Dragonsong - Anne McCaffrey

...a classic!

Dragonsong – Anne McCaffrey
Corgi; ISBN: 0552106615

The official website http://www.randomhouse.com/delrey/pern/ seems to be a) American and b) about a year out of date, but nevertheless has some good information.

PS in a purely technical sense this is Science Fiction, as per the classification. In reality it has more in common with fantasy.   ... more

Originally published in 1978, and a fantasy bestseller ever since, the only thing that gives away it’s age is the cover art of the edition I have had for years! McCaffrey’s slow growing Dragons of Pern series, begun 30 years ago, has now expanded to 15 titles. This is one of the early classic titles, and forms the first part of a pair with DragonSinger its sequel.

If you are not familiar with the series, perhaps I should explain that the books are set way into the future, Pern is a planet colonised by settlers determined to reduce to a minimum their dependence on technology. Some years after first settling the colonists discovered a deadly problem with their Eden – periodic attacks from the sky in the form of flesh eating ‘Thread’ falling from a rouge planet as it’s orbit brings it close to Pern. Bioengineers amongst the colonists set about modifying a native animal dubbed fire lizards, to combat this threat. Almost a thousand years later, these futuristic beginnings are long forgotten, and a complex quasi-medieval society thrives on Pern, protected from Thread by stone walls, and flaming dragons that were created from the fire lizards. A tripartite system of Holds (land owning, farming communities), Halls (craft groups) and Weyrs (The Dragons and their riders) is the backdrop to Anne McCaffrey’s Pern tales. A short chapter condenses this history into a prologue for this book, giving the reader a fair grasp of the context of the story, whether or not they have read the previous books. This seems to me like an excellent way of transporting readers to that sort of simple romantic environment that good fantasy summons up so well and explaining the presence of mythical dragons. Her back drops, like her characters are slightly hyper-real and fairly extreme, but that’s no bad thing in a blissfully escapist fairy story.

The heroine off Dragon song is a young girl, Menolly, daughter of a Sea Holder, and talented musician. Unfortunately her talents are not well appreciated by her very practically oriented parents, not least because she is a girl, expected to dedicate herself to working for the good of the Hold community. When her teacher, an aged member of the Harper Craft Hall (responsible for music, transmitting and recording information, and teaching the young) dies, her dreams of becoming a musician are crushed. Her very traditional family fear being dishonored if anyone discovers that they have allowed a girl to sing in public and teach their children. Menolly’s tale of oppression and loss resonated with all the intensity of emotion that sixteen year olds feel – bereft, misunderstood, banned from using her talents, sabotaged by her own mother (who allows a hand injury to heal badly, to stop Menolly playing instruments). Driven to desperation Menolly decides that she would rather be Holdless, and unprotected from Thread, than suffer any more shame at home, and runs away. Sheltering in a beach cave she discovers a clutch of Fire Lizard eggs – so rare as the considered legendary – and whole trying to stop the newly hatched youngsters from going out into a Thread storm, forms a close bond with 9 of them.
Eventually she is discovered by a dragon rider, who takes her back to the Weyr, where her affinity with the fire lizards, and her true identity are revealed. Her teacher had sent some of her compositions back to the main Harper Hall, and the harpers have been searching for the writer of those songs ever since, but never realised it could be a girl. In true Cinderella style the book ends as her dreams come true, and she is invited to join the Harper Hall.

This is a pure fairy story, and resonated no end with me as a teenager (it seems as though no-one on Pern is ever mildy put upon and then ends up pretty ok, it’s all awful torment and happy endings) and it has all the emotional strength that comes with that. McCaffrey’s style is clear and vivid – story telling rather than writing, engaging the reader directly and using the perfect phase to memorable effect. The society and the characters that form the background to the story are all drawn in detail, and even after 30 years, the stories all fit together and interlock perfectly, with no jarring note.

As a teenager I wanted more than anything to be Menolly, and re-reading them as an adult I still find this a very attractive story – you do feel the emotional ups and downs of the characters. This would also be quite a good starting place for someone who hadn’t read any of the series yet – the Cinderella type story provides a universal way in to an unusual world. Born on April 1st, and with a stubbornly suggestive fairy biography repeated in each book (‘My hair is silver, my eyes are green and I freckle. The rest is subject to change without notice) Anne McCaffrey is everything a teller of fairy tales should be, and this is one of the books that will show you why it is she has been so successful – a classic!

Dragonsong – Anne McCaffrey
Corgi; ISBN: 0552106615

The official website http://www.randomhouse.com/delrey/pern/ seems to be a) American and b) about a year out of date, but nevertheless has some good information.

PS in a purely technical sense this is Science Fiction, as per the classification. In reality it has more in common with fantasy.  

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