Dragon's Kin
by Anne McCaffrey, Todd J. McCaffrey
Pern: New Adventures of Pern (1), Dragonriders of Pern: Chronological (5 {3rd Pass ~500 AL}), Dragonriders of Pern: Publication Order (2nd Interval)
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Young Kindan has no expectations other than joining his father in the mines of Camp Natalon, a coal mining settlement struggling to turn a profit far from the great Holds where the presence of dragons and their riders means safety and civilization. Mining is fraught with danger. Fortunately, the camp has a watch-wher, a creature distantly related to dragons and uniquely suited to specialized work in the dark, cold mineshafts. Kindan's father is the watch-wher's handler, and his son sometimes show more helps him out. But even that important job promises no opportunity outside the mine. Then disaster strikes. In one terrible instant, Kindan loses his family and the camp loses its watch-wher. Fathers are replaced by sons in the mine--except for Kindan, who is taken in by the camp's new Harper. Grieving, Kindan finds a measure of solace in a burgeoning musical talent ... and in a new friendship with Nuella, a mysterious girl no one seems to know exists. It is Nuella who assists Kindan when he is selected to hatch and train a new watch-wher, a job that forces him to give up his dream of becoming a Harper; and it is Nuella who helps him give new meaning to his life. Meanwhile, sparked by the tragedy, long-simmering tensions are dividing the camp. Far below the surface, a group of resentful miners hides a deadly secret. As warring factions threaten to explode, Nuella and Kindan begin to discover unknown talents in the misunderstood watch-wher-talents that could very well save an entire Hold. During their time teaching the watch-wher, the two learn some things themselves: that even a seemingly impossible dream is never completely out of reach ... and that light can be found even in darkness. show lessTags
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Member Reviews
Loved this the first time I read it, but on attempting re-read found the society too patriarchal.
Blind character is well written though
Blind character is well written though
Kindan is the youngest son of the watchwher handler at a coal mine in Pern's Third Pass. The mine is new, only six months old, and still needs to prove itself before it can become a legitimate Hold. With the next Pass due to start in less than twenty years, getting the mine established is vitally important.
Much as Kindan likes the watchwher Dask, he has ambitions to be a Harper and loves his time working with the settlement's Harper Zist. When his entire family, and Dask as well, are killed in a cave in in the mine, Kindan finds himself expected to raise a new watchwher for the mine. He knows very little about watchwhers, but it soon becomes clear that most of Pern knows even less. Kindan, along with his friend Zennor and Nuella, the show more mine leader's blind daughter, soon finds himself working along harpers and even dragonriders to rediscover lost watchwher lore. It is Kindan, the new watchwher Kisk and most especially Nuella, who find themselves forced to be heroes when tragedy threatens the new mine a second time.
I loved Anne McCaffrey's Dragonflight when I first read it many years ago. I don't think the later books live up to the early ones (and I've grown up a lot since then too) but I still really enjoy the Pern books and keep on reading them as they come out. This one was interesting for two main reasons: McCaffrey's son Todd was collaborating with her on the novel and it was about watchwhers, the dragons' lesser, ugly cousins, instead of the dragons themselves. Both these things might have ruined this book, but neither did.
There are no great themes or epic tales in Dragon's Kin. It is, as so many of McCaffrey's tales have been, essentially a coming of age story, in this case for both Kindan and Nuella. It is a comfortable visit to a familiar place and a chance to learn a bit more about some of the inhabitants. Don't start this book expecting amazing adventures and incredible new ideas, but if you want to while away a few hours for pleasant enjoyment but no major brainpower required, then I recommend Dragon's Kin. show less
Much as Kindan likes the watchwher Dask, he has ambitions to be a Harper and loves his time working with the settlement's Harper Zist. When his entire family, and Dask as well, are killed in a cave in in the mine, Kindan finds himself expected to raise a new watchwher for the mine. He knows very little about watchwhers, but it soon becomes clear that most of Pern knows even less. Kindan, along with his friend Zennor and Nuella, the show more mine leader's blind daughter, soon finds himself working along harpers and even dragonriders to rediscover lost watchwher lore. It is Kindan, the new watchwher Kisk and most especially Nuella, who find themselves forced to be heroes when tragedy threatens the new mine a second time.
I loved Anne McCaffrey's Dragonflight when I first read it many years ago. I don't think the later books live up to the early ones (and I've grown up a lot since then too) but I still really enjoy the Pern books and keep on reading them as they come out. This one was interesting for two main reasons: McCaffrey's son Todd was collaborating with her on the novel and it was about watchwhers, the dragons' lesser, ugly cousins, instead of the dragons themselves. Both these things might have ruined this book, but neither did.
There are no great themes or epic tales in Dragon's Kin. It is, as so many of McCaffrey's tales have been, essentially a coming of age story, in this case for both Kindan and Nuella. It is a comfortable visit to a familiar place and a chance to learn a bit more about some of the inhabitants. Don't start this book expecting amazing adventures and incredible new ideas, but if you want to while away a few hours for pleasant enjoyment but no major brainpower required, then I recommend Dragon's Kin. show less
(review two books in one - but they're really one book from two perspectives)
Ok, that's it. I'm done reading new Pern books. My lord! These books - Fire more than Kin, but both - were very obviously written in chunks and then stuck together, and nobody did a readthrough afterward to check continuity or sense. And since I create a universe inside my head when I read, that sort of thing drives me MAD. For instance, in an early chapter in Fire, Pellar is up in arms about Kindan being Master Zist's apprentice because HE's Zist's apprentice, and Master Zist says well, I can have two but normally the elder is jumped to Journeyman. Thinks a bit, then says OK, I'm raising you to journeyman (even though you're young for it), barring a few show more classes back at Harper Hall. Ok. So Pellar is a journeyman now. Much later in the book, he's intercepted by a dragonrider, collected and brought back to the minehold - and also given a suit of Harper blue, the proper _apprentice_ clothes. The dragonrider is worried he's mad about missing the proper ceremonies, but he's perfectly happy - now he's a proper Harper Apprentice! What? Now wait a minute.... There are a lot of things like that. And the solution to the problem became obvious several chapters before anybody in the book figured it out...it's the wrong kind of firestone. Now I knew that because it hurt the dragons to flame (and storage chambers tended to blow up)...do you mean that dragons just accepted that suddenly firestone hurt, when it hadn't before? There wasn't any crisis at the end of the Second Fall, they didn't lose dragons in any numbers...Todd does like to present enormous complications and solve them in enormously complicated ways. Kin was the first book, and it's pretty good. Some continuity errors, but not many, and only a few things that don't fit what I know of Pern. Dragonsblood, the second book, was just stupid - a disease of dragons that required cross-timing it over thousands of years to solve? Firelizards _accidentally_ doing that back-time trip? Bleah bleah blah. Fire is less bad than Blood but much worse than Kin, and they're all much worse than any of the real Pern books - well, Kin might be as good as MasterHarper or Skies, but I hate those anyway. Dragonriders trilogy, Harper Hall trilogy, Moreta & Nerilka, Dragonsdawn & Chronicles, Dolphins are very good. Renegades is necessary to set up Dolphins. Dragonseye is OK but has a blatant continuity error that annoys me every time I read it (AIVAS did _not_ shut itself off before Second Fall because people were being dependent on it!). Weyrs is...um. Actually I can't remember the story of Weyrs.
I like Pern, can you tell? And because I like it, I feel protective and possessive. I was in a Pern fanfic group for a while - there were a lot of stupid stories written and a few good ones, and I liked most of them much more than Todd's stuff. Sorry, I think Anne should let Pern die rather than drag it out in new and ugly directions. show less
Ok, that's it. I'm done reading new Pern books. My lord! These books - Fire more than Kin, but both - were very obviously written in chunks and then stuck together, and nobody did a readthrough afterward to check continuity or sense. And since I create a universe inside my head when I read, that sort of thing drives me MAD. For instance, in an early chapter in Fire, Pellar is up in arms about Kindan being Master Zist's apprentice because HE's Zist's apprentice, and Master Zist says well, I can have two but normally the elder is jumped to Journeyman. Thinks a bit, then says OK, I'm raising you to journeyman (even though you're young for it), barring a few show more classes back at Harper Hall. Ok. So Pellar is a journeyman now. Much later in the book, he's intercepted by a dragonrider, collected and brought back to the minehold - and also given a suit of Harper blue, the proper _apprentice_ clothes. The dragonrider is worried he's mad about missing the proper ceremonies, but he's perfectly happy - now he's a proper Harper Apprentice! What? Now wait a minute.... There are a lot of things like that. And the solution to the problem became obvious several chapters before anybody in the book figured it out...it's the wrong kind of firestone. Now I knew that because it hurt the dragons to flame (and storage chambers tended to blow up)...do you mean that dragons just accepted that suddenly firestone hurt, when it hadn't before? There wasn't any crisis at the end of the Second Fall, they didn't lose dragons in any numbers...Todd does like to present enormous complications and solve them in enormously complicated ways. Kin was the first book, and it's pretty good. Some continuity errors, but not many, and only a few things that don't fit what I know of Pern. Dragonsblood, the second book, was just stupid - a disease of dragons that required cross-timing it over thousands of years to solve? Firelizards _accidentally_ doing that back-time trip? Bleah bleah blah. Fire is less bad than Blood but much worse than Kin, and they're all much worse than any of the real Pern books - well, Kin might be as good as MasterHarper or Skies, but I hate those anyway. Dragonriders trilogy, Harper Hall trilogy, Moreta & Nerilka, Dragonsdawn & Chronicles, Dolphins are very good. Renegades is necessary to set up Dolphins. Dragonseye is OK but has a blatant continuity error that annoys me every time I read it (AIVAS did _not_ shut itself off before Second Fall because people were being dependent on it!). Weyrs is...um. Actually I can't remember the story of Weyrs.
I like Pern, can you tell? And because I like it, I feel protective and possessive. I was in a Pern fanfic group for a while - there were a lot of stupid stories written and a few good ones, and I liked most of them much more than Todd's stuff. Sorry, I think Anne should let Pern die rather than drag it out in new and ugly directions. show less
It was just okay. Not bad, not irritating, not fantastic. It seemed a much faster read than some of the others, and it was an original story...not one of her cheating re-told stories. However, it seemed a little stunted, the characters weren't as developed, almost as if they were in a hurry to churn one out. That, and there weren't enough dragons involved.
This is a book about Pern, not just about dragons. It takes place in an earlier time than the original series. It explores new cultural territory focussed on the Miners and the as-yet-unexplored dragon variant, the watchwhers. The by now familiar Harpers are featured as well, with cameos from Dragonriders and their dragons. The title is a neat bit of reference, alluding to both Kindan, the young protagonist, and to the watchwher (kin to dragons), Kist, bonded to him.
I particularly enjoyed the part played by Nuella, daughter of the head miner and contemporary of Kindan, as she brought her own unique perspective to aid in understanding watchwhers and their capabilities. Yes, this is a tale of youngsters growing up, of people learning show more more about the world that surrounds them, and an actual plot that I will let you discover for yourself.
I enjoyed this a lot. show less
I particularly enjoyed the part played by Nuella, daughter of the head miner and contemporary of Kindan, as she brought her own unique perspective to aid in understanding watchwhers and their capabilities. Yes, this is a tale of youngsters growing up, of people learning show more more about the world that surrounds them, and an actual plot that I will let you discover for yourself.
I enjoyed this a lot. show less
As nice as it was having new stories about Pern, and as enjoyable as the book was Todd is not as good a writer as his mother
The son of a miner, Kindan has no expectations for any other life. He loves his lessons with the camp’s harper, but music isn’t part of a miner’s future. He also enjoys helping out with the camp’s watch-wher— a creature distantly related to dragons and uniquely suited to work in dark, cold spaces—but even that important job can’t promise a future above the ground. Then disaster strikes. In one terrible instant, Kindan loses his family and the camp loses its watch-wher. It will take a new friendship and a new responsibility to teach Kindan that even a seemingly impossible dream is never out of reach . . . and that light can be found in the deepest darkness.
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Author Information
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Anne McCaffrey was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts on April 1, 1926. She received a degree in Slavonic languages from Radcliffe College. She worked in advertising for Helena Rubenstein from 1947 to 1952. Her first publication was a short story in Science Fiction Magazine, and her first novel, Restoree, was published in 1967. She is a well-known show more author of over 100 books, mostly science fiction, including the Dragonriders of Pern series, the Crystal Singer series, Acorna's Children series, The Twins of Petaybee series, and Barque Cats series. She won numerous awards including the Hugo Award for Best Novella for the short story Weyr Search in 1968 and the Nebula Award for Best Novella for Dragonrider in 1969. In 2006, she was inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame. She has also written books under the pseudonym Jody Lynn. She died of a stroke on November 21, 2011 at the age of 85. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
49+ Works 12,039 Members
Todd J. McCaffrey was born on April 27, 1956. His birth name was Todd Johnson. He is the youngest son of author Anne McCaffrey. Todd writes science fiction novels and is best known for his continuation of his mother's best-selling Dragonriders of Pern series. He lives in California. (Bowker Author Biography)
Some Editions
Series
Pern: New Adventures of Pern
8 works (1)
Dragonriders of Pern: Chronological
31 works (5 {3rd Pass ~500 AL})
Dragonriders of Pern: Publication Order
26 works (2nd Interval)
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Dragon's Kin
- Original title
- Dragon's Kin
- Original publication date
- 2003-12
- People/Characters
- Kindan; Nuella
- Important places
- Benden Weyr, Pern
- Dedication
- To my brother, Kevin McCaffrey,
aka "the Smallest Dragonboy"
Anne McCaffrey
To Ceara Rose McCaffrey - of course! - First words
- Kindan was so excited that he practically bounced as he ran up to the heights where Camp Natalon kept its drum, fire beacon, and watch.
When men first came to Rukbat, a G-type star in the Sagittarian Sector, they settled upon its third planet and named it Pern. (Prologue) - Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)"I think I'll sing," the newest Harper of Pern replied.
- Original language
- English
- Disambiguation notice
- This is the first of Todd McCaffrey's solo Pern books.
English Title: Dragon's Kin; German Title: Drachenwege
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