Dragonsinger (Harper Hall of Pern)

In the TELL A DIFFERENT STORY'S audio book edition of Anne McCaffreys' DRAGONSINGER , purchased through the store.com , Anne McCaffrey continues the story of a young sea hold girl and her love for music and her successful efforts to become a Harper .

Menolly was the youngest daughter of Sea Holder Yanus and his wife Mavi . As Menolly was ONLY A GIRL , her talents for and love of music were considered by her parents to be useless and a possible embarrassment to the Sea Hold . They denied her any use of her musical talents , enforcing their wills with beating and never ending drudge work . How that denial and treatment drove her to run away from her home in Half-Circle Sea Hold was told in Anne McCaffreys' book DRAGONSONG .

DRAGONSINGER continues Menolly's story . This part starts with her arrival at the Harper Craft Hall aboard a bronze dragon , escorted by the Masterharper of Pern Robinton , and accompanied by her fair of fire lizards . She is met with many conflicting attitudes . Heart felt welcome and rejection , encouragement and scorn , kindness and hate , admiration and jealousy are all encountered . It tells how this young girls' determination overcomes her own abuse nurtured timidity and self doubt , and also most of the bad opinions of others . This is the story of how a good person matures , with caring assistance and guidance , and proves herself and her capabilities ,

This was my favorite trilogy of books growing up and i always wanted my own copies. I checked them out countless times from the library and now im happy to own my own set. Theyre great quality and McCaffrey is an amazing author.

I loved the continuation of Menolly's storyline. Anne McCaffrey's contributions to the literary world are sorely missed, although I've appreciated her son and other writers she co-authored with keeping up her traditions. Thanks!

Future world Pern, the earth's settlers, dealing with spores from a neighboring planet, that rain down on the planet every two hundred years, destroying all vegetation. The fire lizards that live on Pern, breath fire destroying the spores, the settlers thought they looked like earths dragons so they are breed to larger ones, to help fight spores. The riders of the dragons, impress and mind link with them at their hatching, a link that lasts the lifetime of the human. The story starts century's after the first landing, when a musical girl wants to play music and write songs, and her community thinks that is a waste of time, thinking she would rather die holdless (not being in the protection of the community) than live without music. She leaves and inadvertently impress's nine fire lizards, that she cares for and leads her to the Masterharper (head songwriter of Pern).

I've been looking for this in local libraries with no luck. It's book two in a trilogy that I had lost over the years. While I prefer hardcover books, the story is the important thing, and I'm happy now.

I read Anne McCaffrey's Harper Hall Trilogy back in the 1970's when she originally began publishing the Dragonrider's series. A conversation with a nephew brought these marvelous books back into my library and I loved them as much this reading as I did the first!

The Harper Hall series is amazing! At first I was apprehensive, as it's not directly about the dragon riders you learn to know and love from the first books in the Pern series. I wasn't sure if it would pull me in the way the first books have. However, the writing is captivating and it fills in blanks left by previous books. Absolute must read for fans of the Pern world created by Anne McAffrey.
This book, the second in the Harper series, really delves into the story of Menolly and answers a lot of questions posed in the first book. It basically is the conclusion to Menolly's story and leads the way for Piemur and his story in book three. We also get insight into the Masterharper and learn more about who he is. Great read!

I really enjoyed this book and was extremely happy to have found the second book in this trilogy. I wasn't able to find this book anywhere else. I really enjoy all her books in the Dragon Riders of Pern series and this trilogy which takes place with in that world.

Typical Anne McCaffrey book--well written and enjoyable even on the 10th or more reading. What do I like about her books? Character development is really good in this one. You "feel" for the characters who are being picked on without cause. Good history on the re-emergence of the fire lizards. I love the interaction between dragons and fire lizards, fire lizards and people. She describes just enough but allows room for your own imagination to add some details, such as facial expressions on The Master Harper Robinton. The only thing I miss is a face-to-face between Menolly and her parents. Wouldn't it be interesting to read about her return home for a wedding or ?, to help her family for whatever reason <rhetorical>, thereby gaining their respect or hate, depending on how they feel about her new status. I am in the midst of re-reading all the Anne McCaffrey books and rediscovering my love of them all.

This is one of the very first Anne McCaffrey books I ever read and it is a story and a book that has stuck with me through the years. It's a great read and one of the strongest books of the Pern series. Melody is a fantastic character with a lot of personality, and while her adventures in this book don't impact and change the world, the character is a lot of fun and the story has great pacing, amazing emotion and is a fantastic story. While this book is definitely a 'coming of age' tale, the backdrop of Pern and the dragonriders give it that extra mystique, and McCaffrey's indomitable style take it beyond the YA 'coming of age' narrative and give it a place in a larger tapestry. If you want someone to start reading fantasy or start reading Pern, this is a great book to start them with. Even though it's in the middle of a trilogy, it stands alone and holds up even re-reading it as an adult.

This is the second of the Pern Dragonsinger books (first is Dragonsong, third is Dragondrums). I've waited a long, long time for this trilogy, my favorite of all of Anne McCaffrey's Pern books. They are without reservation, my favorites. I do agree with other reviewers that the electronic publisher could have done a better job of editing all three books, but then I've read them several times over and could read around the flaws. This trilogy centers on Menolly (first two books) and Piemur (third book) who are part of the Harper Crafthall on the planet Pern. If you are not familiar with the Pern series, I suggest you start with either the first trilogy (Dragonflight, Dragoonquest, and The White Dragon) or Dragonsdawn (the prequel, written after the first trilogy). There are many other Pern books, not written in "chronological" order, but almost all of them are good enough to stand on their own. If you love dragons (friendly ones!), you'll love these books. Her son, Todd, has tried to take over the Pern stories, but they just don't measure up to his mom's books. IMHO