Dragon Song by Anne McCaffrey

It's been20 years since I read any of the Dragonriders of Pern novels, but since I have been loving Naomi Novik's books and I am writing "pet fiction" of a sort myself, I figured I would check them out again.

The beginning of this novel was very frustrating, as it seemed so contrived and unfair that "girl's can't be Harpers." Hello, the human voice (especially women's imho) is one of the most expressive and beautiful instruments in the world. It just defies logic, especially in a future setting, to so handicap your society with these kinds of limitations. But there is a twist here. It wasn't until the book was mostly over that I realized Menolee's parents were the villains of the story. Her dad is a big ass, but even her mother is despicable in the way she treats Menolee's hand injury.

By the end, I was truly moved and involved with the great protagonist and the world of Pern. There is a lot to learn here for my Neverwoods novel in terms of the society and the attitude of young people. The huge influx of new characters at the end was a bit mystifying at times, and the details about the drama between the dragon riders did not seem relevant to the story at hand, though I am sure it will make more sense when I have read more of the novels.