Rating: 
Summary: Dragonsong . . .
Review: This is the first book of the Harper Trilogy. Menolly is the main character, an extremely talented young woman forced to hide her musical abilities from the new harper. She is beaten for strumming a guitar harmlessly, her hand is purposefully left to scar after an acciedent with a knife while gutting packtail (which leaves her basically unable to play any instrument), and she is discouraged from singing in front of any that may discover her.Unable to bear a life in which music is forbidden to her, Menolly runs from her sea-hold. She is forced into a cave she earlier had placed a clutch of fire-lizard eggs in, where the eggs are hatching. In her haste to save the hatchlings from Threadfall, she somehow manages to Impress quite a few of the little creatures. Hence the image on the front cover. This is the story of how Menolly became one of the first woman trained at the Harper Craft Hall and of the start of pet fire-lizards. This is an excellent book. At some points you will feel so frustrated for the positions Menolly is forced into, wishing she would blow up, at least. But she always keeps her temper, finder her way bravely out of it with her own solutions. I cheered her on through this book, waiting and hoping for everything to work out nicely in the end, like most people seem to hope. And when it does end, it ends in a surprising way, leaving the reader anticipating the second book excitedly. Menolly is a strong, realistic character that makes her mark in the history of Pern in her own special way. I rated this book five stars because that is what it truly deserves.
Rating:
Summary: Escaped Music
Review: Dragonsong was an extremely interesting and clever book. The main character is Menolly, a very talented and determined young woman whose dream is to become a Harper. Her old-fashioned father finds the idea of a female Harper disgraceful and does everything he can to hold her back. Finally, no longer able to stand her unfair treatment, Menolly runs away and lives with a group of fire lizards (small flying lizards that closely resemble dragons). Here she can use her gift of music and is quite contented with her life.
The ending of the book is satisfying, although I would recommend reading the other two books that come after it in the series.
The characters in this book are very believable, the setting is realistic, and the plot is interesting, exciting, and suspenseful.
I highly recommend this book for ages 8-10 and up. I think that many adults would enjoy it, as well as children.
Rating: 
Summary: One of the better books in the Dragonriders of Pern series
Review: I like this first novel about Menolly a lot...However, much of Dragonsinger won't make sense if the reader hasn't read Dragonsong first. The novel gets somewhat bogged down in the daily life of Menolly at half circle where she's very much unappreciated and at times punished for being a musical prodigy. The pace picks up when Menolly gets caught out of the hold at threadfall, and well, I guess I shouldn't comment further to avoid spoiling the plot. This is another novel which could be fairly nice to finally see in movie form although this novel and Dragonsinger would probably need to be combined to make a feature length film.
Rating:
Summary: A Lyrical and Musical Fantasy Story
Review: This particular instalment of Anne McCaffrey's Pern series holds a special place in my heart because it was through reading "Dragonsong" that I discovered first the Harper Hall trilogy (Dragonsinger and Dragondrums follow on)and then the rest of the Pern books. While I consider that overall "Dragonflight", the first Pern book, is far and away the best of the series, Menolly is a particularly likeable and engaging character. Her story is skilfully woven and her character beautifully revealed and developed in this first instalment of her story. The mixture of science fiction and fantasy works well...Pern exists in the unimaginably far future when we have managed to colonise remote planets, but a medieval style society has been set up on the planet Pern, without much of the current technology we take for granted. The fantasy element is provided by the magnificent dragons and beautiful firelizards...I have often had a desire to own a fire lizard for a pet since hearing about Menolly's fair of nine :) A good story for those who like fantasy and science fiction in general, and fans of Anne McCaffrey in particular.
Rating:
Summary: The first novel in the enchanting trilogy about Menolly
Review: "Dragonsong" is the first of Anne McCaffrey's Harper Hall of Pern trilogy which focuses on my favorite Pern character, Menolly. In this first story, Menolly is the youngest child and daughter of Yanus, Sea Holder at Half-Cirlce Sea Hold in Benden Hold. Although she displays astounding musical talents, Menolly's father will have none of it. After the death of Petiron, the old Harper, Menolly is allowed to sign only to give the children their teaching songs. But when Elgion, the new Harper, arrives at Half-Circle Sea Hold, Menolly is forbidden to play ever again. Literally adding injury to insult, Menolly sustains a grevious wound to her hand while cleaning fish. But just as it looks at if life could not get any worse for Menolly, a wonderful thing happens. She impresses a clutch of nine fire lizards. In her miniature queen Beauty and the rest of the clutch, Menolly has a chorus of fire lizards who harmonize with her in a most amazing way. Meanwhile, Harper Elgion is having a problem, because he has been ordered by Master Harper Robinton to discover the prodigal talent Petrion has discovered. In his last message the Old Harper had sent two of the loveliest melodies Robinton had ever heard. But clearly none of the young lads at Half-Circle Sea Hold has a whit of musical talent and Yanus makes up some story about a foundling sent back to his own hold. Eventually Robinton himself comes to solve the mystery of the missing musical talent. No hyperbole here, but not since Anne of Green Gables have I come across as enchanting a young girl as Menolly (her name is just perfect too). The similarity is certainly palatable, what with a young woman who is told to deny her talents because she is but a girl. But Menolly has a gift and it is impossible for her not to use it, even if it must be in secret, and what makes her so endearing is that she really has no idea how talented she is, a trait that becomes even more precocious in "Dragonsinger" and "Dragondrums." My only real complaint with Anne McCaffrey's recent novels is that Menolly has been reduced to only a minor supporting character.
Rating:
Summary: Pern and it's magic dragons
Review: For the child that loves dragons and stories about dragons, only one book series comes to mind that has successfully created an entire complex world of dragons and the people who love them. Anne McCaffrey's dragonriders of Pern series has existed since the 1970s and it is still as popular as ever. Author McCaffrey has written intricate imaginings about Pern and its inhabitants. At once sci-fi and fantasy, she is an adept writer that fully deserves the popularity she has received. For the child that wants an easy introduction into this world, there are two options. They could begin at the very beginning of the series and slowly work their way through all the Pern books. Or, second option, they could start with a book that is both kid-friendly and a wonderful Intro to McCaffrey 101. "Dragonsong" was a book that I personally picked up in sixth grade and loved. It is the perfect way to learn more about the dragons of Pern, their riders, and the people of the planet.
McCaffrey is smart. She knows that this book series is so complex that it there is no way in which to begin any plot without a recap of past events. She includes in this tale a map of Pern, a useful character list, and a Forward that deftly explains the history of the planet and its dragons. Then we meet Menolly. Born in a small fishing village, the girl is the most talented musician in the village, but she yearns to become a professional Harper and create music as well as sing/play it. Unfortunately, no woman has ever been a Harper before and her conservatively minded family is determined to squash this dream of Menolly's before she shames them in some way. When life for Menolly becomes too harsh, she escapes into the wide world and takes shelter in a cave. There, she discovers a cache of fire lizards, small cousins of the dragons that protect Pern. By witnessing the birth of nine of these pet sized dragons and tending to them, Menolly acquires nine faithful affectionate companions that will help her as she determines how best to live and survive.
I don't think I've adequately conveyed the plot as well as I would have liked. Needless to say, long before Tamora Pierce made her name as the primo Heroines-In-Fantasy genre writer, McCaffrey was writing fantastic stories such as this. Boys reading this book will undoubtedly enjoy it, but I feel that like myself when young, girls will really gravitate towards the reading. Menolly is incredibly talented, but smothered and unappreciated by her family members. The fact that she possesses a brilliance with music and nine tiny dragons makes her special and different and you really want people to turn around and cheer her. When such a thing finally happens in the book, the reader is awash in joy for the character. McCaffrey is so adept that reading this book is just a delight. The only real problem with it comes with an odd backstory about the dragonrider Brekke. Up until that point, the book has mostly been easy to follow and read. Suddenly Menolly is talking with Brekke's step-daughter and the reader, if they haven't read the previous books in the series, is momentarily confused and bewildered by this plot that's flown in from left field. Otherwise, the text is perfectly good.
If you've a kid who likes fantasy (or heck, an adult for that matter) then you cannot do better than Menolly's series of Pern books, referred to as the Harper's Hall Trilogy by some. I recommend you start them with either this book or the equally amusing (and well-written) "The White Dragon", another good Intro. to Pern book for the kiddies. Personally, my heart belongs to "Dragonsong" and I cannot recommend it enough to those who've a love of people, dragons, and a rollicking good yarn.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic Reading
Review: This book has always been one of my favorites in Anne McCaffrey's dragonrider series. Menoly, wanting nothing more than to play her beloved music, is denied it by her parents. a heart breaking story with a fairy tale ending, a deffinate must have for any fantasy reader!!
Rating:
Summary: One of the Best
Review: Definitely one of the best in the Dragonriders of Pern series. I think I felt just as frustrated as Menolly when her father wouldn't let her enjoy music! Reminded me of many a narrow minded bigot I have known! I was somewhat dissappointed, however with the lack of development in Menolly's character. Her personality seemed unfocused. Perhaps the author meant to show Menolly's growth, etc... but it wound up feeling a bit confused. All in all, one of the best, though.
Rating:
Summary: Menoly's Tale is great
Review: Menoly is a lot like me. But that is only one reason I absolutely love this book. Menoly is in a spot of disfavor with the people who reside in the hold by the sea. She learned the harpers'craft from the ailing harper. When the harper dies, Menoly is forbidden to sing or make songs. Just to make matters worse, her hand is injured while gutting fish. Then, the lonely girl runs away, teaches fire lizards to sing, and proves that you don't need to be a boy to make songs.
Rating:
Summary: With a Song In Her Heart
Review: Dragonsong is the first novel in the Harper Hall trilogy and the fourth in the Pern series. Harpers are assigned to Holds and Guild Halls to educate the children and to pass on interesting events to the adults. Harpers are much in demand since the return of Thread and Lessa's heroic trip through time to bring forward another five full Weyrs from the past. In this novel, seven turns have passed since Lessa's trip through time. Half-Circle Sea Hold has lost their aged Harper and no one other than Menolly, the Sea Holder's youngest child, can properly sing the deathsong to honor old Petiron as he is put to rest. Yanus is upset that a mere girl should be given this honor, yet he has no choice but to allow it. Moreover, Menolly is the only one available to instruct the children in the Teaching songs. However, Yanus and his wife, Mavi, try to stop Menolly from "tuning", writing new songs. After repeated warnings, Yanus beats her with his belt when she dreamily strums a new tune in front of the children and Mavi piles works on her. When the new harper arrives, Yanus and Mavi try to keep Menolly from his attention, even though the new Harper has asked about the person who wrote the new songs that Petiron had sent to Harper Hall. When Menolly slashes her hand open while gutting packtails and gets slime into the cut, her mother cleans, stitches and bandages the wound and tells Menolly that she will no longer be able to use that hand to play music. The wound becomes poisoned by the slime as well as infected and Menolly spends a few days in pain and delirium. After she recovers, she spends most of her time out of the Hold gathering greens and fruit. One day Menolly is out gathering spiderclaws when she discovers a golden fire lizard trying to move her clutch of eggs away from a unusually high tide, but she keeps dropping them. At first, the little queen tries to drive Menolly away, but Menolly eventually persuades the queen to let her help. By the time the remaining eggs are safe, Threadfall drives Menolly into the small cave with the queen and her eggs and then the eggs begin to hatch. The young fire lizards are hungry and try to scramble out of the cave to catch food, but the falling Thread will kill them, so Menolly desperately feeds them the spiderclaws. By the time that the Threadfall is over, Menolly has impressed nine young fire lizards. This novel is my favorite in the Pern series, although others are almost as enjoyable. There is something fresh and open about the tale, and the songs, that especially appeals to me. Menolly is a talented young woman who belongs with the Harpers, despite her parents thoughts on the matter. Thus, the story is a classic generation gap plot with a final satisfactory resolution. This novel may appeal more to young women than to males, but I passed this novel on to my daughters because I liked it. You don't have to be female to enjoy this story. Menolly is an very likeable young woman who compells your attention. Highly recommended for McCaffrey fans and anyone else who enjoys SF tales of talented young persons struggling to gain recognition for their abilities. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title
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