Dragonsinger

Plot summary

The novel follows Menolly, now apprenticed into the Harper Hall, a type of music conservatory for harpers (minstrels) and other music professionals, as she begins her musical training to become a harper herself one day. The story begins within hours of the final events of Dragonsong, rounding out the tale of Menolly's coming of age.

Menolly finds life in the Harper Hall challenging. Although she is glad to be accepted as a musician and encouraged to play and write music, she must at first live with a group of paying female students who are catty in the extreme. She also finds herself torn between master musicians who have conflicting emphases and who want her to specialize in their techniques. The situation is complicated by her nine fire lizards, small dragon-like creatures whose properties are still being explored at the time of the story; while some members of the Pern communities want her help in learning what fire lizards can do, many of her teachers in the Harper Hall see them as a nuisance and a distraction that will keep her from developing her musical gifts. Over time she finds her place as a musician within the harper system and is sped through the apprenticeship system in near-record time.