inconsistencies, it isn't possible to shift the events of Dragondrums and Renegades of Pern forwards without creating further inconsistencies, so it should be assumed that The White Dragon listed the incorrect dates - fitting in with the conclusion above. However, this also means that Path didn't rise to mate for four turns, instead of the usual two. Since the timeline can't be adjusted to accomodate this, it must therefore be assumed that Path was inhibited for some reason, and F'lessan was allowed to stand early for some reason - perhaps nepotism, or there could have been a shortage of candidates that turn.
Problem: Dates change abruptly from 17PP in previous material - Renegades of Pern - to 19PP; concluding in 23PP. Subsequent books - Dolphins of Pern and Skies of Pern - list same period of time as 17PP to 21PP.
Solution - All the Weyrs of Pern's dates were incorrect and should be treated as an inconsistency. Alternatively, if All the Weyrs of Pern's dates are considered accurate - either meaning that Project Overkill took six turns instead of four, or unearthing Landing took four turns instead of two - this makes Readis the age he is said to be in Dolphins of Pern (see below), but also affects the name of class at Landing - named Class 21; after the turn Project Overkill was completed in - and the date as given by F'lar towards the end of Dolphins of Pern.
Problem - Readis (II)'s age changes drastically; changing from five turns - which in itself means that Jayge and Aramina conceived very shortly after meeting eachother - in All the Weyrs of Pern to seven turns, and later going from eleven turns to eighteen turns over a three turn span.
Solution - The latter problem with Readis' age was solved in Skies of Pern, which gave the date of the final chapters of Dolphins of Pern as 29PP; suggesting more time passed during a chapter transition than was otherwise noted. As for Readis (II)' initial age, for him to be seven turns would require an additional two turns to have been spent excavating Landing - meaning All the Weyrs of Pern listed the correct dates.
Problem - Shankolin states he was imprisoned for thirteen turns; despite the events of Skies of Pern taking place only eleven (or nine, if All the Weyrs of Pern lists the correct dates) turns after Shankolin was apprehended.
Solution - Easily explained as Shankolin miscounting the date while imprisoned - or even becoming confused by the Aivas Adjusted Turns, since all other solutions mean the dates given in Skies of Pern are incorrect and as such would require it to be shifted ahead two turns.

Rectified Timeline

The simplest solution - the option that fixes the most dating and age errors without too many changes to canon - is this;

This creates the following timeline;

Fire Lizard Inconsistencies

In Dragonseye, set during the Second Pass, it states that no one has fire-lizard companions although in Todd McCaffrey's Dragonsblood, set during the Third Pass, most of the population still has fire-lizards before the disease wipes them out and spreads to the dragons. Perhaps they were reintroduced.

Flora or Fauna of Pern

Flora

  • Coconut aka Nut Fruit (Dragonsheart, Sky Dragons)
  • Fellis
    • Juice made fruit (Moreta Dragonlady of Pern) and leaves (Dragon Harper)
    • Size of Trees, see Southern Weyr, Pardise River Hold
  • Rice also known as watergrass and few more.
  • Garlic (Moreta Dragonlady of Pern) and (Dragonheart)

Fauna

  • Feline  (Moreta, Sixth Pass books),  First Pass/First Interval,  Dragonsdawn, Red Star Rising    Second Interval/Third Pass (Dragon's Time and Sky Dragons)

Scientific data Inconsistencies

Geosynchronous orbit

  • In All the Weyrs of Pern, to go aboard the Yokohama, it takes 10 seconds to Jaxom 10 million kilometers. However, this ship is supposed to be in a geosynchronous orbit.
  • In Skies of Pern, The Yokohama is at an altitude of 71,377 km. Same problem here, this ship is supposed to be in a geosynchronous orbit, or Pern has a far far longer day than Earth.
  • In Dragonsdawn, starships (Yokohama, Bahrain and Buenos Aires) are on langrangrian point L5 and behind Timor. And again, starships are supposed to be in a geosynchronous orbit.
  • In Sky Dragons, The starships are sun synchronous orbit hence their names [2] [3]. So the geosynchronous orbit is a real scientific inconsistency.


References

  1. ↑ http://pernhome.com/tjm/?p=3208
  2. ↑ http://pernhome.com/tjm/?p=3068
  3. ↑ http://pernhome.com/tjm/?p=2858
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