Rating: 
Summary: Another great book by Anne McCaffrey
Review: This is another great Pern book. It's a little weaker on the story line than most of the Pern books but still a great read. It was hard to put down & made me want to go back & read them all again.
Rating: 
Summary: solid but uninspired, one of the weaker Pern books
Review: 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.
Rating: 
Summary: Not quite as sophisticated
Review: I have been a fan of McCaffrey's Dragonrider series for years..always looking for the newest tale which I buy in hardback. Can't wait for paperback.Dragon's Kin, though, is a book where paperback would have been more than sufficient. The protagonist is a youngster, and the tale seems aimed at a young audience. Not quite as smooth as Harry Potter, and not McCaffrey's usual offering.
The pace was slow.
I have always wondered about watchwhers since Lessa's first tale in Dragonriders of Pern, and was really looking forward to this book. After almost 110 pages we finally got an egg, and by the end of the book, more questions were unanswered than answered.
At this juncture, Todd McCaffrey isn't quite as polished as his mum, and it shows.
Rating:
Summary: Dragon's Kin
Review: Once again, Anne McCaffrey has done it. She always takes me away to Pern and when I finish the book, I still want more. Dragon's Kin ranks right up there with her other Pern books. Excellent reading.
Rating:
Summary: A long awaited new Pern novel that was over too soon
Review: In the mines of Camp Natalon the miners work hard to mine the coal that is so important to the people of Pern. It is a camp that could become a permanent mine if the camp is able to prove itself under the leadership of Natalon. But there is a rift in the camp. Some of the miners believe that Natalon is weak because he uses watch-whers in the mines - trusting in them and their handlers to detect the dangers of the mines and save lives. Then disaster strikes and the only watch-wher is killed - along with his handler. The original handlers son Kindan starts to train as a Harper, but then he is given the task of raising another watch-wher from the egg. Along with the secretive Nuella, Kindan must learn all he can about the little watch-wher because there is trouble brewing at the camp and it could turn deadly. I have been waiting for a new Pern novel for ages and this book was definitely worth the wait. This is not a good book to read if you have not read any Pern book before, but in a way it is also very self contained and easy to read because it is looking at a time in Pern's past that has not been covered before. The other brilliant part is that it covers the watch-wher (a part of Pern that is not covered well anywhere). My one complaint is that I finished the book in one setting and I didn't want to leave the characters behind because they had become so real and so familiar. It is hard to review this book in a way because so many of the parts that make this book so good are parts that will ruin the story if they are exposed - let me just say that there are some twists and turns that will keep you guessing and keep the novel mocing at a blistering pace. This is a brilliant book and I can't wait to see what Todd does with his forthcoming book Dragonsblood. This book was a great read and had all the strength of characters that i have come to expect from Anne McCaffrey. The only thing I would recommend is that you make sure that you read Dragonsflight first because you will get a really good grounding in Pern is you read it first.
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Summary: Wonderful Inheritance
Review: I'm a long time McCaffrey fan, and I was pleased with this collaboration. Over the years I've watched Anne give away her ideas to other authors to develop, except of course for Pern. What a legacy to pass on to her son! This gives me great hope that the Pern stories will continue long after Anne stops writing them. I was impressed and wonder exactly how the collab was done. Did Todd write what Anne plotted or what?
Rating:
Summary: lovely cooperative effort
Review: Nice when mother and son can cooperate so well. This is a lovely new book and gives us hope for more and more in this great series. It was especially nice after buying two "new" books from this author and finding they were old books with a new title.
Rating:
Summary: And the beat goes on
Review: 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!
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Summary: watch-wher
Review: This is the first book (at least that I know of) that has ever been devoted to a watch-wher. And I have to say, it's about time. They are the least covered of the 3 draconic types. I've always felt kind of sorry for them. And this book shows that they deserve more respect than they get. They help to save lives in their own way too. I didn't really like the ending though (even though everything really worked out for the best), this probably has to do with an established respect for the bonds between human and dragon as well as human and fire lizard. It just seemed wrong on some level for a watch-wher to be able to change that. Anyway, I would gladly reccommend this book to any McCaffrey/Pern fan.
Rating:
Summary: A Good Read!
Review: A good read! A good, good read! A good, Pern read! Has all of the right Pernese stuff, written the right Pernese way. An excellent collaboration with Todd McCaffrey. This is a must-have book, for anyone interested in Pernese animals, especially the illusive Watch-weyr.
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