Following this, Menolly is sent to gather fresh herbs from the lands surrounding Half-Circle Sea Hold. Unknown to her, her mother Mavi is aware of this, and later intervenes, and one day Yanus catches her, beating her with his belt and confiscating her gitar. However, Menolly is expected to put aside all hopes of a musical future, as women don't become harpers, and as such she is forbidden to practise or play any instruments - despite Petiron approving her music and even sending it to the Harper Hall.ĭespite this, Menolly plays in secret, and leaves her tunes for the new harper to discover. Until a replacement harper can be sent to the hold, Menolly, the daughter of the Sea Holder Yanus and Petiron's favourite student, is begrudgingly chosen to teach the children. If you are sure you want to read this, click the button.ĭragonsong opens with the death of Petiron, the harper at Half-Circle Sea Hold. Spoiler Warning: Next is the text detailing the details of the plot. Taking shelter in a cave by the sea, Menolly made a miraculous discovery that ensured her a new home among the master musicians of Pern's Harper Hall. When her stern father denied Menolly's destiny, she fled Half-Circle Sea Hold just as Pern was struck again by the deadly danger of Threadfall, the killing ropes of death that fall from a nearby star. Menolly, a young fisher's daughter, had dreamed all her life of learning the Harper's craft. Edwards Award for her «lifetime contribution in writing for teens». 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. Near the end of Dragonsong, the protagonist Menolly is rescued by a dragonrider, and the action converges with that of Dragonquest. Their primary geographical settings: Dragonsong in an isolated sea-hold and Dragonquest at the centers of Pernese society, the weyrs and major holds, especially Benden Weyr. Dragonsong was first published by Atheneum in March 1976.ĭragonsong and the second Pern book Dragonquest are set at the same time, seven years after the end of the seminal Dragonflight, during the Ninth Pass.

Dragonsong is the first book of the Harper Hall Trilogy in the Dragonriders of Pern series by Anne McCaffrey.

Dragonsong series