La ballade de Pern : Intégrale IV

Harper Hall of Pern #1-3

by Anne McCaffrey

Omnibus of DragonSong, DragonSinger, and DragonDrums

Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Dragons, Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy, Young Adult, Audiobook

760 pages

First published January 1, 1976

About the author

Anne Inez McCaffrey was an American writer known for the Dragonriders of Pern science fiction series. She was the first woman to win a Hugo Award for fiction (Best Novella, Weyr Search, 1968) and the first to win a Nebula Award (Best Novella, Dragonrider, 1969). Her 1978 novel The White Dragon became one of the first science-fiction books to appear on the New York Times Best Seller list.
In 2005 the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America named McCaffrey its 22nd Grand Master, an annual award to living writers of fantasy and science fiction. She was inducted by the Science Fiction Hall of Fame on 17 June 2006. She also received the Robert A. Heinlein Award for her work in 2007.

Reviews

[Teresa Okesonprater · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh my I have read and re-read thesebookssomany times over the years. Old friends

[Kathleen May · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've lost count on how many times I've read this series... If you love Pern, you'll love the Harper Hall!

NOTE: I even think the author recommends this ... but, I found reading in this order makes the story flow better:

Dragonflight
Dragonquest
then: Harper Hall Trilogy
then: White Dragon ...

Enjoy!

[Jenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my all time favorite fantasy book! I read it as a youth and I've probably read it 100 times...my book has fallen apart. It's got 3 books in one and many other books related to these but out of the ones I've read its my fav. The others get a little too much for me.
It's about a young girl who has a musical talent although she is told she is not allowed to use it. From that time on she decides to live alone and from there her true adventure begins...Dragons and a world that seems so primitive yet if you read Dragonsdawn you will find it's actually set in the future but the've forgotten as years and years have gone by.

Her planet that she lives on is called Pern. After she leaves her family to live alone she rescues some eggs only to find that they have tiny dragons. She lives alone until something happens and is rescued and brought to another part of her planet. As she heals she makes friends and is brought to a special school that teaches her to use her talents.

I can't explain better but if you like this kind of stuff you will enjoy it. Everytime I read it I get lost in the book and I myself enjoy the adventure she embarks on.

[Nico Lune · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thanks to my sister Chelsea, I got a chance to read this great story. I love the coming of age stories in a world that is not unlike our own, except there are dragons that protect the people from a threat that is beyond their control. Although it has been years since I was a 15 year old misunderstood girl, I was transported back to that time when the tunnel vision of my own personal tragedies of growing overshadowed the more relevant issues that were happening outside of the scope of my vision.

[Dietmar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read in Memory of Anne McCaffrey - it must have been about 20 years back I last read those 3 books included in this omnibus version (Dragonsong, Dragonsinger, Dragondrums) and this re-read felt like coming home. The books haven't lost any of their magic. To me these 3 and "The White Dragon" are Anne MaCaffreys best books in the Pern-Series. I cannot highly recommend the books - also for reading them again after some time.

[Gina · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was one of my favorite series as a teen. I found this collection at the used book sale at the library and have been saving it for a comfort read. A coronavirus quarantine is as good occasion as any! It was as good as I remember. I love the fire lizards, the descriptions of Pern and Pernese music which is the focus of this particular set.

[Carolyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Like comfort food, this is a trilogy I can pick up and reread any time, with a sense of coming home.
I own this SFBC omnibus edition.

[Kahlan · Rating 3 out of 5]

On se retrouve aujourd'hui avec la quatrième intégrale de La ballade de Pern, d'Anne McCaffrey, et la suite d'une lecture commune de l'entièreté de la saga commencée sur L'Imag'In Café à la mi 2023. Ce volume s'attache essentiellement aux harpistes et complète à merveille la découverte d'un univers dense, et à la construction, il faut bien le dire, assez remarquable.

Le chant du dragon nous permet de faire connaissance avec Menolly, jeune fille issu du fort de Mer du Demi-Cercle, un fort essentiellement consacré à la pêche, où ses talents de chanteuse et de musicienne sont extrêmement mal vus, du fait qu'elle est une femme. Il ne se passe pas grand-chose de vital dans ce tome, mais on y voit la société pernaise sous un autre angle, à travers le prisme étroit, et pas forcément très glorieux, du regard des proches de Menolly. On en apprend aussi un peu plus sur les lézards de feu. Une lecture plaisante, mais pas exceptionnelle non plus.

La chanteuse-dragon de Pern reprend exactement à la fin du tome précédent. C'est donc à nouveau un tome centré sur les harpistes et leur atelier, dont on découvre plus avant le fonctionnement. Ce n'est pas inintéressant, ne me faites pas dire ce que je n'ai pas dit. Cependant, en toute honnêteté, si l'on ne s'y ennuie pas, cela n'a rien non plus de très passionnant. Le récit manque d'enjeux, et Menolly a beau être sympathique, et certains personnages secondaires attachants, cet opus n'est pas des plus dynamique. Cela passe dans une intégrale, mais en one-shot, je me demande bien ce que j'en aurais pensé.

Les tambours de Pern, enfin, change de point de vue pour nous relater la vie du jeune Piemur, l'ami de Menolly à l'atelier des harpistes. C'est un personnage attachant, dont la voix de soprano, mue soudain, lui faisant perdre temporairement une place et un statut enviés. Pourtant, curieux et roublard, ce jeune homme est un véritable atout pour Robinton, le Maître Harpiste de Pern, qui va l'employer comme petit espion dans les forts. Il y avait matière à construire une chouette intrigue sur cette base, mais ce n'est de toute évidence pas le point fort d'Anne McCaffrey !

Au final, cela donne une intégrale assez poussive, malgré un univers très chouette et des personnages attachants. Ces trois tomes étaient agréables à lire, mais ils manquaient cruellement d'enjeux et j'ai de plus en plus l'impression que l'autrice tourne en rond, revenant sans arrêt sur les mêmes sujets, et peine à se renouveler. Dommage...

[Kiri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just as charming as I remember it from middle school. The first two books follow Menolly in her progress from unwanted and maltreated youngest daughter of a sea holder to a brief stay at Benden Weyr and then to Harper Hall, where she has to deal with a lot of hassle from the other young folk but emerges supreme with her dazzling musical ability. The events of this book overlap other Pern stories, and we get to see (briefly) key events like Jaxom's Impression of white Ruth and Mirrim's Impression of green Path, plus F'nor's expedition to the Red Star and Brekke's heartbreaking wail. Firelizards also have a large role in this series of books, and they are a lot of fun.

The third book shifts its point of view to Piemur, a younger harper apprentice, and although his adventures are quite wily and fun to follow (he's quite the clever scamp), I remember why I never loved book 3 quite as much as the first two. It's jarring to see Menolly from the outside, which converts her from an insecure, overly modest, quivering but bravely rising to the challenge girl into a suddenly self-assured, polished, calm adult. Yes, 3 years have passed, but we didn't get to see her evolution, so she feels like a stranger who just happens to have the same name, rather than the same girl we grew to care for in books 1 and 2. That aside, a highlight of book 3 is that we get to visit the southern continent with Piemur and learn a bit more about that mysterious part of Pern.

It was very fun to re-read these books and re-immerse myself in Pern for a while!

[Anne-Laure Dixneuf · Rating 2 out of 5]

Avant-dernière intégrale de la saga La ballade de Pern, d'Anne McCaffrey, cette quatrième intégrale est centrée essentiellement sur les harpistes, et sur deux personnages en particulier. Les trois tomes se suivent et, bien qu'ils aient été agréables à lire, on peut dire que ça s'est arrêté là.

Le premier tome, Le chant du dragon, met l'accent sur Menolly, jeune fille qui ne trouve pas sa place au sein de son Fort. En effet, son Fort est consacré à la pêche, car situé près de la mer, mais ce qui fait vibrer Menolly est la musique, le chant et la composition de ballades. Le Fort étant plutôt éloigné de tout, les idées sont de manière générale assez arriérées et personne n'accepte qu'elle fasse de la musique, car elle est une femme, cette discipline étant généralement réservée aux hommes. Menolly ne tardera pas à se rendre compte que sa place n'est pas ici, et c'est une rencontre avec des lézards de feu qui changera sa vie.

Le second tome, La chanteuse-dragon de Pern, reprend directement à la fin du premier tome. Nous retrouvons Menolly à l'Atelier des Harpistes, que l'on découvre de manière un peu plus poussée. On peut ainsi se rendre compte que l'univers créé par l'auteur est toujours aussi riche et foisonnant de détails, malheureusement l'intérêt de ce tome s'arrête là pour moi. J'ai lu sans passion, avec un vague intérêt, mais il manquait cruellement d'action, de pep's à cette (ces ?) histoire.

Enfin, Les tambours de Pern met en scène le second personnage dont je vous parlais au début, à savoir Piemur, un personnage que l'on a déjà croisé dans d'autres tomes si ma mémoire est bonne. Ami de Menolly à l'Atelier des Harpistes, Piemur est attachant, casse-cou, effronté, curieux et loyal, bref un ami dont on rêve tous. Excellent soprano, il va avoir la mauvaise surprise un matin de voir que sa voix mue, lui faisant perdre ainsi sa place dans la chorale. Robinton, conscient des talents du jeune homme, fera tout pour lui trouver une nouvelle place au sein de l'Atelier. C'est ainsi que l'on en apprend un peu plus sur ces fameux tambours qui, d'un bout à l'autre de Pern, permet de transmettre des messages.

En somme, nous avons là une intégrale vraiment peu passionnante. Très contemplative en fait, sans réellement d'action ou de rebondissements. Je le disais plus haut, l'univers est toujours aussi riche et intéressant, mais je me suis beaucoup trop ennuyée, peinant à ouvrir mon livre le soir. Il me reste une dernière excursion sur Pern à faire et, malgré les intégrales inégales et les histoires trop plates, je garderai néanmoins une très bonne opinion de cette saga.

[George Hobbs · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has been on my shelf since the 80's - good ole Science Fiction Book Club!
I reread it every couple of years, along with most of my collection of Anne McCaffrey books.

[Taylor Ridley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review: The Harper Hall of Pern

3.3 stars

Although this wasn’t a bad book, it wasn’t my kind of read, and the plot developed in some strange directions which I’ll get to in a moment. It started strong, but by the end, it was really losing me. It should be said that this is the first thing I’ve ever read from Anne McCaffrey, and maybe that was a mistake since I’m pretty sure these aren’t the first stories in the chronology. That said, this was still… messy.

These are self-declared sci-fi stories set in a fantasy-like world with teleporting dragons, though these aren’t the focus of the book. The spotlight goes to the “fire lizards”, which are tiny cousins of the dragons, and “Harpers”, which are sort of what would happen if a bard, a social influencer, and a history teacher collided.

The layout of Pern is based upon something called “Thread”; tiny, silvery insects (or worms?) that rain down from the skies like snow from your worst nightmare. Thread eat anything organic they come in contact with, causing anyone caught out in the open to be “Thread-scored” - I.e. partially eaten. Dragon riders patrol these areas and use their mounts to burn Thread out of the air, but there’s only so many riders to go around. This means that settlements, or Holds, are few and far between, often underground or built into cliffsides for safety.

Open the first of three parts in this book, Dragonsong. Menolly is our main character, and she comes from one of the most isolated and therefore ‘stuck-in-their-ways’ cultures. Menolly is the prodigy student of the Harper in her village, but when he dies with no male Harper to replace him, she must temporarily take up the mantel until a replacement arrives.

Despite her skill, she is berated and scorned by her family if her lessons stray so much as a hair from the old ways. Her “tunings” as her parents call them are not only unacceptable, but deserving of severe beatings. One day while working to gut fish, her knife slips, cutting into her left arm. This wound is then bandaged incorrectly and purposefully neglected by her parents with the intent to permanently render the tendons in her hand useless. This prevents her from playing instruments without pain, and she falls into a depression.

This part of the book was well done. It did an excellent job of making me hate her family and root for her to either get out of dodge or buck their authority. She then escapes her Hold and stumbles across a nest of fire lizard eggs. Fire lizards were considered to be a bit of an urban legend since they often live far from any human activity. She saves a clutch of eggs and befriends nine new born lizards who then stick by her side throughout the rest of the story.

This is near the end of Dragonsong, and everything goes downhill from here in terms of story telling. Up to this point, we’ve been given conflict, direction, and a new start for Menolly. We’re left wondering how everything will end with her hateful family, her repressed musical talent, and her fate as someone living outside the bounds of a Hold… but the books seem to want to ignore a lot of what’s been built up here.

She’s then caught out in the open during Thread fall (again. This is actually the second time she’s let herself be blindsided by it, which felt a little strange seeing just how dangerous this stuff is and how easy it is to see it coming on the horizon since it shimmers like a silver cloud). Anyhow, a dragon rider just so happens to spot her running her feet bloody trying to escape it, and swoops her up onto dragon back before teleporting her to safety.

She finds herself in a new Hold that’s far less draconian, and tries to hide her identity so she won’t be forced to return home. This doesn’t hold up for long, but luckily, no one there tries to force her to go back anyways.

While her wounds heal, she’s introduced to another young woman. It seems like these two might become close friends, but I honestly can’t remember her name because she vanishes in any meaningful way from the latter half for the book. She felt injected into the story as a tool to introduce other people that have bonded with fire lizards, then forgotten as soon as she was no longer needed.

A lot of this book tends to feel this way. So many elements end up being added into the storyline as a convenient way to introduce elements, but ultimately have little to no impact on the development of the plot itself. This lead to a lot of plant without payoff until is irked me to pick up the book and continue reading.

Later, (much later, after skipping some inconsequential events such as a dragon hatching that ended up having no impact) Menolly is taken to the Harper Hall by the Master Harper after her identity as the prodigy student is revealed. One more thing I’ll say about this is that it felt like the author was always skirting the edges of revelations or resolutions of conflict. Tension would be built up and up and up, and then when the climax hit, it was rushed through and brushed aside as if in a scramble to return to the baseline pace. After Menolly is accepted by the Master Harper, the tone quickly tries to revert itself to the tense, slow, and generally unkind atmosphere.

At this point I was still hanging on, waiting to see what great changes Menolly’s talent would bring to the world and waiting for the seemingly inevitable final clash between her and her family. This was the end of Dragonsong and the beginning of Dragonsinger.

Within the first few chapters of Dragonsinger, the tension ramps up to a new level when Menolly has some kind of prophetic vision. She wakes in the middle of the night screaming in terror as her fire lizards fly into a panicked frenzy and become so frightened by what they sense that they teleport themselves into hiding. Even a dragon that was stationed to keep watch over the hall teleports away without its rider, which is highly unusual behavior.

She has a vision of black goo swarming up the nation, and the words of a song in her mind that begs the listener not to forget her name. Surely something so traumatizing as this would lead to a huge revelation of war or calamity, right?…. Right? Well… no. It never talks about this again.

Turns out that a dragon rider teleported into the sun in an attempt to destroy the source of Thread, and since dragons are all telepathically linked (apparently), they all freaked out. Basically, this entire scene was used as a tool to demonstrate the telepathic connection between dragons, fire lizards, and their owners. And that’s it. We never talk about the fact that a dragon rider *flew into the sun* again or what kind of repercussions such an incredible feat could entail. It just vanishes from the plot, never to return.

Now, I understand that this is part of a very large interconnected timeline of stories and that some of these plot lines were meant to be taken up later (I assume), but that doesn’t make leaving a bunch of loose ends inside the current story work out too well. Dragonsinger is the second book in this book, so not only does this plot thread not return in this story, but it doesn’t return in the third book of this book either.

Anyways, from here, Menolly must start again from the bottom of the pecking order and sort of stumble her way up to the top again. This is where the cultural side of things becomes almost intolerable. Everyone here is either profusely apologizing over nothings, or getting profusely offended over nothings. It gets a bit tiresome when every other page is dedicate to someone having their toes stepped on. It’s part of the culture, but it does wear over time.

Menolly eventually manages to make progress on her musical talents despite the mangled wound on her left arm. She rises through the ranks, and makes a real friend that sticks around. Piemur is a boy, probably no older than twelve, but makes up for his young age with his wits. He’s more fun to watch than most of the characters in the second book because he evades the social standards and sticks his nose into everything.

In the middle of this book, another drama goes down between Menolly and a rich-blood named Ponna. This goes on back and forth throughout the story, and ends with Ponna being kicked out of the Hall and Menolly being elevated to a higher rank to prevent her from being forced to leave by Ponna’s uncle. This threat was made, but nothing ever came of the rivalry between these two. No final say was really made, leaving yet another loose thread dangling, unfinished.

By this point Menolly has progressed rapidly and she’s being propped up as “the wave of the future”, which is all well and good… except that we don’t actually see her ever make a big difference with her songs. We’re told that her one song about fire lizards spread like wildfire and that she makes songs that appeal to the average man, but we never get to see a cause and effect change from her influence.

There are some mild hints throughout Dragonsinger about a budding relationship between her and another young harper, but again, I have trouble recalling his name because he wasn’t a very big part of the story.

Throughout this second book, there’s been little mention of Menolly’s family. I was thinking the third would finally circle around to all the strings that had been set up for a finale, but Dragondrums opens with the POV of Piemur, and Menolly is left in the background for the rest of the story. This is where the book really lost me. It was clear from here that the major conflict with her family set up in the first book would not be resolved, nor would her supposed profound effect on the population of Pern. Her vision and the incident of a dragon teleporting into the sun wouldn’t be coming up again, and now Piemur would be taking the reins in a offshoot political drama between factions that had not been previously introduced.

Alright, I’ll try and break down this last one quickly.

Dragondrums focuses it’s time on turning Piemur from voice-cracking singer into a spy for the Harper Hall. There are a couple cool moments early on, especially when he has to hide a sapphire from a rogue dragon rider set on stealing the gems for himself, but aside from that, the plot goes downhill. Although it sets him up to be a spy, his actual spy work is short lived.

This plot spins itself up into a kingdom v kingdom rather quickly, but I had no reason to be invested in one group over the other since these factions were just introduced. One of the main points of the conflict between these two groups also revolves around the fire lizards, but the strange part is that the “good guys” want to gives these lizards to the rich, whereas the “bad guys” are giving lizards to all their citizens. Now, maybe I missed something here, but trading your own bought and sold lizards and giving them to your citizens isn’t a great point to make readers root against this kingdom. The bigger point was that this kingdom was trading goods with the south, which were formally exiled sometime back.

Piemur makes a big show when he steals a queen egg from the king’s pot and starts a castle-wide search. He has to hide in some cargo, and is then picked up and transported to another continent. The last half of this story is just about Piemur hatching and caring for a queen fire lizard, leaving behind the plot of being a spy. He lives in the middle of nowhere for several months, adopts an injured calf, meets a pretty girl, and then floats right back into the Master Harper’s arms. It’s… a weird turn of events.

Honestly this whole book is just about the fire lizards, and the characters and plot are there to prop them up. That sounds a bit harsher than I mean it, but I’m not sure how else to say it.

Oh, and I forgot one last thing. Remember that weakly hinted budding relationship between Menolly and Sebel? (Yeah, his name is Sebel, I finally remembered it lol). Well… that got weird right at the end. How do I explain this in a non weird way? Short version: their fire lizards got frisky, and because of the telepathic bond between them and their masters, they got frisky too. There was nothing graphic, but the situation in general was… not expected? It felt out of left field with so little romantic build up between the two before hand, not to mention the bizarre animal connection to it all.

I think I understand what the author was trying to accomplish with this book. It was doing a lot to build up the world and some of the major players in Pern. This series is part of a much larger extended collection of stories set in this same world which I haven’t read. The problem is that this was the book’s main purpose, while the personal stories of the characters involved came second. At least, that’s how it came across.

By the end, I didn’t know who the main character was or what the arc of the story was really meant to be. Menolly escaped her abusive family and became a harper, but to what end? She tamed fire lizards, but she wasn’t the first to do so, and had no large impact on this aspect of the story. Her mother, father, and sister still think she’s dead, and her brother doesn’t know where she went even though he’s the kinder one of the lot, and her home Hold hasn’t changed an ounce.

Piemur lost his voice, did little as a spy, and had no conclusive growth for this way or that. The book focused on his attainment of a fire lizard more than anything, which was too bad because he would’ve made for a pretty fun spy.

I know I’ve been more negative about this book than most, but I don’t mean to slam it. It has it’s upsides - the plot just isn’t one of them. The first book really had me going, and I think if it just stuck to those roots more it would’ve had me till the end. The idea to have Piemur working as a spy could’ve been great as well, especially if his fire lizard had ever come in handy.

Individually I’d give Dragonsong close to 4 stars, Dragonsinger close to three and a half, and Dragondrums a 3. I have a couple other Anne McCaffery books on hand that I’d been given many years ago, so I may read those as well. Hopefully they’ll be more consistent than this one was. I liked the general world building that was set up, I liked the institutions that were introduced, and I can only imagine what kind of crazy plots could go down with teleporting dragons thrown into the mix. But, anyway, I feel I’ve ranted more than enough on this review.

[Angie ~aka Reading Machine~ · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Dragonsong, we find Menolly, youngest daughter of Half Circle Sea Hold is a talented musican and songwriter much to the dismay of her parents. Who don't want her to be twiddling with music. Menolly is encouraged by Harper Petiron and understands her better than her family does. Petiron sends two of Menolly's songs to Masterharper Robinton because he believes in her that much. When Petiron dies Menolly feels strangely alone with him gone. Menolly's family expects her to mind her manners now that Harper Petiron is gone and awaiting the new Harper to come. Menolly is injured and it crushes her dreams to be a Harper. Then Menolly runs away from Half Circle Sea Hold. Can anyone find her? Does her family care? Your answers await you in Dragonsong. In Dragonsinger, we find Menolly in her first days as an apprentice at Harper Hall after being found at Benden Weyr's Hatching by Masterharper Robinton. Menolly discovers that her songs have been circulated all over Pern and that Harper's everywhere have been looking for her only they didn't know it. Menolly finds is has alot to learn and has not made very many friends. Piemur takes Menolly under his wing so to speak at Harper Hall. Menolly also has nine fire lizards which does not endear her to many people either. As Menolly struggles to fit in and make a place for herself. Will Menolly find her way? Will she be happy? Your answers await you in Dragonsinger. In Dragondrums, we find Menolly settled at Harper Hall along with her friends Sebell and Piemur. Piemur while singing a solo loses his voice due to puberty much to his dismay. Masterharper Robinton has a plan for Piemur. Piemur is to go to the drumheights and learn while being Masterharper's unofficial apprentice. Piemur learns drum code very easily and wants to do a good job of it. Piemur goes on special assignments for Masterharper. Can Piemur find a new purpose? Will he be happy again? Your answers await in Dragondrums.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this series! I was explaining to a friend how I absolutely adored anything dragon, and she suggested Anne McCaffrey to me, as she read a lot of her books as a teenager. She found these books and let me borrow them, and I’m so grateful she did. If you like fantasy books, interesting new worlds, young characters who come of age and achieve so much growth, then this is the series for you.

The first two books focus on Menolly. She is the daughter of a sea holder, with a great amount of musical talent. However, it has been the tradition for Harpers (musicians of Pern) to be male, and her parents do all they can to remind her of that. But because Menolly cannot give up the music she knows to be a part of her, she leaves her hold and finds herself becoming “impressed” upon 9 fire lizards – cousins to the dragons of Pern that are held in much esteem by the citizens. The third book also includes Menolly, but is mostly focused on her friend Piemur who is also coming of age and learning how to use his abilities to his fullest, and to help others.

Again, I cannot stress how much I enjoyed these books, and I definitely want to read more of McCaffrey’s Pern books (there are so many!). There is a lot of information/background that could make more sense if a person has read the other Pern books, but not so much that the reader couldn’t figure things out and enjoy the stories. Although YA in nature, there are definitely more adult-like themes in the third book. But after having read so many PNR books lately (which can be very explicit), it was nice to read something a bit lighter, but with much of the fantasy I like to escape in.
(I actually read each book separately, but I understand it is also available bundled.)

[Julie Capell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dragonsong was my introduction to the world of Pern. I first picked a slim paperback of Dragonsong when I was in junior high school and immediately fell in love with everything about it. The young heroine, Menolly, who is trying to build a better life for herself; the tiny fire lizards; the huge dragons and their telepathically-linked riders who protect the planet from the threat of THREAD falling from the sky; the guild of singers who carry information from place to place; and most of all, Master Harper Robinton. Dragonsinger carries on the story of Menolly and is equally as good. Menolly is also a character in Dragondrums, but the book's protagonist is a young boy named Peimur, and it is not quite as fun a read as the first two books. I read these books (usually skipping Dragondrums), as well as all the Pern books, several times over in my teens and early twenties, and never tired of them. And although it has now been many years since I have picked up a Pern novel, the images, characters and places are so real that I can conjure them up in an instant. Dragonsong and Dragonsinger are two of my favorite books of all time, which I enthusiastically recommend to every young girl with an active imagination.

[Tine! · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel like I've never seen or noticed this side of Anne McCaffrey's writing before - and, having not read any of her other works for some years now, I'll be keen to go back and feel for impressions (ha!) - which is her MARY SUE side! Oh, I am the most perfect, talented child in all the world, and everyone is working against me! Perhaps this is very easy to relate to as a child, since we are developing and as-yet stuck in our egocentric snowglobe built around us by our doting old folks, etc, but it grates pretty hard upon the crusty ears of jaded adulthood. Ugh, maybe I'm not criticizing these novels so much as I'm criticizing myself! In any case, these sometimes held my attention and sometimes left me closing the book at 20-page increments.

Rating is for my perceived-childhood-projection. Read it, kiddos!

[Alissa Lyon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first read this in 5th grade, and it introduced me to the wonderful world of Pern and writing of McCaffrey. I spent countless hours reading the dozens of books in this series, and in most of the author’s other worlds as well. I reread it now, in my late 30s, and though it is simpler than I remembered it is still full of wonder and music and dragons and it made me giddy feeling the excitement I felt when I first discovered it!

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm currently reading this series out loud to my husband. These were the books that hooked me on Pern specifically and Anne McCaffrey in general. It's been nearly a decade since I've re-read them, and I'm just as hooked now as ever. I can't wait to get through this trilogy and into the Dragonriders (again) next.

[Elfie · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are tired of the "young girl in trouble needs a man to save her" and/or "I ain't need no man bc Im Tough Like The Boys" tropes™ this trilogy is for you.

Menolly is lovely, strong willed, and realistically pulled between peoples' expectations and her own dreams. Her growth is inspiring, and quite honestly is part of what pushed me to work toward my own goals and desires.

[Robyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Menolly lives in a sea hold and loves music but she’s a girl and girls can’t be harpers so her father says. This is her story in book 1& 2 and also where we meet Piemur a young soprano harper. In book 3 Piemur has grown and his voice is changing, and now he has his adventure.

[Tachan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Que j’ai encore pris mon pied en lisant cette intégrale. Ça y est nous sommes pleinement comme la dernière fois dans ce qui fait le coeur de la série d’Anne McCaffrey : les relations à l’altérité et je m’éclate vraiment là-dedans, me retrouvant totalement bercée par les dragons et autres lézards de feu croisés. Un régal !

Les débuts de la saga, en tout cas tel que présentés avec la chronologie de cette intégrale, avaient été intéressants mais aussi pas forcément les plus faciles pour développer un attachement envers elle. Ce n’était que les quelques brefs chapitres sur les dragons qui m’avaient réellement emportée. Cependant j’avais bien senti que ce serait le coeur de l’histoire, les couvertures aidant xD et j’ai eu raison de persévérer car je me régale désormais dans cette fantasy dragonique musicale simple mais si émouvante.

Écrits cette fois à la fin des années 80, les trois romans de cette intégrale se suivent. On y découvre et suit la jeune Menolly, la fille d’un maître de fort, très douée pour le chant et la musique mais qu’on tente de brider car c’est vu comme des activités réservées aux hommes. En luttant contre l’emprise de ses parents, elle va découvrir la liberté et faire la rencontre de sa vie ! Avec Menolly, c’est tout le folklore pernien autour de la musique qu’on redécouvre dans ce trois textes et j’ai adoré cela. Cela avait déjà été le cas dans l’intégrale précédente mais j’avais eu une pointe de frustration en voyant cet art détourné pour parler de politique finalement, ce n’est pas le cas ici. En faisant le choix d’un récit bien plus simple, un récit de vie et de destinée, l’autrice a su mieux me toucher et ainsi j’ai retrouvé avec plaisir des noms croisés autrefois comme le maître-harpiste Robinton mais cette fois dans une intrigue bien plus humaine.

Cela m’a fait découvrir que ce que je préfère dans cette saga, ce sont les relations qui s’y établissent. Il y a d’abord les beaux parcours de vie des héros passionnés de musique qui vivent, dorment, mangent et respirent cet art. Mais il y a également la place des dragons, et ici également, des lézards de feu. Cet aspect de la mythologie pernienne qu’on avait un peu trop tu alors qu’il est central à la dynamique de la planète. Pas de politique de tensions entre forts ici, ou si peu, mais plutôt la beauté de l’éclosion des liens entre humains et lézards de feu. J’ai été vite fascinée par ses derniers, découverts et mis en lumière grâce à Menolly et sa rencontre fortuite avec eux. Les liens décrits et mis en avant sont plein de force et de douceur, propre à emporter les amoureux de belles relations hommes-animaux, ce qui est mon cas. L’autrice en plus, nous décrit vraiment par le menu leur naissance, leur appariement, leur évolution ensemble, leur rapport commun à la musique, ce qui rend leur destinée définitivement entremêlée.

Chaque roman de cette intégrale permet ainsi d’aller un peu plus loin dans cette symbiose humain, lézards/dragons, musique. Le premier montre la force d’attraction des deux sur Menolly et comment elle va échapper à un environnement toxique pour trouver celui qui lui convient. Le deuxième justement développe à quoi ressemble sa nouvelle vie et les relations qu’elle va y tisser dans cette sorte d’académie de musique où elle découvrir les multiples possibilités à sa portée, mais où elle va aussi faire souffler un vent de nouveauté juste en étant là avec ses lézards. Le dernier, que j’ai peut-être moins aimé et trouvé plus long et confus, relate la même métamorphose de vie pour en quelque sorte son meilleur ami là-bas, le jeune Piemur, qui va vivre malgré lui une grande et bouleversante aventure qui va tout changer. Chaque roman est ainsi une pierre à l’édifice de leur vie de musicien/chanteur mais aussi de maître de lézard de feu, et c’est un enchantement pour le lecteur de plonger dans un tel dépaysement tant la plume de l’autrice est vivante et immersive.

Comme dans l’intégrale 3 et peut-être encore un peu plus, Pern se dévoile dans toute sa richesse et pas juste dans des luttes de pouvoirs, mais aussi dans son simple rapport à la nature retranscrit par la musique et les lézards/dragons. Amoureux de belles relations humaines à l’autre, vous serez je pense enchanté par cette douce plume enivrante et dépaysante qui berce le lecteur et le transporte dans un autre monde. Après avoir fait un tel tour d’horizon, je suis encore plus curieuse de voir quelles surprises nous réserve le dernier volet de cette aventure.

Article complet : https://lesblablasdetachan.wordpress....

[Sora O'Doherty · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've come late to Anne McCaffrey. She has been a name that resonated, but I hadn't read anything by her. Looking over her works, I was a bit daunted by the 28 volumes of The Dragonriders of Pern, so embarked on the less daunting Harper Hall Trilogy. I cannot compare it to her other books, but these books focus on Harpers, who seem to be the Bards of Pern, and are more about fire lizards than dragons. McCaffrey spins an excellent tale, with warm, likable characters and believable situations. I suppose that one thing that niggled is that fire dragons seem to have existed in the wild for a long time, but having been discovered by humans become quite dependent on them. In many respects, the Harper Hall trilogy reads like a young adult series, which is OK for me. I quite like that genre.

[LauraW · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a re-read from long ago. I remember enjoying McCaffrey when I was in my science fiction reading peak, and I enjoyed the first two of these books a lot, again. But after thinking about the three of them, I am suffering from a bit more disappointment. McCaffrey created an interesting character in Menolly in the first book, developed her in the second and then abandoned her to the males in book three. The third book should have been about Menolly coming into her powers and exerting some influence in the world. Instead, it was going off with the important guy and following the hijinks of the boy who always got in trouble. I am disappointed. I still enjoyed reading the books, which is more than I can say about a lot of more recent book attempts, but I have to take off one star in the rating (it should be even more) because of the third book. Sigh.

[Jennifer Imler · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the book I picked up in middle school that started me on my love of fantasy. The first in the trilogy, Dragonsong, opened up the world of Pern, where there are dragons and their riders, who fight Thread, a threat that falls from the skies. This trilogy focuses mainly on a teenage musical prodigy who is treated harshly by her family because of her talents. A well written light read, that is a nice introduction to the Dragonriders of Pern series. Author Anne McCaffrey, has written a multitude of books regarding Pern and it's residents and has won many deserved awards.

[Alison Pashos · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading about Pern from another angle - that of the Harpers and general non-dragonriders. I like how McCaffrey tied everything I read about the harpers, specifically Menolly and Piemur, in the first 3 books into this series. Everything came together well and I think each of these books was quite well done.

[Cheri Stringer · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my all time favorits from the Pern Series. Along with dragon singer, dragon song, the white dragon and of course teh classics dragon quest and dragon flight. All the books overlap in events and charactures building a rich tapesty of life on a planet in another solar system. If your new to the dragon rider series I would recommend starting with dragon quest.

[Jim Scriven · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was actually my first exploration of this world, having missed that there were really other books to start the series. Led to some confusion, but I still enjoyed this, and was glad to move on to the rest of the series.

[Lindy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well over two dozen Turns ago, I read this book for the first time. Rereading it now and finding it to be just as wonderful and enthralling as I did back then. First rate world building with fascinating characters and unique challenges.

[Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Who doesn’t love a book about fire lizards and dragons? I first read these books in the ‘70’s as a teenager. I eagerly anticipated each Pern installment over the years. Pure magic— and hasn’t lost any of appeal almost 50 years later!! I think I shall reread the series— AGAIN!

[Bethany · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a reread. Loved these books. Great stories, what wonderful imagination Anne McCaffrey had!!! Menolly is my favorite character in her books. Great too for kids - no real love stories in any of the books.