Title: DragonSong
Series: Harper Hall Trilogy (Book #1)
Year: 1976
Author: Anne McCaffrey
Summary: Anne McCaffrey's best-selling Harper Hall Trilogy is a wonder-filled classic of the imagination. "Dragonsong," the first volume in the series, is the enchanting tale of how Menolly of Half Circle Hold became Pern's first female Harper, and rediscovered the legendary fire lizards who helped to save her world. (from Goodreads)
Main Characters:
~ Menolly
~ Menolly
Review: In all the years I’ve been searching for and devouring dragon books, I’m surprised that I didn’t get into Anne McCaffrey’s books earlier. I was actually introduced to this trilogy by my husband, who had read it growing up; he constantly recommended them to me (after we happened to find the trilogy at a bookstore while on our honeymoon), and then came home beaming one night when he found me reading the first one on the couch. After that, it didn’t take me long to read the whole trilogy.
Menolly is the youngest daughter of the Sea Holder and the only one in her hold able to do anything remarkable with music after the death of the hold’s harper. She is constantly coming up with new tunes, and her parents (as well as everybody else) fears how she will disgrace their hold. She has everything going for her to become the next harper – but she’s a girl.
To be honest, I liked just about everything about this book except the main character. Menolly took a while to like. Because no one understands her love of music, she’s kinda moody and self-pitying for most of the book. She understandably hates her life, and is punished for “tuning” or making up new tunes and singing/playing them in front of people.
Anne McCaffrey is fantastic about world-building. Even though she doesn’t dump a ton of information on the reader right at the beginning (unless you read the very helpful foreward that sums up part of the DragonRiders of Pern series and Pern itself), but the world of Pern becomes very real very quickly. Along with the usual weather patterns and turning of the seasons, Pern is doomed to experience periodically what is known as Thread, a mysterious substance that falls from the even more mysterious Red Star. Thread is highly dangerous as it burns/consumes anything organic that it comes in contact with – namely plants, animals, and humans. It is considered death to be caught unprotected outside during a Threadfall.
This is where the dragons come in. Thread can be stopped before it reaches the ground by dragonfire; thus, the dragons and their riders are the official heroes of Pern, considering that, without them, life on Pern would soon cease to exist.
Even though the series runs on a bunch of dragon-ish titles (DragonSong, DragonSinger, DragonDrums), there’s not a lot about dragons themselves in this book. Most of the attention is focused on the fire lizards, a.k.a. mini dragons. Menolly begins the book believing what most of Pern believes: fire lizards are creatures of legend. However, she views a golden fire lizard queen mating, and then her world is turned upside-down.
I won’t say much because of spoilers. My biggest complaint is that the reason for fire lizards being so valuable is never explained in this book. Their apparent value is clear – everyone wants one, even though most people think them legends. But why they are so highly valued is not clear. I’m curious as to whether the author explains that little detail in some of her other books. I rather think she probably did. I'm just huffy since I haven't gotten to it yet.
Menolly is the youngest daughter of the Sea Holder and the only one in her hold able to do anything remarkable with music after the death of the hold’s harper. She is constantly coming up with new tunes, and her parents (as well as everybody else) fears how she will disgrace their hold. She has everything going for her to become the next harper – but she’s a girl.
To be honest, I liked just about everything about this book except the main character. Menolly took a while to like. Because no one understands her love of music, she’s kinda moody and self-pitying for most of the book. She understandably hates her life, and is punished for “tuning” or making up new tunes and singing/playing them in front of people.
Anne McCaffrey is fantastic about world-building. Even though she doesn’t dump a ton of information on the reader right at the beginning (unless you read the very helpful foreward that sums up part of the DragonRiders of Pern series and Pern itself), but the world of Pern becomes very real very quickly. Along with the usual weather patterns and turning of the seasons, Pern is doomed to experience periodically what is known as Thread, a mysterious substance that falls from the even more mysterious Red Star. Thread is highly dangerous as it burns/consumes anything organic that it comes in contact with – namely plants, animals, and humans. It is considered death to be caught unprotected outside during a Threadfall.
This is where the dragons come in. Thread can be stopped before it reaches the ground by dragonfire; thus, the dragons and their riders are the official heroes of Pern, considering that, without them, life on Pern would soon cease to exist.
Even though the series runs on a bunch of dragon-ish titles (DragonSong, DragonSinger, DragonDrums), there’s not a lot about dragons themselves in this book. Most of the attention is focused on the fire lizards, a.k.a. mini dragons. Menolly begins the book believing what most of Pern believes: fire lizards are creatures of legend. However, she views a golden fire lizard queen mating, and then her world is turned upside-down.
I won’t say much because of spoilers. My biggest complaint is that the reason for fire lizards being so valuable is never explained in this book. Their apparent value is clear – everyone wants one, even though most people think them legends. But why they are so highly valued is not clear. I’m curious as to whether the author explains that little detail in some of her other books. I rather think she probably did. I'm just huffy since I haven't gotten to it yet.
Advisory: Some fantasy action; no actual battles or fight scenes, but Pern has its share of exotic creatures. Some characters are injured, so there is some description of blood.
Menolly’s interaction with the fire lizards begins with her watching the queen’s mating flight. While it is implied that the mating flight brings about the egg clutch, no other details are given, and I thought the whole matter handled appropriately for a younger reader.
Menolly’s interaction with the fire lizards begins with her watching the queen’s mating flight. While it is implied that the mating flight brings about the egg clutch, no other details are given, and I thought the whole matter handled appropriately for a younger reader.
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
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