Returning to Pern- The Harper Hall Series
Got the urge to return to Pern last week, but not so much the urge to start writing impression reports about Pern again. I decided to just go ahead and read "Dragonsong" and when I finished I moved this week into "Dragonsinger". I'm about half-way into "Dragonsinger" now, so I thought I'd write a few thoughts before continuing on with the rest of the book and "Dragondrums".
So, many spoilers ahead and please beware of writing spoilers beyond the end of the first Harper Hall book (Dragonsong) in any responses.
- I really didn't expect it was going to take Menolly an ENTIRE book to finally make her way to the Harper Hall. Truly, I expected it was going to be a Harry Potter-type thing where she would be whisked off after the first few chapters. Nope. I did find myself impatient for the story to move to that locale.
- I found a good deal of the first book slow. In fact, over the last six months it's taken me three attempts to get far enough into the book to finish it.
- I know there are countless girls out there who adore Menolly. I went into the story knowing that. As I read I could see any number of reasons why a young girl would come to love Menolly, but she struck me as a very "by the numbers" character, a realization that has somewhat kept her remote from me. The young imaginative girl, set apart from her pedestrian, sheltered family and world. The girl kept away from using the gift that is her reason for being. Tall, gawky, crippled hand, all the things to set her apart from others. Just a custom-designed character to push every button for young imaginative female readers who might feel the same way in their own world. And, of course, I had characters of that type to inspire me when I was young, too- Anne Shirley and Emily Byrd Starr in the L.M. Montgomery books, Meg Murray in "A Wrinkle In Time", Frodo Baggins from LOTR among them.
- So there is part of me saying that maybe I would have connected to Menolly stronger when I was 12, but that seems a bit of a copout since I've certainly read youth novels to enchant me in the last several years- Holes, the Harry Potter books, Keeper of the Isis Light. Menolly strikes me as rather a blank character- beyond her musical gift and her fire lizards she seems to have no demanding personality of her own, especially in comparison to some of the other more colourful characters in the Pern universe. Maybe that will change as the series continues on its way.
- And is it just me, or does Menolly seem to have a touch of 'Mary Sue-ism' about her? Everything she does seems to be right. She always comes out smelling like a rose. She's already becoming the pet student of half the teachers at the Harper Hall (though I can already sympathize with the students who are less than crazy about her). I'd like to see her a bit more flawed, a few more rough edges. Maybe that's to come, too.
- I was especially struck by a lot of these thoughts in "Dragonsong" when Menolly was rescued from Threadfall and taken to Bendon Weyr. Within pages I found myself thinking, ah!, now the story is coming to life again. I really enjoyed getting reacquainted with characters like Mirrim and Lessa and Manora and my darlin' Robinton, all characters who strike me as more interesting and vibrant than Menolly. I'm not yet through the Harper Hall trilogy, so I may change my mind, but I suspect I may find I like the original two books better than these three. I'll be curious how I feel when I read "The White Dragon".
- I really enjoyed the second viewing/perspective of the Dragon Hatching we also saw at the end of "Dragonquest". I'm very keen to get back to Jaxom and his little white dragon.
- Liked the character of Petiron, despite the fact that he's dead when he's first introduced to us. I like how his character has been slowly opened up to us in retrospect as the books go on. Cool that he's Robinton's father. Liked that Menolly sang his memorial song and it was a vivid image picturing her singing in the boat, dropping her drum into the sea when the song was done.
- I liked the friendship between Elgion and Alemi, their boating trip along the seashore where Elgion thinks he hears the pipes.
- Which brings us to... fire lizards. OK, the fire lizards were cool at first, especially in "Dragonquest", but I feel they go way over the top in the Harper Hall series. Half-way through "Dragonsinger" right now, and I feel my teeth go on edge every time those "pretties" flit into the story yet -again-. They've just become way too coy and cute, with precious names and an ominous 'Ewokesque' quality about them. They hijack the story anytime they enter the tale, which is constantly, with people either melting into goo or going into hysterics in reaction to them. Fire lizards, go away. In fact, I think one reason I haven't connected with Menolly is because her fire lizards overwhelm any personality of her own that she may have.
- But again, I think this is one of the archetypal buttons McCaffrey pushes in the fantasy-loving twelve-year-old girl. They're going to love fire lizards in the same way they tend to love stories about horses. Thing is, even at twelve, I didn't like stories about horses. Just a personal quirk.
- Oddly enough, though the fire lizards annoy me, I really like the dragons in Pern. They run deeper, have stronger personalities, a great sense of humour and aren't quite so twee. I need to get away from the fire lizards and back to the dragons.
- Still, I think it's cool my darlin' Robinton is about to have a fire lizard of his own. He's so pumped about it. I'm looking forward to seeing it hatch. I think even a fire lizard would have to be cool, if it Impressed with the Master Harper.
- After watching Menolly lead the choir and the fire lizards in the saga of Moreta, I want to read more about Moreta (I know she's in other Pern books).
Enough for now. Wow, I feel like I've been otugh on these books, which I know are so beloved by so many people. I'll write more once I've finished the Harper Hall trilogy to give more of my impressions and to see if any of my thoughts here have changed.
So, many spoilers ahead and please beware of writing spoilers beyond the end of the first Harper Hall book (Dragonsong) in any responses.
- I really didn't expect it was going to take Menolly an ENTIRE book to finally make her way to the Harper Hall. Truly, I expected it was going to be a Harry Potter-type thing where she would be whisked off after the first few chapters. Nope. I did find myself impatient for the story to move to that locale.
- I found a good deal of the first book slow. In fact, over the last six months it's taken me three attempts to get far enough into the book to finish it.
- I know there are countless girls out there who adore Menolly. I went into the story knowing that. As I read I could see any number of reasons why a young girl would come to love Menolly, but she struck me as a very "by the numbers" character, a realization that has somewhat kept her remote from me. The young imaginative girl, set apart from her pedestrian, sheltered family and world. The girl kept away from using the gift that is her reason for being. Tall, gawky, crippled hand, all the things to set her apart from others. Just a custom-designed character to push every button for young imaginative female readers who might feel the same way in their own world. And, of course, I had characters of that type to inspire me when I was young, too- Anne Shirley and Emily Byrd Starr in the L.M. Montgomery books, Meg Murray in "A Wrinkle In Time", Frodo Baggins from LOTR among them.
- So there is part of me saying that maybe I would have connected to Menolly stronger when I was 12, but that seems a bit of a copout since I've certainly read youth novels to enchant me in the last several years- Holes, the Harry Potter books, Keeper of the Isis Light. Menolly strikes me as rather a blank character- beyond her musical gift and her fire lizards she seems to have no demanding personality of her own, especially in comparison to some of the other more colourful characters in the Pern universe. Maybe that will change as the series continues on its way.
- And is it just me, or does Menolly seem to have a touch of 'Mary Sue-ism' about her? Everything she does seems to be right. She always comes out smelling like a rose. She's already becoming the pet student of half the teachers at the Harper Hall (though I can already sympathize with the students who are less than crazy about her). I'd like to see her a bit more flawed, a few more rough edges. Maybe that's to come, too.
- I was especially struck by a lot of these thoughts in "Dragonsong" when Menolly was rescued from Threadfall and taken to Bendon Weyr. Within pages I found myself thinking, ah!, now the story is coming to life again. I really enjoyed getting reacquainted with characters like Mirrim and Lessa and Manora and my darlin' Robinton, all characters who strike me as more interesting and vibrant than Menolly. I'm not yet through the Harper Hall trilogy, so I may change my mind, but I suspect I may find I like the original two books better than these three. I'll be curious how I feel when I read "The White Dragon".
- I really enjoyed the second viewing/perspective of the Dragon Hatching we also saw at the end of "Dragonquest". I'm very keen to get back to Jaxom and his little white dragon.
- Liked the character of Petiron, despite the fact that he's dead when he's first introduced to us. I like how his character has been slowly opened up to us in retrospect as the books go on. Cool that he's Robinton's father. Liked that Menolly sang his memorial song and it was a vivid image picturing her singing in the boat, dropping her drum into the sea when the song was done.
- I liked the friendship between Elgion and Alemi, their boating trip along the seashore where Elgion thinks he hears the pipes.
- Which brings us to... fire lizards. OK, the fire lizards were cool at first, especially in "Dragonquest", but I feel they go way over the top in the Harper Hall series. Half-way through "Dragonsinger" right now, and I feel my teeth go on edge every time those "pretties" flit into the story yet -again-. They've just become way too coy and cute, with precious names and an ominous 'Ewokesque' quality about them. They hijack the story anytime they enter the tale, which is constantly, with people either melting into goo or going into hysterics in reaction to them. Fire lizards, go away. In fact, I think one reason I haven't connected with Menolly is because her fire lizards overwhelm any personality of her own that she may have.
- But again, I think this is one of the archetypal buttons McCaffrey pushes in the fantasy-loving twelve-year-old girl. They're going to love fire lizards in the same way they tend to love stories about horses. Thing is, even at twelve, I didn't like stories about horses. Just a personal quirk.
- Oddly enough, though the fire lizards annoy me, I really like the dragons in Pern. They run deeper, have stronger personalities, a great sense of humour and aren't quite so twee. I need to get away from the fire lizards and back to the dragons.
- Still, I think it's cool my darlin' Robinton is about to have a fire lizard of his own. He's so pumped about it. I'm looking forward to seeing it hatch. I think even a fire lizard would have to be cool, if it Impressed with the Master Harper.
- After watching Menolly lead the choir and the fire lizards in the saga of Moreta, I want to read more about Moreta (I know she's in other Pern books).
Enough for now. Wow, I feel like I've been otugh on these books, which I know are so beloved by so many people. I'll write more once I've finished the Harper Hall trilogy to give more of my impressions and to see if any of my thoughts here have changed.