Dragondrums

I really enjoyed the Dragonriders of Pern series and I greatly enjoyed the point of view of some of the non-dragonrider characters during the events of Dragonflight, dragonquest and The White Dragon.

I was hoping that this third installment of the Harper Hall trilogy would be about my favorite character, Menolly. Instead, the book is about Piemur, Menolly's friend, whose golden voice changes with puberty, and he is forced to reassess his life. Piemur runs away from Harper Hall and finds adventure in the jungles of the Southern Continent. Menolly is mentioned here and there, so we find out what happens to her. Maybe it's because I'm female, but I just couldn't get as attached to Piemur, as immersed in his world. Still a great book by one of my favorite authors.

This is the third book in the Harper Hall trilogy. The heroine of the two previous books, Menolly, now a confidant journeywoman, does appear and has some wonderful romantic moments, but it mainly revolves around her friend,the charming, young scamp Piemur. He believes his beautiful Soprano voice is his only asset to the Harper Hall. When his voice begins to break, he feels at a loss, but finds out that his ingenuity and intelligence are just as valued by the Masterharper Robinton as his youthful voice was. After a period of rough adjustment and a violent encounter with jealous rival apprentices, Piemur's other talents gain him a fire lizard and take him farther from the Hall than he ever dreamed--all the way to the mysterious Southern continent of Pern. This book allows the reader to glimpse at the hidden side of the Hall. Teaching and entertaining are not the only tunes a Harper can play in Pern!

I can truly call Dragondrums my favourite book that I've read so far in my life. It was poignant, realistic (although it's a sf/fantasy story set on a different world far into the future) and eloquent book, and by far the best of Ms. McCaffery's books. I've read nearly all of her Pern books, and love them all, but this one tops them all. Her choice in words has always seemed to me to be outstanding and aboslutely perfect, and her characters are five demensional. I stayed up until 5:30 AM reading this book the first night I got it. I've read it three times since getting it a couple of days ago, and the only problem I find with it is that it's not longer. If only there were more of it! I disliked Piemur when I first read 'The White Dragon,' but after reading this and Dragonsinger, he became easily my favourite character on Pern, topping Sebell, Menolly, Lessa, and even (though it's hard to believe) Master Robinton - no, I take that back. Nothing can top Master Robinton, although this comes close. I give this book one hundered stars.

The concluding book of the trilogy fooled me at first. My sister that introduced me into Anne McCaffrey said this is mostly about Piemur and not a lot about Menolly, I thought they would only mention her name once or twice. Boy, was I wrong! It turned out to be my second favorite. I was glad Menolly became most confident. Did I mention I was also cool with the thing between her and Sebell? Menolly doesn't realize it a first, but she finds out Sebell is totally head over heels in love with her. If you like Anne McCaffrey, you may like Robert Jordan's the Wheel of Time books and Robin McKinley's Deerskin, Beauty a retelling of Beauty and the Beast, The Blue Sword and The Hero and the Crown.

Dragondrums starts when Piemur as a 14 year old, 3 years after Dragonsinger. If you are concerned that you won't hear about Menolly, don't worry. Menolly is eighteen and you'd be surprised how her character has changed. She is much more self confident and an excellent journeymen. There is a lot of interaction with her and some of it is written without Piemur.