Customer Reviews

Dragon's Kin (Dragonriders of Pern Series)

5 star:		(30)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(19)
2 star:		(11)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

It is appropriate that Dragon's Kin is set in a mining camp as ever since the earlier "Long Interval" series of Pern novels she has been "mining" the world of Pern for more ideas and stories. The quality of these later stories is seldom as strong as the earlier ones (referring to Dragonflight, Dragonquest, The White Dragon, and the Harper Hall trilogy), running a spectrum from almost as good (All the Weyrs) to merely adequate (dragonsdawn, renegades). Dragon's Kin falls somewhere in the middle, not nearly as good as her great works, not nearly as bad as the worst. If you haven't read any Pern, this book is somewhat independent, but does assume a basic knowledge of how the world works and therefore isn't a good starting place. Even more importantly, however, you should start with the strongest examples not the weakest, so begin with DragonFlight and move on through there before coming to Dragon's Kin.
By this point in the series, McCaffery is down to picking out minor parts of the Pern world that have yet to be explored--she already did the explanatory prequels, she covered fire lizards and dolphins, she's covered harpers and traders and riders. She isn't left with much and so we get Kin, focusing on watchwhers and miners.
This is set between the time of the original series and the prequel books. The disadvantage is that we don't get to see those characters most of us fell so in love with. The advantage is that she (I keep saying she but of course her son is co-author) doesn't have her hands tied as she did in the prequels with having to explain specific rituals, names, etc, a reason those prequel books tend to fall in the lower ranks of quality.
In general, this is a solid book. The characters are mostly interesting enough, though not particularly so and if they aren't all that vividly constructed, they also manage to move beyond being simply cardboard characters. The plot is somewhat predictable--it's hard to imagine a book centered on a mining camp that won't have at its climax a cave-in scene, though perhaps it didn't need to be so obviously telegraphed as it is here. Characters pretty much act as we would expect them to from our very first meeting of them (with perhaps one or two exceptions) and events pretty much fall into the order we expect. None of the characters have the force of a L'essa or a Robinton or a Piemur (even in comparison to their first introduction as characters as opposed to after reading several books about them), nor do any of the inter-relationships have the same emotional strength or passion as is so evident among those earlier characters (or even those earlier characters and their dragons). Granted, this is a high standard, but it is after all one which McCaffery set herself. But if Kin doesn't come close to meeting that standard, it doesn't fall completely on its face either.
That is, except for one curiously grating plot point involving watchwhers going between and which seems predicated on several characters having completely forgotten events from earlier in the book. This was a pretty major flaw to have found itself into the book, and in a stronger work would have had probably more of an impact for the worse, but here is just sort of annoying.
In language and complexity, the book seems geared at a somewhat younger age, though I'm not quite sure why. Dragonsong etc. were also somewhat YA, but I don't recall them being so simple in their language and plotting, though perhaps I'm not remembering correctly. As with those three Harper hall books, there is room here for a continuation with several of these characters, who were likable enough and just interesting enough that I'd pick up another book involving them, though not with the avidness with which I awaited books like The White Dragon or All the Weyrs.
In the end, a serviceable book, an amiable one, but not a compelling one and not an essential one.

Dragons Kin is Anne McCaffreys latest offering in her long-running and best-selling Dragonriders of Pern series. It is also the first time she has permitted a co-author into the Pern universe: her son, Todd. This time McCaffrey tells the story of an earlier time in Perns history. The time is more than halfway through the second Interval, 16 years before the next Threadfall and the next pass of the Red Star. We are several hundred years before the events in Moreta: Dragonlady of Pern and perhaps a hundred years from the events of Dragonseye. So, this is the time period we are looking at.

The story is set in the Natalon mining camp, and this is one of the first times weve had a look at the miners. This is the story of Kindan, a twelve year old boy who seemed older when I read the book. Kindan does not expect anything more out of his life than to follow his father into the mines when he is old enough. All of this changes when there is an accident at the mine and Kindans father and brothers are all killed. He is left an orphan and he is taken in by the Masterharper, Zist.

What the title of this book refers to is the watch whers (they appear in several of the Pern novels). The watch whers are dragon like, though smaller and nocturnal, and are used typically as a nighttime guard or as the first warning if anything is going wrong. They are kin to dragons (hence the title) from when humans first settled on Pern. Watch whers play a prominent role in this book (though, the watch wher egg does not appear until close to half way through the book).

At times, Dragons Kin did not feel like a Pern novel. Dragons play such a limited role, and this story is such a sub-set off of what became the primary storyline throughout Pern. This was a quick reading story, but none of the characters were as engaging as previous characters. There is no Menolly, or Lessa, or Flar, or Jaxom, or even any of the characters from Dragonsdawn. Kindan is too young, and while he may grow into a better character (assuming McCaffrey follows up with these characters), he isnt interesting enough to build a novel around. The minor character, Nuella, she has potential. Dragons Kin is a decent enough Pern novel, but it is nothing to get excited about.

"Dragon's Kin," while not up to the standard of most of the earlier Pern novels, is far better than the last bunch about F'lessan.

The basic plot is as follows. Kindan wants to be a Harper, and has vocal and musical talent. He's about eleven or twelve when the book opens, and is kind of at loose ends; his favorite sister is marrying, his brothers are distant, and as the youngest of nine children, his father seems rather remote. Kindan does have a close friend, Zenor, who's a few months older, but that's about it.

And things are even more odd in this family than in most, because Kindan's father is bonded to a watchwher (distant cousins of both the fire lizards and the dragons), and lives different hours than most people as watchwhers are nocturnal. At any rate, Kindan doesn't realize how different his life is than most, although his friend Zenor does (and is envious of it).

And because of where he lives, Kindan gets to know more about watchwhers than most people. This might be considered an advantage by many, but not by Kindan. His heart is elsewhere.

Then disaster strikes, and most of Kindan's family gets wiped out in a mining accident. The watchwher dies helping to get the few miners who survived the accident out of the mine, and Kindan is left totally alone for the first time in his life. He has mixed feelings about this, but for the most part, those feelings are never brought to the fore.

Because of this, Kindan doesn't feel totally fleshed out as a character; he's never allowed to fully grieve. And even amidst a bunch of folks who are also grieving, I doubt Kindan -- or any child, no matter how mature -- would be as matter of fact about losing all his family.

Be that as it may, because Kindan is no more than twelve, he can't live alone, and he's not cut out for work in the mine. Fortunately, everyone realizes this, and he goes to live with the Harper. A brief idyll ensues, as Kindan enjoys helping the Harper and gets to know Nuella, a blind girl whose been hidden from most of the folks at the minehold due to her disability.

Then another disaster happens in the mine, and its determined that another watchwher must be sought. For whatever reason, the minehold of Natalon (that's the head miner) is now considered to be accursed by some (although this is never fully gone into, either), and no grown watchwher or his/her handler will go there.

However, if a watchwher can be raised from the egg, then they'll have some protection. Watchwhers are good in mines; they can detect bad air faster than humans can, and as they see by infrared, they're very good at rescue as well (as was seen by the loss of the previous watchwher).

What does this have to do with Kindan? Plenty, as he's the only person in the minehold -- the only one -- who knows anything at all about watchwhers.

(Spoiler warning below) *****

Basically, Kindan is forced to go find a watchwher egg despite not really knowing much about how to raise a watchwher. Then, after he brings it home and it hatches, Nuella shows a great talent with the watchwher, but does not bond with the new fledgling, so the new watchwher (dubbed Kisk) stays with Kindan.

How does this all play out? It's for you to read. (Don't want to spoil it any more than that.)

**** end of spoiler warning ****

The reason this gets three stars, rather than the four I was initially contemplating, is that the characterization (other than that of the blind Nuella) isn't as strong as most of the other Pern books. But it is at least the equal in characterization of the latter books (starting with "All the Weyrs of Pern" and continuing outward from that year), and it reads easier than most of those.

But is it the equal of the earliest of the Pern books about Lessa and F'lar? No. Is it the equal of the earlier YA novels about Menolly, Sebell, and Piemur? No.

So, although this is a good coming of age tale (and is definitely intended for younger audiences in my opinion, although older readers also will enjoy the book), and although it reads fast and easily, it's not great.

And what makes it less than what it could have been lays solely along the lines of characterization. This book doesn't make the reader look for underlying meaning. In "Dragon's Kin," the underlying meanings are either too plain, or too subtle; either one might have worked, but not both.

One final comment: I believe that Todd McCaffrey helped this book, rather than hindered. This book has much more life than most of the last books (anything after "All the Weyrs of Pern" in sequence) except for "Master Harper of Pern," and I think that's because of Mr. McCaffrey's contribution. And it's because of the life and liveliness of the book that I read until the end, and (for the most part) enjoyed it.

Three stars.

(...)

Good book. Worth buying in paperback, not hardcover. Not one you should start your Pern reading on, but a Pern fan would enjoy this book.

Dragon's Kin is about a mine camp lead by Natalon. Natalon is trying to prove himself to the Master Miner so that his camp could be turned into an official mine.
Unfortunately, his camp is split with people having different oppinions about the camp's watch-wher.
Disaster strikes when Kindan's family dies in a cavein and gets put in Master Harper Zist's care. Eventually, Natalon expects Kindan to take his father's place as the Watch-wher keeper for the mine forcing Kindan to put his other dreams aside.
Meanwhile, a blind girl named Nuella joins the picture and makes friends with Kindan, Master Zist and a few others.

Unfortunately, this book is only 292 pages long compared with the usual 800, and I read this book in one setting.
I am definately looking forward to seeing how Todd McCaffrey develops as an author.

Each time I think that McCaffrey has covered all aspects of Pern, she comes up with another angle. Watch-whers are rarely viewed in a positive light in the other books, and in this book the watch-wher is the star and the reader learns many things about them. Also, a mining community has never been the focus of any of the books, and all these things combined make for a great story. I was glad to see Todd as co-author and hopes that means new Pern books will keep on coming.

A very good read. It's great to get some input on the "middle" years and the "Crafts" other than Harpers and Dragon Riders.

Raises the watch-wher to the status of an important character, not just a seldom mentioned, "poor relation". More please!

It is sixteen years until the next Pass of the Red Star and then Thread will rain down, destroying everything organic on Pern. A problem has arisen on Pern that could have serious repercussions for the next Turn if not solved now. Coal that the people depend on for a variety of tasks has played out on the surface and the people have to dig underground to find any.

Natalon has set up a promising camp that if it contains as much coal as he thinks will turn him into Lord Natalon and the camp into a designated Mine. The camp's watch-wher Dask saves many lives when the mine collapses but he and his bondmate die leaving Kindan an orphan. He is taken in by a Master Harper and he decides he wants to train in the Harper hold. However, the mines desperately need a watch-wher and Natalon asks Kindan to try an impress an egg. He succeeds with Kisk who he cares for while she is still in her egg and the two reach adulthood together, working together with a very special young woman to prepare Pern for when thread falls again.

Another piece of the puzzle that makes up Pern is solved as readers learn how humans, watch-whers and dragons become part of the fighting unit to take out thread. Kindan is a very special hero willing to give up his dreams to help the miners who need him and his special abilities. It is interesting to see how watch- whers help save miners lives because of their own unique abilities different than the dragons and their cousins the fire lizards.

Harriet Klausner

Dragon's Kin is the twentieth SF novel in the Pern series, following The Skies of Pern. But this novel takes place in the past towards the end of the Second Interval, sixteen years prior to the third return of the Red Star. Miners Hall had begun to experiment with deep shaft mines as the surface deposits began to give out. One of the new Camps was headed by Master Miner Natalon.

In this novel, Kindan is the youngest child of Master Miner Danil. His sister Silstra is betrothed to Journeyman Smith Terregar. So he is very excited when his friend Zenor shouts that the caravan carrying the Smith is within sight of the watch station on the heights. Running and even bouncing up the hill, Kindan arrives breathlessly to see the large drays and brightly painted wagons of the traders. He convinces Zenor to run the news back to Natalon.

When Zenor interrupts a discussion to tell the chief miner the news, Natalon's Uncle Tarik carps about his style of reporting; Uncle Tarik complains about a lot of things and obviously feels that he should have been selected as chief miner. Zenor is then sent to inform the rest of the Camp. On the way, he is called aside by his friend Nuella, Natalon's daughter whose presence is being kept secret from the rest of the camp; Natalon is afraid that her blindness is genetic and knowledge of it could damage the marital chances of his other children. Zenor is the only one outside her immediate family who knows Nuella is there.

Terregar is not the only person to arrive with the trader caravan; Master Harper Zist has come to replace Journeyman Harper Jofri. Master Zist has formerly been the Vocals Master at Harper Hall, but a tragedy in his family has led to him leaving the Hall. One of the reasons for selecting this obscure mining camp was Journeyman Jofri's reports on Kindan's fine voice. Master Zist has plenty of opportunity to hear for himself as they rehearse for Silstra's wedding.

After the wedding, Kindan is apprenticed to Master Zist and gets some intensive coaching in vocals and drums. Soon thereafter an accident in the mine leaves Kindan an orphan and he moves in with Master Zist; Tarik and his family acquire the house built by Kindan's father. With many of the older children working in the mine to make up for their losses, Kindan is the eldest child remaining and takes over the supervision of all work schedules for the younger children.

Along with the human casualties, the accident has also cost the miners their only remaining watch-wher. Minor accidents and mishaps start plaguing the miners and Natalon is convinced that some of the problems result from the lack of a watch-wher. He secretly negotiates the trade of a lot of coal for a watch-wher egg. Since his father was the previous wherhandler for the mine, Kindan is chosen to hatch and raise the new watch-wher.

The whole deal is news to Kindan and he wonders if he knows enough to raise a watch-wher properly. He does remember enough to beg permission for the egg from the queen watch-wher and he does ask the wherhandler what to feed the newly hatched watch-wher, but so much else is unknown to him. Nuella and Zenor, however, pitch in to help him and soon Master Zist obtains additional help from the Benden Weyr Leader.

In this story, Kindan and his friends learn much more about watch-whers than anyone else on Pern. Since watch-whers are nocturnal and used in the deeps of the mine, Nuella contributes her knowledge of moving through darkness. Kindan learns a lot about moving in the dark and has the bruises to prove it.

Needless to say, this story turns Kindan and his friends into heroes. Despite the disparaging remarks from Uncle Tarik and his cronies, the watch-wher proves herself in the worst possible conditions. Moreover, the knowledge they develop leads to better communications between the common folk and the Dragonriders.

This story is suitable for younger readers, but was also enjoyable for this much older one. Recommended for McCaffrey fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of young people and smart animals learning together.

-Arthur W. Jordin

As a loooooong time fan of Anne McCaffrey and Pern (I read and loved Dragonflight when it was first published as a novella in Analog, I won't say how many years ago!) I am delighted to read this latest installment and have high hopes of Todd McCaffrey's future efforts. If you are a fan, you will enjoy it; however I do NOT recommend reading this as the first of the Pern books if you are new to them, you will be left scratching your head about a lot of the references.....

That's not to say that I can't see some of the flaws that have been mentioned by other reviewers; however they did not detract from my enjoyment.

Those of you waiting for a "next installment" of the main storyline will be disappointed. The setting is a totally new time frame from any of the previous books - after the sophisticated technology of the first colonists has been lost but before the Long Interval so that much knowledge of the original colony still exists. For example dolphins and fire lizards are taken for granted. It takes place during an Interval and although there is no preoccupation with fighting Thread, everyone is quite aware that Thread is coming and what the implications are to the settlements. The main setting is a new mining Camp - where the mining craft is learning to undertake successful deep shaft mining operations as all the surface deposits are depleted.

We are introduced to new intelligent animal; the focus of the book is the watch-wher; the descendents of Wind Blossom's failed attempt to duplicate the bio-engineering of dragons. The interaction of man (or in this case young teenagers) and animal and their discovery of each other is vintage McCaffrey style and substance.

The two main protagonists: Kindan and Nuella - who are 11 going on 14 in the time span of the novel. The plot involves their "coming of age" while nurturing and training the Camp's new watch wher. More detail is included in the editorial reviews.

There are some fascinating new people to meet besides In my order of preference for wanting to know them better: M'tal, Weyrleader of Benden, Master Harper Zist, J'lantir bronze rider from Ista Weyr. There are several very well drawn minor characters, as well, such as Renilon the wherhandler from somewhere in Lemos. I do not agree with previous reviewers who say the characters are not developed - what I will say is that there are quite a few other minor characters who I wanted to know a lot more about: Miner Natalon (Nuella's father), Christov (son of the bad guy), Dalor (Nuella's brother) and Kindan's friend Zenor and his sister Jenna. The young age of the protagonists is nothing new - e.g Menolly, Piemur (Harper Hall novels), Readis (Dolphins of Pern), or even Lessa way back when it all started with Dragonflight.

Here's what I didn't like:

There are several continuity errors that a good editor should have found - towards the end a couple of the youngsters are said to have been born at Camp Natalon - when it was established only six months before the novel opens. The worst of these continuity problems is the knowledge, or lack thereof, about whether or not the whers can go between; this subject was treated in a very fuzzy fashion.

The book feels a little "thin" in places. I wanted to know more about what had happened before this novel opens - we were given hints but no details about what had happened to Tarik's mine or Master Zist's wife and daughter. Very unsatisfying. Also there could have been more details sometimes as the plot unfolded. Other books in the Pernese series have been written from several varying points of view - this one could have benefited using the same technique - for example, I would have liked to read about the dragon riders efforts at watch-wher education as they took place and not hear an account after the fact. Yes, I know that some readers find the multiple viewpoints very distracting; I've always loved the technique and wish this book had more of it.

In summary - a must for fans of Pern; keep writing Todd and Anne, please!

Anne McCaffrey created an intricate world spanning many centuries featuring the bonding of humans and dragons telepathicly in her PERN series. Now Anne has joined with her second son, Todd, to write this newest episode in the PERN.

Todd has 'grown up in PERN'; so readers can be confident that there is no variation in this newest PERN tale. The tone and complexity of the story is sure to delight McCaffrey fans and encourage thoughts of more adventures on the planet PERN.

Blurb and other editorials give a summary; so what more can I say? Teenaged Kindan, blind Nuella and Master-Harper Zist work together and learn the forgotten secrets of how the nocturnal watch-wher see in the dark and their ability to communicate with dragons. This reveals many new possibilities for the dragon-riders and watch-wher. Another cave-in at Natalon's mine leads to a future that both Kindan and Nuella never expected.

Mama McCaffrey shared her writing talent & inspiration with her son and they chose to continue to give us reader's a fantasy world to remember. Such a legacy is impressive; such skill is appreciated. Thank you Anne and Todd for continuing to 'share the dream' of PERN.