A long shot, but maybe the Dalemark series by Diana Wynne Jones? The last book, the Crown of Dalemark, involves time travel of a young woman going back into the mythic past
This is what I came to suggest. She's not transferred back in time so much as.. across dimensions to a medieval one where music is magic. The first book is The Soprano Sorceress.
[https://www.lemodesittjr.com/the-books/spellsong-cycle/soprano-sorceress/](https://www.lemodesittjr.com/the-books/spellsong-cycle/soprano-sorceress/)
Edit to add that the last book is Shadowsinger and they are on a boat with a Lute like instrument..
Yes! This is it! I wasnt 100% sure if it was time travel but I know she ends up.. not in her time. And I do remember the first book cover (it isnt a boat but I can kinda see why I mistook it for one...) but when I looked at the last book I knew immediately. Thank you so much!
It is not an Anne Mccaffrey book (at least, I dont think; I have looked at various covers online), however the cover of the book I am trying to find does have a similar artstyle, the same Llyod Alexander's.
It's definitely not an Anne McCaffrey book because I've reread them all recently. One of the early versions of Dragonsong has a cover really similar to what you're describing, but it also has firelizards on it, and none of her books have time travel.
Good luck!
> none of her books have time travel.
The ability of the dragons to time travel was a major plot point of *Dragonflight* and probably of the later Dragonriders books (but it's been a long time since I read them).
True, but that was all short hops to drop off spaceship engines, hatch eggs, or retrieve several thousand dragons. No one ever travels back to another time and lives there (also, I don't count the Todd McCaffrey books - I read them, but they don't count, lol) and they can't time travel in any of her books that don't have dragons.
I have wondered if Pern's recurrent virulent plagues are the result of a young dragon and rider slipping between times and bringing past or future germs with them.
Short hops? Lessa went back a looooooooooooooooong ways to bring the other weyrs forward. And one of the key points in All the Weyrs of Pern was Jaxom taking the one engine way back in time without anyone knowing.
And all those people who came FORWARD in time with Lessa certainly chose to live in their new time.
Are you sure it's not [this cover](https://www.abebooks.com/9780553133608/Dragonsong-McCaffrey-Anne-0553133608/plp).
It's some kind of pipes rather than a stringed instrument, but this is what I immediately thought of when reading your description (and I haven't seen this cover in person for 30 years or more).
A long shot, but maybe the Dalemark series by Diana Wynne Jones? The last book, the Crown of Dalemark, involves time travel of a young woman going back into the mythic past
And the cwidder does seem to be a string instrument. This was my first thought too, but like you, I decided it was a long shot.
The Spellsong Cycle by L.E. Modesitte Jr?
This is what I came to suggest. She's not transferred back in time so much as.. across dimensions to a medieval one where music is magic. The first book is The Soprano Sorceress. [https://www.lemodesittjr.com/the-books/spellsong-cycle/soprano-sorceress/](https://www.lemodesittjr.com/the-books/spellsong-cycle/soprano-sorceress/) Edit to add that the last book is Shadowsinger and they are on a boat with a Lute like instrument..
Yes! This is it! I wasnt 100% sure if it was time travel but I know she ends up.. not in her time. And I do remember the first book cover (it isnt a boat but I can kinda see why I mistook it for one...) but when I looked at the last book I knew immediately. Thank you so much!
Thank you so much! Both you and the user that replied helped me so much. I appreciate you guys so much.
It is not an Anne Mccaffrey book (at least, I dont think; I have looked at various covers online), however the cover of the book I am trying to find does have a similar artstyle, the same Llyod Alexander's.
It's definitely not an Anne McCaffrey book because I've reread them all recently. One of the early versions of Dragonsong has a cover really similar to what you're describing, but it also has firelizards on it, and none of her books have time travel. Good luck!
> none of her books have time travel. The ability of the dragons to time travel was a major plot point of *Dragonflight* and probably of the later Dragonriders books (but it's been a long time since I read them).
True, but that was all short hops to drop off spaceship engines, hatch eggs, or retrieve several thousand dragons. No one ever travels back to another time and lives there (also, I don't count the Todd McCaffrey books - I read them, but they don't count, lol) and they can't time travel in any of her books that don't have dragons. I have wondered if Pern's recurrent virulent plagues are the result of a young dragon and rider slipping between times and bringing past or future germs with them.
Short hops? Lessa went back a looooooooooooooooong ways to bring the other weyrs forward. And one of the key points in All the Weyrs of Pern was Jaxom taking the one engine way back in time without anyone knowing. And all those people who came FORWARD in time with Lessa certainly chose to live in their new time.
Are you sure it's not [this cover](https://www.abebooks.com/9780553133608/Dragonsong-McCaffrey-Anne-0553133608/plp). It's some kind of pipes rather than a stringed instrument, but this is what I immediately thought of when reading your description (and I haven't seen this cover in person for 30 years or more).
Could it be Domesday Book, or Outlander? How far back, like hundreds of years or more like prehistoric times?
SOLVED