2025 RereadFirst, I must complain about these Simon & Schuster re-release covers by Stephan Martinière. I find them quite dreary and the dragons are straight-up ugly. I know everyone has their own way of depicting dragons, but the Pernese ones are rather distinctive around the head shape... which these dragons don't have. I don't like them at all.
Secondly, there is overt emotional and at least once instance of physical abuse contained within these pages. Menolly's family is less than enthused about her playing and musical talent. Her father, Yanus, is a curmudgeon through and through. Her mother and sister are basically encouraged to bully Menolly. It's all very distressing and no wonder Menolly ends up running away from home. I can't help but thinking, though, that Petrion could have mentioned, at least to Menolly, that his wife had been Mastersinger (as seen in The Masterharper of Pern ). Perhaps if he'd mentioned Merelan to Yanus, Menolly would have had a better time of it. Menolly definitely would have had more hope... But then there's the Publication Order to consider... Merelan might not have been conceived of until that full 2 decades later. *le sigh
That said, although Menolly's story is depressing at times, Dragonsong is very good. Menolly is an awesome protagonist who never quite gives in to the adversity she faces. It's also not too much of spoiler to add that fire lizards abound. Menolly really comes into her own when surrounded by her fair.
I liked getting more Mirriam. She was mostly in the background of Dragonquest, being Brekke's fosterling and all. But here we get to see her becoming friends with Menolly. I think they'd be very fun as a pair, if given more time together.
Dragonsong is a very good follow up to Dragonquest. It expands Pern's world beyond the Weyr, giving us a glimpse of life in a very different arena. So far, one of my favorite Pern novels.
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