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MasterHarper of Pern (Dragonriders of Pern) (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "ONE THING SURE," Betrice said wryly as she wrapped the squalling, wriggling baby tightly into the fine cotton sheet his mother had woven for just..." (more)
Key Phrases: bronze rider, drum message, brown dragon, Harper Hall, Master Gennell, High Reaches (more...)
4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (126 customer reviews)

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Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

YA-Set just prior to Dragonflight, Masterharper details the life, loves, and heartbreaks of Robinton, Pern's most beloved harper. Readers follow him through a childhood filled with rejection and neglect by his Mastercomposer father, the loss of his wife, the death of his best friend, to his becoming Masterharper of Pern. This is McCaffrey at her best, combining excellent writing with vivid settings and detailed, fully fleshed-out characters. The book would be best read after Dragonflight (1986) and Dragonquest (1979, both Ballantine), but can stand alone.
John Lawson, Fairfax County Public Library, VA
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Kirkus Reviews

McCaffrey's latest rummage through the archives of planet Pern (Dragonseye, 1997, etc.) has unearthed Robinton, the Masterharper of Pern, and the circumstances surrounding the advent of weyrleader F'lar and Lessa, the first woman Dragonrider. It's a time when no Thread has fallen for centuries (it's due in 50 years or so), and five of the six weyrs stand inexplicably empty of Dragons and Riders. Young Rob, rejected by his father, is a musical prodigy and has the ability to speak telepathically with dragons. As Rob's musical and diplomatic skills grow, he becomes friendly with Dragonrider F'lon and also earns the enmity of Fax, a holder who refuses to allow his people to be educated (the traditional role of the Harpers). Rob marries, but his wife dies of a fever; F'lon's wife dies in childbirth; Fax, meanwhile, by force and trickery dominates the north and threatens the very basis of Pern society. Then, after F'lon is killed in a contrived duel, Fax invades Ruatha Hold, and now Rob must enlist the aid of F'lon's son F'lar to defeat Fax. Covers well-trodden ground in more detail than hitherto; presumably, most dragonfans will find it satisfying enough. -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
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Product Details

  • Hardcover: 431 pages
  • Publisher: Del Rey; 1st edition (January 12, 1998)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0345388232
  • ISBN-13: 978-0345388230
  • Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 5.8 x 1.5 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
  • Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (126 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #692,827 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Anne McCaffrey
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Front Cover | First Pages | Surprise Me!
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First Sentence:
"ONE THING SURE," Betrice said wryly as she wrapped the squalling, wriggling baby tightly into the fine cotton sheet his mother had woven for just this moment, "he's got your lungs, Petiron. Read the first page
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
bronze rider, drum message, brown dragon, old aunties, mating flight, bronze dragon, drum tower, blue rider, treble voice, dorm mates
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Harper Hall, Master Gennell, High Reaches, Lord Holder, Lady Hayara, Benden Hold, Lord Maidir, Fort Hold, Ruatha Hold, Tillek Hold, Benden Weyr, Hatching Ground, Master Lobirn, Lord Faroguy, Lord Grogellan, Lord Melongel, Master Robinton, South Boll, Lady Gemma, Teaching Ballads, Lower Caverns, Station Master, Captain Gostol, Duty Song, Fort Weyr
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Dragondrums by Anne McCaffrey
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Customer Reviews

126 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.3 out of 5 stars (126 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars A Good Read, But...., January 15, 2001
By Amanda M. Hayes (Indianapolis, IN) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)      
This review is from: The Masterharper of Pern (Dragonriders of Pern) (Paperback)
At the time _Masterharper of Pern_ came out, I was rueing the decline of the Dragonriders of Pern series. After _Dragonsdawn_, the books seemed to lose a lot of their original magic and appeal; even _Dragonseye_, while certainly better than _Dolphins of Pern_, didn't quite live up to standard.

The good news is that _Masterharper of Pern_ *does*. This is a wonderful, vivid, emotional book, clear in detail, strong in character, and with settings one can easily get into. It's a delight to get to meet the father of F'lar and F'nor; likewise, the insight on Fax and his ambitions is welcome. Pern fans and non-Pern fans alike should be able to enjoy this one--it's not just another installment in the series, but a welcome and well-written tale in its own right.

That brings me to the bad news. While _Masterharper_ has all of the virtues I've named above, it has two major faults: consistency, and suspension of disbelief. This book just doesn't match up with the earlier ones in some respects. The character of Petiron here doesn't seem like the Petiron Menolly knew in _Dragonsinger_ (granted, age changes a man, but still...). F'lon, while a fine man, does not seem to inspire the sense of respect and even awe that one can pick up about him in _Dragonflight_. Robinton can hear dragons; why, then, was he so surprised to hear them again in _Dragonquest_?

Which leads right into the suspension of disbelief: Robinton, much as I admire his character, is *too good* here. Not only is he a musical genius, not only is he polite and courteous and perfect in every way, but he hears dragons too? Goodness, can't the poor man be allowed any flaws/lackings? That's not the worst part, though: I found that the ending scenes stretched my ability to believe beyond the breaking point, and this marred the book somewhat for me. In fact, the last fifth or so of the pages seemed a cut below the rest; AM did her best work when she was showing us the history we hadn't already seen, rather than history we knew from a new perspective.

Still, when all is said and done, this is still a fine book that tells an excellent story. Just be prepared to blink at it a few times if you're a long-time Pern fan... and if you're new to the series and more fond of flawed heroes than darned near perfect ones, you might want to pass this one up until you've read a few of its predecessors.

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18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Best Pern Novel in Years, January 6, 2000
By Mark Wylie (Spokane, WA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: The Masterharper of Pern (Dragonriders of Pern) (Paperback)
With this novel Anne McCaffrey gets away from some of the weaknesses that have plagued recent novels in her saga of the planet Pern--the excessive number of viewpoint characters and storylines and the rushed quality of the plotting. Masterharper of Pern is the story of one of the author's favorite characters, Robinton, and covers his childhood, adolescence and early manhood. In it we learn much of the "backstory" behind the "Dragonriders of Pern" trilogy, the beginnings of which this book overlaps with.

Lovers of the Pern novels will most likely enjoy this book--although not the best book in the series, I found it to be superior to any since "Dragonsdawn." If you are new to the series, it is not the best one to read first--start with "Dragonflight" and "Dragonquest." Read "Masterharper" if you like them.

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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars For die-hards, it's ok; for others, not worth it., May 6, 1998
By A Customer
First, let me say that I'm a die-hard Pern fan, and Robinton is one of my favorite characters from Pern. It was very nice to have a novel which detailed his background so well. However, this novel is severely handicapped by all the same faults found in the later Pern novels. First, there are many re-hashed plots. For example, Robinton's problems with his father mirror Menolly's problems with her father, and they end in the same way (even down to the exact same speech spoken by the Masterharper when each gets promoted to journeyman). Second, the characters are very one-sided, and are sometimes even direct copies of others. For example, Petiron is exactly like Yanus Seaholder; Halanna, when you first meet her, is exactly like Kylara, and when she changes, you never see her again; Manora is fifty years younger than in Dragonflight, but hardly has any physical description other than her "quiet dignity," a phrase used to describe her in every other book. Third, Robinton is a god. He is the best musician on the planet and the nicest person, and everyone looks out for his well-being. Even as a child, his greatest problem was his father, and everyone shielded him from him; Robinton managed to escape from the Harper Hall as a journeyman without ever truly having to face his greatest problem. Except for the fact that Robinton is my favorite character in the series, I would have no real emotional attachment to him in this book--he is too perfect.

I've read every Pern novel and short story that has been published, and some are better than others. This one isn't the worst, but it isn't the best either. It does provide a great history for the other novels. However, in general, McCaffrey's writing suffers from repetition of description and plot, and an inability to create deep characters. The worlds she creates (such as in Pern and the Crystal Singer novels) are beautifully crafted, but the books, especially the later ones, become banal.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars Engaging, but with timeline & consistency issues
I sort of enjoyed "Masterharper" but in the end its timeline and consistency issues took a big toll. Read more
Published 17 days ago by Huey Freeman

3.0 out of 5 stars Mediocre
"Dragonflight" is still one of my favorite books, and Pern one of my favorite places, but I agree with the reader who said the books went downhill after "Dragonsdawn. Read more
Published 19 days ago by K. Strippel

2.0 out of 5 stars Not up to the standard of the dragonrider and dragonsinger series
It hurts to give this 2 stars given I'm a huge fan of the dragonrider and dragonsong series. It's almost hard to believe they were written by the same person. Read more
Published 1 month ago by R. Remington

3.0 out of 5 stars Not Free SF Reader
This novel suffers from an overly long and padded first 20% or so, before you actually really get to the Masterharper himself, as a y oung boy, and could mostly have been... Read more
Published 7 months ago by Blue Tyson

4.0 out of 5 stars Masterharper weaves quite a tale
McCaffrey's beloved Dragonrider's of Pern series has been blessed with yet another novel. For as many of these novels that she has written, one might suspect that there would be... Read more
Published 12 months ago by Zachary Jones

1.0 out of 5 stars argh.
Read this book and I was sooooo disappointed. Keep in mind that Dragonsong and -singer are my favorite Comfort Food reading. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Songbook

5.0 out of 5 stars Robinton Revealed
I enjoyed listening to Robintons early years. It gave me a new view into a character that I have always loved in the Pern novels.
Published 18 months ago by Laura J. Stephey

5.0 out of 5 stars Get ready to cry.
If you have read any of the series you know how the Masterharper steals your heart from the first book. This book makes you love him even more. Read more
Published 19 months ago by Shaun R. Oviatt

5.0 out of 5 stars Masterharper of Pern
The narrator of this was excellent. I have a long drive to college, 3 days a week and this made the driving easier. Anyone who likes Pern will love this.
Published 20 months ago by Susan K. Stevenson

1.0 out of 5 stars masterhaper of pern
Product was unfortunately faulty on CD7
however the story is as good as ever
Published on November 13, 2007 by P. Stone

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