Dragonsinger

Dragonsinger
Author(s)	Anne McCaffrey
Cover artist	Fred Marcellino (US) Colin Saxton (UK) and others[a]
Country	United States
Language	English
Series	Dragonriders of Pern, Harper Hall Trilogy
Genre(s)	Science Fiction, Young adult novels
Publisher	Atheneum Books
Publication date	February 1977
Media type	Print (Hardcover & Paperback)
Pages	264 pp (first edition)
ISBN	0-689-30570-2
OCLC Number	2425288
LC Classification	PZ7.M122834 Dp
Preceded by	Dragonsong
Followed by	The White Dragon

Dragonsinger is a young adult fantasy 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 by Anne or her son Todd McCaffrey.^[1]

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.

Plot summary

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 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 finds life in the Harper Hall challenging. Although she is glad to be accepted as a musician and encouraged to play and write music, she must at first live with a group of paying female students who are catty in the extreme. She also finds herself torn between master musicians who have conflicting emphases and who want her to specialize in their techniques. The situation is complicated by her nine fire lizards, small dragon-like creatures whose properties are still being explored at the time of the story; while some members of the Pern communities want her help in learning what fire lizards can do, many of her teachers in the Harper Hall see them as a nuisance and a distraction that will keep her from developing her musical gifts. Over time she finds her place as a musician within the harper system and is sped through the apprenticeship system in near-record time.

Chronology

Seven Pern books including Dragonsinger were published before The Atlas of Pern (1984), a companion book produced by Karen Wynn Fonstad in consultation with McCaffrey. Their geographical settings from peninsulas to stables are illustrated by maps and other drawings and their chronologies are explicitly presented in the Atlas.

Awards

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".^[2]

Dragonsinger placed ninth for the annual Locus Award for Best Novel.^[3]

Notes

1. ^ Dragonsinger publication history at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database identifies five cover artists for US editions and hosts at least thumbnail images of their front covers: Marcellino, first edition; Elizabeth Malczynski, first paperback; Rowena Morrill, 1986 ppb; Greg Call, 2003 ppb; and Sammy Yuen, 2008 ppb. The first paperback did not credit Malczynski; the database cites her Elizabeth Malczynski Littman gallery — where (2011-10-18) the first six works present her three paintings for wraparound covers of Dragonsong, Dragonsinger, and Dragondrums (the Harper Hall trilogy).
   • Official Pern Art, at the Pern Museum maintained by Hans van der Boom (c) 2008, identifies two cover artists responsible for all three books in French paperback editions, Didier Thimonier (Albin Michel, 1988/1989) and Wojciech Siudmak (Presses Pocket). The former earlier edition is entirely missing from ISFDB. Retrieved 2011-10-18.
   • Those two paragraphs pertain to all three books in the so-called Harper Hall trilogy, for the US and French editions used artists who "covered" all three books.
   • ISFDB identifies only David Roe (The Dragondaze Portfolio at his personal website) among cover artists for UK editions. Official Pern Art identifies Colin Saxton (first UK), Roe (first UK paperback), Steve Weston and Les Edwards (later UK editions) and shows some image of all four front covers or cover paintings. Retrieved 2011-10-19.

References

1. ^ Dragonriders of Pern series listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database. Confirmed 2011-10-09.
2. ^ "1999 Margaret A. Edwards Award Winners". http://www.ala.org/ala/yalsa/booklistsawards/bookawards/margaretaedwards/maeprevious/1999awardwinner.htm. Retrieved 2011-11-14. 
3. ^ Anne McCaffrey. Locus Index to SF Awards. Retrieved 2011-10-09.
   • The awards are voted by Locus magazine readers, respectively. From any Locus Index entry, select the award name for details of the annual result; then select "About" for general information about the award.

External links

Dragonsinger publication history at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database