Dragonsong (Harper Hall Trilogy)

by Anne McCaffrey

Paperback, 2003

Status

Available

Publication

Simon Pulse (2003), 208 pages

Description

Forbidden by her father to indulge in music in any way, a girl on the planet Pern runs away, taking shelter with the planet's fire lizards who, along with her music, open a new life for her.

Rating

(1473 ratings; 4.1)

User reviews

LibraryThing member VintageReader
How can I not give Dragonsong five stars? It was my favorite book from the time I discovered it--less than two years after it came out, in my junior high's library--until I was probably way too old to still consider Dragonsong as my favorite book. The beautiful cover pulled me in (the edition I
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first read has a great jacket by Fred Marcellino, one of my favorite illustrators) but it was the story I fell in love with. Over and over and over again.

Because, of course, it's complete wish fulfillment for any young teenager who feels like a misunderstood outcast. Especially if the teenager is a girl, and most especially a musical one.

Basically, here's the deal: Menolly lives on a world called Pern that was already well established in previous books. Every month or so the planet is threatened by an airborne spore called Thread that destroys anything it touches, but Thread can be destroyed by fire-spewing dragons and their riders. When Thread falls, everyone stays inside and lets the dragonriders do their thing.

All Menolly wants to do is make music, but her strict father doesn't think girls should be harpers. Her family is awful--her father beats her for singing her own songs, her mother intentionally lets a wound heal badly so she won't be able to play instruments, her sister is just mean. And so when she gets caught outside during Threadfall, she holes up in a cave and decides not to go home. She kills her own food. She Impresses nine fire lizards (which are like little pet-sized dragons). She makes her own instruments. She writes her own songs. And then she gets rescued and taken away to the Harper Craft Hall, where everyone understands how very special and wonderful she is and TRULY APPRECIATES her. In the second book, Dragonsinger (which I also read this week, but probably won't review), she also wins the hearts of nearly everyone she runs into, knocks the socks off the music faculty with her musical talent and skill (not to mention modesty), and even punches a bully and dances with boys! There are also some jealous girls who pick on her, but they get their comeuppance.

You see what I mean about the wish fulfillment.

I still re-read both of these books every few years, and this year Dragonsong caught my eye as it sat there on my shelf in that beautiful Fred Marcellino jacket. It's still a good book. I still love Pern, with its SF roots and its fantasy feel; it's such an intricately drawn world that I can get lost in it for days. But Menolly bugs me now. She's too perfect, too modest, too wise, too talented, too considerate, too good at EVERYTHING. As an adult, I find that annoying, and I can't give Dragonsong five stars--but deep in my adolescent heart, it gets ALL the stars, just for being the book that got me through seventh grade.
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LibraryThing member LisaMaria_C
This was the first book in the Pern series I ever read. That series is technically science-fiction, but this book even more than the other Pern books reads like high fantasy: dragonets, bards (well, OK, harpers) Lords, etc. This coming of age tale, although directed at the young adult market, I can
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also tell you given my reread as an adult is definitely a story an adult can enjoy. Menolly is an appealing character that fits an often seen pattern in the genre (one that McCaffrey might have helped set.) Unappreciated youngster has inappropriate dreams for their place in life, yet somehow wins a way into a special school where thwarted talents can shine--in this case Menolly is a talented musician whose gifts are unappreciated among her fisher folk. Running away , she comes across a clutch of firelizards, dragons in minature, and impresses nine of them. An entertaining read set in an enchanting world and when I read it as a teen I felt it stood nicely on its own not having read the Dragonrider's trilogy (some of the events of Dragonquest are alluded to here, which is one reason it might be better to read at least the first two Draongrider books before this one). I found the sequel with Menolly, Dragonsinger even better, since I loved reading about Harper Hall -- as magical in its way as Hogwarts. The third in the Harper Hall Trilogy is centered on Piemur, not Menolly, and I just didn't find it as memorable as the other two books.
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LibraryThing member grizzly.anderson
I have read this book more times than I can count. The cover is chipped and torn and almost coming off. I've no intention of getting a "better" copy.

It is an old friend that I pull out when I want something comfortable and emotional and warm. The story of Menolly, unappreciated musical prodigy who
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runs away from an abusive family to survive alone and eventually finds her way to where her talents are not just appreciated but revered is a great one. I was more enthralled with the befriending of fire lizards at first. But over time the emotional journey is the one that keeps me coming back again and again.

The rest of the series is good, but this is the one I re-read the most.
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LibraryThing member SlySionnach
My father read the entire Pern series when I was a kid. I loved seeing the books with dragons on the covers and the word PERN somewhere in the title. He even named our dog, Jaxom. And yet, it took me 20 years to get around to reading ANY of the series!

And I'm sad that it did. I enjoyed Dragonsong
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immensely, but I think I could have loved it more if I could have sympathized with Menolly more. I have to say, the way her parents treat her made me upset for her as well as wonder if any teenage feelings of, "My parents hate me!" lingered at first. Even if it was a combination of both, by the end I truly disliked Yanus, no matter how good of a Holder he was.

The story is a beautiful one, and the beginning of a series that I'm sure will prove to be amazing. When Menolly runs away from home after being injured and forbidden to sing or play music, which her heart yearns to do, her adventure starts. When she finds the legendary fire lizards and helps them save their clutch, she doesn't have any idea that it'd do more than just give her friends.

I definitely recommend this to any fantasy reader!
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LibraryThing member electrascaife
Menolly is a gifted harper (musician, essentially), but being a girl and belonging to what seems to be the equivalent to a backwater town on her world, she's bullied by her parents into giving up her dream. She resists, though, by running away, and in the process befriends some small dragon-like
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creatures in a way that she doesn't at the time realize is just short of miraculous.

One of those gawky-girl-who-doesn't-realize-she's-actually-really-amazing type stories. It's good, but not the best of its kind. I enjoyed it, but not enough to scramble for the next in the series.
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LibraryThing member MarthaJeanne
I seem to be reviewing these as I reread them.

By the time she wrote this one, McCaffrey seems to have had enough of a society that limits women. Menolly is born into that society but rejects it and by the end of the book is promised the life she always wanted.

The book concentrates more on the
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'song' half of the title than the 'dragon' half. It takes the developments of Dragonflight and Dragonquest as given, and parts of the story will not make much sense to those who haven't read them. Those parts however, while important to the series, don't really matter to this book.
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LibraryThing member jedisluzer
My first McCaffrey, and I still have a fondness for this story told from the viewpoint who is an outsider in the world of Pern rather than one of the heroes.
LibraryThing member TadAD
I like the Harper Hall series a bit more than the Dragonriders series.
LibraryThing member aapike
This is one of my favorite books. I love pretty much anything Anne McCaffrey has written, but this series and the world of Pern are among my favorite written by her. Menolly is a young girl who loves music, but with the death of her mentor, Petiron, the Harper of her hold, Menolly no longer is as
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free to play music. When an accident occurs and Menolly is prevented even further from playing music, she leaves the Hold and sets out on her own. On her own, Menolly must survive Thread, a dangerous element that can eat through anything but metal, and provide for herself and the fire lizards she has Impressed, which now belong to her. A truly good book, this story is about a young girl overcoming the obstacles standing between herself and music, and finding out who she really is as a person.
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LibraryThing member meersan
Music-loving girl runs away from music-hating home, gains nine mini dragons instead of one large one like in most Pern tales.
LibraryThing member flipside3
I picked this up on a lark after giving up one CD into Redwall. Having just started the first 3 Dragonriders of Pern novels, I was a tad miffed right at the beginning to be given a summary of the ending to those novels. Didn't matter though, because I was quickly sucked into the life of Menolly, a
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musically gifted girl born into a horribly dull and stifled by tradition fishing community.

I did almost give up on the book at the beginning because I just couldn't take all the crap that was happening to Menolly just because she was a girl. Her parents kept squelching her hopes and dreams in ways that just infuriated me. Maybe because I have a daughter now with a son on the way and I want the world for them. From my perspective the parents in this tale need a good boot to the head.

By the end, when things start to turn around, I actually found myself getting a little bit choked up. This is my first book of Anne McCaffery's to get all the way through (having only just started the others). I have to say I'm impressed with her ability to create characters that I really care about, which in my opinion is the highest talent of a great author.

One more thing... this was an audio book and I must say it is so much easier having someone read these Pern books aloud than the dead tree route. The names used in these books are filled with lots of punctuation and you won't find a simple Bob... though if you did it would probably be B'ah'b or something. Much easier to let someone else do all the work of pronunciation, and Sally Darling (the performer for this one) did a great job.

I'm hoping the library will purchase the next two books in this "Harper Hall Trilogy," but if not this one stands up very well on its own.
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LibraryThing member skiegazer3
A childhood favorite of mine, rereading this book now as an adult pulls me right back into the romantic and perilous seascape of Sea Hold's rocky shoreline, following the longings and struggles of young Menolly as she fights to earn respect and freedom with her musical talents and unexpected
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companions. A refreshing change for any fan of McCaffrey's Pern series, this book explores the familiar fantasy world through the eyes of the bardic tradition, rather than through the romance and politics of the Weyrs and the Dragonriders.
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LibraryThing member RapidCityPubLib
This is the first in the Harper hall series set on Mcaffrey’s colonized world of Pern. This book introduces up to Menolly, a fisher girl who only wants to create music, and her journey to Harper hall, as the only girl Harper.
LibraryThing member klarusu
The third Pern novel focuses on Menolly, a girl living in a sea hold with a great musical talent. Thwarted by her father's sexist expectations, she leaves the hold to pursue her dreams of freedom.

This is a very short book, as well executed as any of Anne McCaffrey's tales but in my opinion it could
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have been combined with the next in the series to make a more substantial tale. That said, it's still a good read and I was lucky enough to be able to move straight on to the next in the series so, in reality, I read them as a complete novel.

It was yet another efficiently and effectively spun tale. There was an element of frustration caused by Menolly's situation that made me race ahead to find out what happened at the climax, but the ending was satisfying enough to compensate. Once again, an enjoyable read and if you are making your way through the world of Pern, I'm sure you won't be disappointed.
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LibraryThing member cazedbooker1
All of Anne Mcaffreys are very intriguing and this series is very good for teen and and older readers
LibraryThing member NoraCharles
This book was one of the first fantasy dragon books that I read. I am still hooked!
LibraryThing member scampus
The two books about Menolly, harper of Pern, are among the best work of Anne McCaffrey, perhaps because, for once, the mighty Dragons and their riders are not the primary focus of the stories. Read these for a refreshing change from F'lar and Mnementh, F'nor and brown Canth, Lessa and Ramoth, and
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the smell of all that oiled, leather flying gear.
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LibraryThing member craso
The setting for this novel is a planet where damaging “Thread” falls from the sky and can only be stopped by fire breathing dragons. Society on this world has been structured into holds. Each hold contributes a craft or commodity to the culture. Menolly belongs to Half-Circle Sea Hold where
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fishing is their life’s work. Unfortunately for her, she is inclined towards music, not gutting fish. She is shunned for her musical ability and runs away. While away from the hold she is caught during Threadfall and takes shelter in a cave that contains fire lizard eggs, smaller cousins to the dragons. She feeds and takes care of the little creatures and they become her loyal friends. This changes her fortunes and she soon comes into her own.

McCaffrey’s world building is fantastic. I don’t like reading stories where the planet is so different from Earth that I can’t read the character names or place names and I need a map to understand where people are. In this book the names are easy and the landscape is not hard to understand. The dragons and fire lizards are portrayed as such sweet loyal friends. The fire lizards are dainty and elegant and the dragons are big and friendly.

Music was a big part of my life when I was younger. That is what drew me to this book as a teenager. I was happy to find that I still enjoyed it after so many years. I plan to reread all the Harper Hall series.
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LibraryThing member lendroth
I remember reading this book years ago in Ireland during an extended youth hostel tour of northern Europe. Money was tight and new books rationed, but I didn't mind in the least immediately beginning to read the book again as soon as I finished! Delightful tale for younger readers about Menolly and
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all the fire lizards she inadvertently Impresses.
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LibraryThing member tlwood
Music is 14-year old Menolly’s passion and she wants to become a Harper. But when her music mentor dies, so does her dream, for Harper is a man’s role and soon her father forbids Menolly to participate in any music activity at all. Menolly runs away and lives in a cave with lots of lizards, or
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baby dragons, where she continues to makes beautiful music until finally, after much action-packed experience, she is home again making beautiful music.

Dragonsong is a fast read because it is exciting with likable characters in Menolly and her lizards in the imaginary world of Pern. It’s a popular book in my library with girls and boys—I just don’t know why I never read any of the Pern books years ago—maybe the word “dragon” in the title was enough to get it censored from my reading choices as a child. McCaffrey encourages young people to ignore the idea of making choices about life work based on whether it’s men’s or women’s work, and that it’s alright to question routines. Great fantasy for middle school readers.
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LibraryThing member jimmaclachlan
Well written but I got bored of the series & world by this point. Possibly just me, but I didn't find any of it that fascinating to really enjoy it much beyond the original trilogy.
LibraryThing member puabi
I loved this book growing up. A good story with an engaging heroine.
LibraryThing member Zommbie1
Although I am not musical in the least (couldn’t sing to save my life) as a teenager I could still identify with Menolly and her feelings of being alone and misunderstood (don’t all teenagers feel misunderstood at some point?). I was also attracted to Menolly’s independence and free spirit.
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Dragonsong will always have a place in my heart as one of the books that I loved as a teenager.
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LibraryThing member Asata
This trilogy is an excellent one for kids or adults, addressing the difficulties of growing up and not meeting family or social expectations.
LibraryThing member iris.boullion
Menolly despretly wants to become a Harper. A Harper is the one that teaches the kids, sings, and does various other tasks for a Hold, which is a village or town. The problem is that the Sea Hold Menolly is at thinks that a girl harper would disgrace their hold. Soon Menolly accidently cuts her
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hand while guting fish and is told that she will never be able to play again, which is a lie that she was told so that she wouldn't play, so not to disgrace the hold. After a while of being told that she can't play and isn't aloud to sing she runs away from the Hold. After she runs away she takes shealter in a cave because Thread is falling, Thread is a sliver string that comes from the Red Star that will eat any living thing. The cave that she runs into is the home of Fire Lizards which are like mini-dragons, the dragons fight the Thread with their riders, and she accidently Impresses nine of them. Later a dragon rider rescues her from a Thread fall that was happening while she was outside, and takes her the Wheyr. There she is accepted, and so are her fire lizards, and she is happy and has even taught her much sought after firr lizards to sing which has never been heard of before.
I liked this book for many resons. Menolly had to face being an outcast and was able to get threw it. This tells you that if you want something bad enough you have to make it happen. Also this book was well written with lots of creative ideas. I would say that just about anybody could read this book and enjoy it. Even if it is confusing at times all you have to do is re-read a little and you will be fine. I also plan to read the other two books which I hope are also as good if not better.
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Language

Original language

English

Original publication date

1976-03

Physical description

208 p.; 4.1 inches

ISBN

0689860234 / 9780689860232
Page: 1.3173 seconds