Book Review: Dragonsong by Anne McCaffrey

Dragonsong
by Anne McCaffrey

First things first, there are dragons. I mean real, fire-breathing dragons that people ride. Second thing, Menolly, the main female protagonist is quietly strong in the face of adversity, pursuing her musical dreams over her family’s fishing dynasty. This world is set in an older time period, with wooden boats and no electronics yet, but with women in powerful roles. Menolly was, for me, a guide to reacting to life in a graceful manner, as opposed to righteously fighting against all troubles. She fought, don’t get me wrong, but not by flying off the handle. She used subtlety and grace to win her battles and showed me the value of a strategic retreat. This, for Menolly, resulted in some unlikely dragonet friends, whom she discovered, loved music as much as she does.

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try Dragonsinger, Dragondrums, or The Girl Who Heard Dragons, all by Anne McCaffrey, or Arrows of the Queen, The Black Gryphon, or Joust, all by Mercedes Lackey.]

[ Wikipedia page for Dragonsong ] | [ official Anne McCaffrey web site (archive) ]

Recommended by Rio B.
Bennett Martin Public Library

Have you read this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!