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: 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: 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: Menoly's Tale is great
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.
| 
