Rating: 
Summary: Not quite 5 star
Review: This is as engrossing as the others: I have read ALL of them. But hey, any Pern is better thsn NO Pern. I think this was mostly Todd. Maybe he will get better as the series goes on ( I hope!!) Anne must be etting along in years now; I wish her well.
Rating:
Summary: Dragon's Kin
Review: I really enjoyed this book. It was fascinating to read more about Watchweres and their origins. The characters I found were interesting and vivid if slightly under-drawn. I recommend this book to fans.
Rating: 
Summary: An avid Pern fan's thoughts
Review: I'm sorry to seem contradictory to all of you others who are giving this book such miniscule ratings, but I truly believe that this, as well as all other McCaffrey books, is a work of genius. I have been reading the Pern series for eight years and I think that this certainly cleared up some questions. In fact, just two days before I learned that this new book was coming out (and consequently went on a three-day hunt for all of the information I could find) I had asked a friend on an Instant Messanger program exactly what they new about whers. Their answer? "Well, they came after dragons... They were bio-engineered by Wind Blossom and.... and they're photophobic...... and.... and..... they have scales..... and they don't impress!"
Slightly disheartened that they knew no more than I did, I searched for a few hours on whers... I found nothing more than that, at the time. Two days later, the same friend came up to me yelling like the end of the world was coming that, "THERE'S GONNA BE A NEW MCCAFFREY BOOK!!!"
So that's when I went on the three-day search. It's also when I pre-ordered my three copies (one to read, one to have in perfect condition, and one to pass around to friends so that I could hook them on Pern) from this site on my mother's account (hehe, she had to pay the bill.... *cough*Christmas present come early, maybe?).
I have read this book four times, actually, but that is beside the point. I find this to be an excellent addition to the Pern series, and I am delighted that Mrs. McCaffrey has let her son, Todd, in on the joys of this world in more ways than even such prime reading as this can bring you. This book brought so much of the missing information about whers that it is astounding that it would all fit into one book! I continue to bow at the bookshelves of McCaffrey books in bookstores, and have only recently begun nodding my head deeply towards the Tolkien books. McCaffrey and son will be at the top of the booklists, and they will stay there, if I've anything to do with it... sadly, I have very little to do with it -_-
The only bad thing is that many still haven't read this book, so _authorized_ Pern PBeMs will not let you impress a wher, even if your character does not want to be a candidate. This has led to me "throwing the book at them" and practically insisting that they read it.... or else.
This has been a long and drawn-out response from Reshymda the Pern Fan, wanna-be wher-handler or wanna-be greenrider.
Rating: 
Summary: Not up to standard set by rest of series
Review: The story was OK, but the McCaffrey flair for character and story development was not there. I own all the other books in this series, and many of Anne McCaffrey's other series as well, and her ability to make realistic characters that readers actually like and care about is missing from this latest effort. Reading this book was like eating cotton candy -- you know you're eating, but you're not getting anything of substance. The idea was good, but this looked like a skeleton outline of a book that needed fleshing out.
Rating: 
Summary: A weak book clearly not written by the primary author (Anne)
Review: This book which was "co-written" by Anne Mccaffrey with her son Todd, is too weak to be Anne's production. The plot has little substance, there is little to it, and it moves very slowly. I could not recommend it at all.
Rating:
Summary: Good first draft
Review: I'm a Pern series fan. I love all the previous books. Anne McCaffrey can spin a delightful tale of dragons and the people who need them.
The conceptual plot has alot of promise. I love the idea of exploring the watchwhers in more depth. There are many ways to tie in their abilities to Wind Blossom's concept of a "perfect" dragon. She was very different from her grandmother, Kit Ping, and probably tried to add more abilities. The premise is there for developing watch-whers into an interesting story. The plot of this book is poorly developed and the characters are one dimensional. I don't reccomend this book except to get your Pern fix.
I'd love to read the next draft of this book.
Rating:
Summary: Not as good as early books
Review: Not near as good as McCaffrey's early books, also it seems like they have lowered the age of their target audience over the past few books. Either Kindan is mentally challenged or they need better proof-readers and editing; some whole paragraphes seemed repeated; Kindan seemed to learn Nuella's secret twice, plus Kindan explained at the beginning of the book to his freind about the watch-wher going in-between, knew nothing about it in the middle of the story and later in the story knew it again.
Overall, the story was good and I enjoyed revisiting Pern - the ending had a nice little twist but could have been a little longer cleaning up loose end.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent addition to this series
Review: 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
Rating:
Summary: Exlpore another species
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Dragon junkies will get their fix
Review: I've been a dragon junkie for over 30 years. (My cats have been named after Dragons & my daughter's name is Kylara). If this was your first Pern read you would not be that impressed. The writing is not up to Anne McCaffrey's normal level. The story is very good, but the vivid descriptions that grab you and take you into the story are not there. The characterization is done very well, the plot kept me interested. And you know there could possibly be more stories following this line. For Todd's first attempt it's not too bad......but it needs more color and life.
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