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 all the fire lizards she inadvertently Impresses.

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. ( )

Dragonsong sits between Dragonquest and The White Dragon, although there is some overlap with The White Dragon and it doesn't matter what order you read those two in.

Some friends and I were joking the other day that all McCaffrey books seem to involve a pained teenager coming to age. That's true with this book, although the story isn't as drawn out as The White Dragon, and I didn't find it quite as annoying to read. I think that's because McCaffrey didn't dwell on how terrible it was to be a teenager as much in this one.

I really enjoyed this one, and thought it was better than The White Dragon, and on par with Dragonflight, although I do feel that The White Dragon opens up more interesting possibilities for the universe than this book did.

http://www.stillhq.com/book/Anne_McCa... ( )

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 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. ( )

One of the most tantalizing elements to McCaffrey’s works of fantasy is that she’s created a world in Pern with its own life. All of the rules and regulations, the traditions and histories, and the social structures as a whole are unique to this world, let alone that it involves dragons and fire lizards. The Harper Hall trilogy is a great addition to the world of Pern because rather than focusing on the glorious lives of the Riders, its main characters are simple folk with simple, but important dreams. They take the reader from the bird’s eye view of the world straight into focus on everyday people, living and working in Pern. It really makes the world feel entirely alive. I recommend this trilogy to any readers 11 .-Lindsey Miller, www.lindseyslibrary.com ( )