The beat of a different drummer - DragonDrums: Pern vol. 6
Written: Apr 12 '05 (Updated Aug 06 '05)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: More detail about how things really work on Pern
Cons: Focus shifts away from Menolly... but not entirely
The Bottom Line: What a Harper hears is for a Harper's ears....
|
|
|
| pearannoyed's Full Review: Dragondrums Books |
I'm not the world's best musician, but I love the feel of an instrument in my hands. I'm not the best singer either, but I love the process of learning a new song and the thrill of a performance that is well-received. I can only imagine the emptiness I would feel if even my meager abilities were suddenly stripped from me, so I've always enjoyed the Harper Hall of Pern series by Anne McCaffrey. The first two books in the series revolve around Menolly, a young woman who fears she will be denied her music because of her gender. The final book in the trilogy, DragonDrums, is about a young man who fears he will lose his music because of the passage of time.
The World
The planet Pern is much like Earth, and is, in fact, populated by humans. The humans share the planet with large, telepathic dragons who can chew a stone which enables them to breathe fire. These fire-breathing friends are especially useful in combating Thread—the showers of deadly, parasitic spores which fall into Pern’s atmosphere at regular intervals.
The Story
Caution—this is my last warning about spoilers for this series. If you can't figure out for yourself that a review of the sixth book in a series might give away a little bit of detail about the fourth or fifth books in the series, then all my warnings will be useless anyway. Besides, I'm always careful about saying too much.
Piemur is facing the greatest challenge of his life so far. Always a bit of a trouble maker, he lives for the praise he receives for his singing – his sweet treble voice is the envy of many Harper's apprentices, and even the journeymen and full harpers appreciate his gifts. But all that suddenly changes one morning in rehearsal when his voice cracks.
At the most inconvenient time possible, Piemur has hit puberty. He will always have his personality and his quick mind, but his singing voice is gone forever.
Though he has lost his most obvious gifting, Piemur does have some hidden talents that Master Harper Robinton intends to put to good use. Piemur always seems to know what's going on with everyone; he has a quick mind that can take seemingly unrelated bits of information and glean the bigger story behind the scenes, and Robinton always has a need for clever people who can listen unobtrusively. How else would the Harper be able to keep tabs on all the undercurrents of political intrigue?
As a cover for his new duties, Piemur is apprenticed to Master Olodkey who oversees the drum messages sent between communities. Learning the drum codes manning the drumheights is the perfect cover for listening in on private messages.
It may be no substitute for being the perfect treble, but it could be fun to be the Master Harper's private spy...
My Thoughts
I really enjoyed this episode in the ongoing saga of Pern. As with the first trilogy, this final book of the second trilogy takes a departure from the two preceding volumes. Menolly is still a part of this book, but the focus is really on Piemur. Also, the view of the Harper Hall expands in this book to show more of how the Harpers interact in the world around them.
As always, McCaffrey's writing is easy to read while the plot lines are a little more complex than some young adult novels. And DragonDrums neatly concludes the storyline focused on the Harper Hall, but also provides enough new information about the rest of Pern to make you want to keep going into the next book in the series.
***************
For a more complete look at life on Pern, check out this brief overview.
***************
Books in the Pern collection:
Dragonriders Trilogy
Dragonflight
Dragonquest
The White Dragon
Harper Hall Trilogy
DragonSong
DragonSinger
DragonDrums
Other Pern Novels
Moreta, Dragonlady of Pern
Nerilka’s Story
Dragonsdawn
Renegades of Pern
All the Weyrs of Pern
Chronicles of Pern: First Fall
The Dolphins of Pern
Dragonseye (U.S.), Red Star Rising (U.K)
The Masterharper of Pern
The Skies of Pern
Dragon’s Kin (with Todd McCaffrey)
Dragon’s Blood (by Todd McCaffrey—coming Jan. 2005)
Compilations
The Dragonriders of Pern (Dragonflight, Dragonquest and The White Dragon)
On Dragonwings (Dragonsdawn, Dragonseye and Moreta)
A Gift of Dragons (short stories)
Related Works
The Dragonlover’s Guide to Pern (ed. Jody Lynn Nye / Bill Fawcett)
The Atlas of Pern (by Karen Fonstad)
The People of Pern (a ‘portrait gallery’ by artist Robin Wood)
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
pearannoyed
|
 - Top 1000 |
|
Member: Amy Padgett
Location: CA Dreamin' ~ TX reality
Reviews written: 197
Trusted by: 245 members
About Me:
Mean people suck.
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.