Here's my no nostalgia review. First time reading this book in 2023.

TLDR: Great ideas and world build that's unfortunately delivered by a character I'm just too old to relate to. If you have ever played a DND bard and can tolerate "horse-girl but with dragons" definitely give it a read and check out the 2 albums for this book on spotify.

The Harper books are very character driven, which is a shame because right now Menolly is a child. Her story is very "horse-girl but with dragons." She's just not like other girls! She's so good at everything right from the get-go and her only real struggles are societal ones. "A girl wearing pants and doing guy thing? Outrageous!" It really doesn't hit for me in the year of our lord 2023. Now 15-20 years ago when I was closer to Menolly's age? I would have ate this up. I'm currently reading The White Dragon where she is older and her character is matured to a state of likeability.

Now the whole Harper business and the role they play in the world of Pern? Interesting as hell. Its like a DND bard turned up too 100. This idea that singers and musicians are these super important people that bring news and culture all over the land and are highly valued is just awesome to dive into. There are also 2 accommodating albums for these two books: "The Masterharper of Pern" and "Sunset's Gold." I definitely recommend checking them out on Spotify. It really adds that extra layer of world building.

Worth the read just for more Pern world building even though Menolly isn't a likable character yet.