Dragonsinger is a young adult science fiction novel by the American-Irish author Anne McCaffrey . Published by Atheneum Books in 1977, it was the fourth to appear in the Dragonriders of Pern series written by Anne McCaffrey and her son Todd McCaffrey .
26-604: As the sequel to Dragonsong , it was the second book in the Harper Hall of Pern trilogy, with a new publisher, editor, and target audience (young adults). The original Dragonriders of Pern trilogy was completed after publication of the first two Harper Hall books. The novel follows Menolly , now apprenticed into the Harper Hall, a type of music conservatory for harpers ( minstrels /educators) and other music professionals, as she begins her musical training to become
52-406: A Harper. Menolly finds a safe cave near the sea and makes it her new home. She also discovers a nest of the legendary fire-lizards , smaller versions of the giant dragons that defend Pern from Thread. She assists the fire-lizard queen in relocating her clutch to safety, thereby winning the creature's trust. Menolly is present when the clutch hatches and inadvertently Impresses nine hatchlings, forming
78-468: A different part of Pern". McCaffrey completed Menolly's story as Dragonsong and contracted for a sequel before it was out in 1976. Having the arrangements with Atheneum in writing, McCaffrey was able to shop for a mortgage and buy a home, to be called 'Dragonhold' for the dragons who bought it. Twenty years later her son wrote that she "first set dragons free on Pern and then was herself freed by her dragons". Like Crystal Singer , Dragonsong features
104-596: A harper herself one day. The story begins within hours of the final events of Dragonsong , rounding out the tale of Menolly's coming of age. Menolly arrives at Harper Hall to find herself the center of unwanted attention and conflict, not the least of which are about her nine fire lizards. As the Hall's first female apprentice, the Masters are divided on whether or not she is worth training, causing Menolly to be greeted with various degrees of ambivalence. Due to her gender, she
130-496: A sequel to the first Pern book, soon after her 1970 emigration to Ireland but she wrote several stories and a few books before completing the original Dragonriders trilogy. Writing The White Dragon did not really begin until 1974/75 after the New England Science Fiction Association invited her to its annual convention Boskone as Guest of Honor, which included the special publication of
156-605: A small book for sale on site. The market for young adults provided crucial opportunities while Dragonriders stalled. Editor Roger Elwood sought contributions of short work to anthologies and McCaffrey started the Pern story of Menolly for him, although in the end she delivered four 1973/74 stories that later became Crystal Singer . Editor Jean E. Karl , who had established the children's and science fiction imprints at Atheneum Books , sought to attract more female readers to science fiction and solicited "a story for young women in
182-399: A symbiotic, psychic bond with them and making herself responsible for their care. Feeding both her fire-lizards and herself is a full-time job, but Menolly is resourceful and content. She resumes her music and is delighted when her fire-lizards learn to harmonize with her songs. One day while gathering food for her fire-lizards, Menolly is caught on the edge of Threadfall. She attempts to race
208-791: A young woman with great musical talent. Beside fishing, its focus in Pernese society is the arts and education, in contrast to the military and political focus of the original trilogy. In this the action at Harper Hall rather than the Weyrs is akin to McCaffrey's own experience. At Radcliffe College, Harvard, she majored in Slavonic Languages and literature. From her teens through her thirties, before she turned to writing full-time, she pursued musical avocations: piano lessons, voice training and performance, and assisting in amateur production of musicals and operettas. Taking place seven years after
234-623: Is not allowed to share a dormitory with her fellow all-male apprentices and must be housed with the female students, most of whom are "rank-happy", few of which are serious musicians and most of whom shun Menolly as an outsider. Conversely, because she dorms with the students, many of the apprentices reject her, claiming she is not truly one of them, and leaving Menolly confused as to her true place in Harper Hall. In spite of these challenges, Menolly excels at all aspects of her training, becoming Masterharper Robinton's personal apprentice while continuing to compose original tunes. She also becomes helpful to
260-404: Is now frantic to locate this mysterious new composer, though unaware that the composer is female. Frustrated and heartbroken, Menolly chooses to leave her Hold and live Holdless, a dangerous enterprise as flesh-eating Thread fall regularly on the area. She is entirely unaware that Masterharper Robinton has directed the new harper at Half-Circle Seahold to find the composer in order to train them as
286-461: Is promoted to Journeyman. During all of this, Menolly befriends many people, including Hall servant Camo, fellow apprentice Piemur and student Lady Audiva. The American Library Association in 1999 cited the two early Pern trilogies ( Dragonriders and Harper Hall ), along with The Ship Who Sang , when McCaffrey received the annual Margaret A. Edwards Award for her "lifetime contribution in writing for teens". Dragonsinger placed ninth for
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#1732787490657312-458: The coming of age story of Jaxom , the young Lord of Ruatha Hold, who had accidentally impressed the unusual white dragon Ruth in Dragonquest and Dragonsong . As Jaxom grows up, he has to deal with the difficulty of being both a Lord Holder and a dragonrider, the maturity of Ruth (who, besides being white, is a runt ), his own teenage angst and desire to fight Thread on his own, and
338-537: The "Ninth Pass" of the Red Star that periodically brings a biological menace from space. Their primary geographical settings are not distant in space yet worlds apart: Dragonsong in an isolated sea-hold and Dragonquest at the centers of Pernese society, the weyrs and major holds, especially Benden Weyr. Near the end of Dragonsong , the protagonist Menolly is rescued by a dragonrider, and the action converges with that of Dragonquest . McCaffrey finished Dragonquest ,
364-485: The Dragonriders by teaching them what she knows about fire-lizards, and presents Masterharper Robinton and his Journeyman Sebell with fire-lizards of their own. One night Menolly is woken by her frantic fire-lizards, who show her a terrifying vision of a Dragonrider and his dragon falling from the sky. It is later revealed that the telepathic Dragons actually witnessed this event halfway across the world and transmitted
390-652: The Pernese, left behind, and he begins to make more sense of the past. The White Dragon placed third for the annual Locus Award for Best Novel and it was one of five nominees for the annual Hugo Award for Best Novel . It won the Gandalf Award for Book-Length Fantasy and the Australian Ditmar Award for international fiction. The American Library Association in 1999 cited the two early Pern trilogies ( Dragonriders and Harper Hall ), along with The Ship Who Sang , when McCaffrey received
416-610: The annual Locus Award for Best Novel . Dragonsong Dragonsong is a science fantasy novel by the American-Irish author Anne McCaffrey . Released by Atheneum Books in March 1976, it was the third to appear set on the world Pern of the Dragonriders of Pern . In its time, however, Dragonsong brought the fictional planet Pern to a new publisher, editor, and target audience of young adults , and soon became
442-462: The annual Margaret A. Edwards Award for her "lifetime contribution in writing for teens". The White Dragon (novel) The White Dragon is a science fantasy novel by Irish writer Anne McCaffrey . It completes the original Dragonriders trilogy in the Dragonriders of Pern series, seven years after the second book. It was first published by Del Rey Books in June 1978 . In 1987,
468-515: The center of attention. Robinton, who is present at Benden for the Hatching, is intrigued that Menolly has taught her fire-lizards to sing. On the pretense of having Menolly show him her fire-lizards' ability, Robinton tricks her into performing one of the songs written by Petiron's mysterious apprentice, thus revealing that she is the composer. Menolly is overwhelmed when Robinton invites her to Harper Hall to become his apprentice and gladly accepts
494-420: The children in the interim, believing that music and particularly teaching are not a woman's place. To conceal her former role from the new Harper, Menolly is not allowed to play, sing, or compose, and her parents severely punish her for doing so. Unbeknownst to Menolly or her parents, prior to his death Petiron sent several of Menolly's original compositions to Masterharper Robinton at Harper Hall, where Robinton
520-495: The events of Dragonflight , the book opens with Menolly , youngest daughter of Masterfisher Yanus, Sea Holder of Half-Circle Seahold, in the fictional world of Pern . Menolly, a gifted young musician, has been assisting the Hold's ailing Harper Petiron in his duties to educate the Hold's children. After Petiron's death, however, a new Harper arrives as his replacement. Menolly's parents forbid her to reveal that she has been teaching
546-458: The first book in the Harper Hall of Pern trilogy. The original Dragonriders of Pern trilogy with Ballantine Books was not completed until after the publication of Dragonsong and its sequel. Dragonsong and the second Pern book Dragonquest are set at the same time, seven years after the end of the seminal Dragonflight — that is, more than 2500 years after human settlement, during
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#1732787490657572-411: The image to the fire-lizards, who in turn showed Menolly. The incident confirms suspicions that fire-lizards share a telepathic link with dragons and that they may have other undiscovered gifts. By the end of her first week, all the Masters agree that Menolly has essentially completed her apprenticeship under her Hold's Harper Petiron long before she came to the Harper Hall. Much to her surprise, Menolly
598-595: The leading edge back to the safety of her cave, lacerating the soles of her feet in the effort. A passing dragonrider rescues her at the last second and takes her to Benden Weyr, which is full of guests in preparation for a dragon hatching. Menolly is shocked to find others at the Weyr have fire-lizards and that the creatures' discovery and potential has become a point of deep interest to dragonriders. When Menolly's nine fire-lizards come looking for her, Menolly reluctantly admits that she accidentally Impressed them all, thus becoming
624-400: The magazine Locus ranked The White Dragon number 23 among the 33 "All-Time Best Fantasy Novels", based on a poll of subscribers. The first part of the novel was published three years earlier as A Time When , a special publication by the New England Science Fiction Association for its annual convention Boskone in 1975, where McCaffrey was Guest of Honor. The White Dragon follows
650-494: The offer. Fixed gender roles make Menolly an outcast, as she is unskilled at tasks which are regarded as women's work on Pern and excels in the male-dominated field of music. She chooses to live alone in the dangerously unprotected world outside the Hold instead of allowing her natural talents to be suppressed. The American Library Association in 1999 cited the two early Pern trilogies ( Dragonriders and Harper Hall ), along with The Ship Who Sang , when McCaffrey received
676-516: The rebellious Oldtimers, who attempt to steal a golden egg from Benden Weyr. Ruth always knows when he is and can travel through time to avert the growing political crisis. But while fighting Thread, Jaxom falls ill with a potentially deadly sickness called "Fire-Head". This leads him to recuperate in Cove Hold, and while there he discovers some of the mysteries that the Ancients, the ancestors of
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