Dragonsinger is the second part of the second trilogy of
the Dragonriders of Pern series. When
I wrote about the first part of the trilogy, Dragonsong, I provided some context as to its publication. The same
applies to Dragonsinger. Actually, in
many ways both books resemble each other. When I started to read the book it
quickly became apparent that it’s more of a continuation of Dragonsong than an actual sequel.
However I do agree with splitting up the book in two as the first book focuses
on Menolly’s life at Half-Circle Sea Hold and her eventual escape while the
second book focuses on her arrival at the Harper Hall where she will be
receiving her training in harper craft.
I enjoyed my
stay at the Harper Hall but I admit that I’m a little bummed out I was accompanied
by Menolly the whole time. I like Pern, I really like Robinton and, more
importantly, the storytelling in this book is enjoyable. It’s surprising that
McCaffrey can write what more or less amounts to slice of life storytelling in
an engaging way. There isn’t a villain, there isn’t a fantasy quest or many
other science fiction and fantasy tropes. Instead, the book focuses on one of
McCaffrey’s main themes: mankind’s ability to learn and improve. This theme is
explored on a few levels. One the macro level, the series’ story, there are
many elements in Dragonsinger that
deal with the development of the Harper Hall with the inclusion of fire lizards
and one of the most promising female apprentices. This also ties into the
overarching plot of Pern’s reorganization after the return of threadfall in the
Ninth Pass. On the micro level, the book’s story, Menolly actually faces a few
challenges. Her reputation as a musical prodigy still holds up but she does
face a few new challenges. She learns that she has limitations. She’s not
particularly good at singing and one of her most valuable classes is singing
lessons with Shonagar, the Voice Master.
Another thing
that McCaffrey did well was introducing and developing the Harper Hall. Again,
this was important not only for Menolly’s story but also the ongoing narrative
of the Dragonriders of Pern up to
this point in the series chronology. In Dragonflight
and Dragonquest the main focus of
the story is on Benden Weyr and the Dragonriders. We’re aware of the existence
and some of the roles that the craft halls have but this is the first time that
a main story takes place within of the halls. It was interesting to see how the
storytelling and the organization of the individuals who work and live at the
hall resembled the depiction of schools for magic in works of fantasy. I’m not
sure if it’s just me or if there really is a comparison that come be made with
places such as Hogwarts from Harry Potter
and the School for Wizards on Roke Island in the Earthsea series. It must be tricky to write about something not
everybody is familiar with. Magic is one thing but music, even though not
everybody understands and not in the same way, especially not classical music,
must also be difficult to explain to someone who doesn’t have that training.
McCaffrey is pretty adept at writing about music in a way that provides detail
without overwhelming readers with it. Even though I didn’t fully understand all
the musical details, it was enough to allow me to stay engaged in the story and
even flesh out additional conflict between characters.
That brings us
to my main critique of this book. It has the same problem that Dragonsong had: Menolly is too good at
everything she does. Menolly can’t fail and even worse than that she doesn’t
even have to try hard. McCaffrey attempted to give her a handicap by giving
Menolly an injury in the first book. She sliced her hand open while gutting a
fish and she was poorly healed and her hand has scarred over, severely
restricting the movement of her hand. Luckily, she’s so still that she can
easily come up with variations that will accommodate her wounded hand while
playing music on her gitar. Similarly, we learn in Dragonsinger that Menolly’s voice skills aren’t on the same level
as her other musical skills. She’s given special one-on-one instruction by the
Voice Master and in less than a week she appears to have mastered the art of
singing. Menolly is so much better than everybody else that training to develop
her weaknesses is easy for her. This kind of behaviour makes for very little
conflict and personal growth. Instead of acknowledging her talents and using
them in interesting or beneficial ways she’s glib about it. She acts as though
she doesn’t realize just how good she is and it makes her unlikeable. What
could easily have been an empowering story for young female readers turns into
an exercise in arrogance and petty junior-high level drama. When Menolly
dislikes a character it’s obviously because that other person is bad and
deserves to be disliked. She’s never in the wrong and when others try to point
out Menolly’s flaws many other characters come to her defence. The most
frustrating quality that McCaffrey gives Menolly is her inability to understand
her abilities in comparison to that of others. I think it’s supposed to make
Menolly look like a nice person but it just backfires.
Since I’m
(re)reading the series in publication order, I’ll be reading The White Dragon next and taking a break
from Menolly. I’m glad I read the first two books of the Harper Hall Trilogy as
they’ve provided me with a different point of view on the Dragonriders of Pern series but they were also frustrating, albeit
in different ways as the principal trilogy. To be clear, I like Menolly in
small doses and I would love for her to be given a challenge worthy of her
skills as she is quite capable but so far she’s just coasting and it’s boring
and frustrating to read about. I’ll be glad to return to the rest of Pern as
I’m anxious to read about Jaxom and his white dragon. I’m also looking forward
to seeing how the story of Dragonquest
continues to develop. I’ll be returning to the Harper Hall Trilogy with the
final book, Dragondrums which
thankfully deals with another character other than Menolly, Piemur a character
introduced in Dragonsinger that I
happen to like quite a bit.
Consider it
covered:
Here are some quick thoughts on the cover to my edition of Dragonsinger (pictured above). While I
really like the Michael Whelan covers for The
Dragonriders of Pern series it’s nice to have a cover by a different
artist. In this case, Elizabeth Malczynski, who also did the cover of my
edition of Dragonsong. Appropriately
the focus is on Menolly and her fire lizards. They’re depicted in a stylized
way, with very lean and accented features, particularly the wings and the
claws. The result is nice but otherwise unbelievable. Like many artists who
draw dragons, regardless of their size, I find that the wings are
unrealistically small. I find it hard to believe that they could actually take
flight. I’m a bit conflicted with this cover because while it’s a rather nice
image with interesting details in the windows’ arches and the characters
clothing and the scaly little dragons, it doesn’t do justice to the source
material. I find it difficult to believe that there is such detailed
architecture on Pern. Most Forts and Holds are carved out of mountainsides and
it’s very hard to believe that such detail heavy sculptures were carved out of
rocks which are likely sedimentary stone. Same goes for the clothing. Pern is a
place where animal hide is a staple of everybody’s wardrobe. Fine dresses like
the ones on this cover are likely somewhat rare to see. All of this nit picking
doesn’t really matter because the artist gets the tone more or less spot-on.
Menolly is pleased to be in a place where she feels accepted and many people at
the Harper Hall are happy to have her. However, like the back cover shows, some
people are less than pleased at Menolly’s arrival and serve as main antagonists
to the story. The details might not be exact but the overall image works. My
complaints are minor because I think I prefer a cover like this one knowing I
have many other covers that portray the world of Pern a bit more accurately.
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