Dragon's Kin

Publisher Marketing: Beginning with the classic "Dragonriders of Pern," Anne McCaffrey has created a complex, endlessly fascinating world uniting humans and great telepathic dragons. Millions of devoted readers and listeners have soared on the glittering wings of Anne s imagination, following book by book the evolution of one of science fiction s most beloved and honored series. Now, for the first time, Anne has invited another writer to join her in the skies of Pern, a writer with an intimate knowledge of Pern and its history: her son, Todd. 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 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 the deepest darkness." Review Citations: Ingram Paperback Advance 01/01/2005 pg. 21 (EAN 9780345462008, Mass Market Paperbound) Library Journal 05/15/2004 pg. 129 (EAN 9781593554811, Compact Disc) Library Journal Prepub Alert 07/01/2003 pg. 58 (EAN 9780345461988, Hardcover) Kirkus Reviews 09/15/2003 pg. 1160 (EAN 9780345461988, Hardcover) Booklist 09/15/2003 pg. 181 (EAN 9780345461988, Hardcover) Library Journal 10/15/2003 pg. 101 (EAN 9780345461988, Hardcover) - *Starred Review Publishers Weekly 10/13/2003 pg. 61 (EAN 9780345461988, Hardcover) Romantic Times 12/01/2003 pg. 47 (EAN 9780345461988, Hardcover) Voice of Youth Advocates 04/01/2004 pg. 60 (EAN 9780345461988, Hardcover) Wilson Senior High Core Col 01/01/2004 pg. 89 (EAN 9780345461988, Hardcover) Library Journal 07/01/2003 (EAN 9780345461988, Hardcover) Wilson Fiction Catalog 01/01/2006 pg. 622 (EAN 9780345461988, Hardcover) Wilson Fiction Catalog 01/01/2010 pg. 570 (EAN 9780345461988, Hardcover) Wilson Fiction Catalog 01/01/2014 pg. 676 (EAN 9780345461988, Hardcover) Contributor Bio:  McCaffrey, Anne Anne Inez McCaffrey (April 1, 1926-November 21, 2011) was an American-born Irish writer, best known for the Dragonriders of Pern science fiction series. Early in McCaffrey's forty-six-year career as a writer, she became the first woman to win a Hugo Award for fiction and the first to win a Nebula Award. Her 1978 novel The White Dragon" became one of the first science fiction books to appear on the New York Times" bestseller list. In 1999 she was the recipient of the Margaret A. Edwards Award, honoring her lifetime contribution to writing for teens. In 2005 the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America named McCaffrey its twenty-second Grand Master, an annual award to living writers of fantasy and science fiction. She was inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame in 2006. Contributor Bio:  McCaffrey, Todd Todd McCaffrey is the bestselling author of the Pern novels Dragonsblood and Dragonheart, and the co-author, with his mother, Anne McCaffrey, of Dragon s Kin, Dragon s Fire, and Dragon Harper. A computer engineer, he currently lives in Los Angeles. Having grown up in Ireland with the epic of the Dragonriders of Pern, (r) he is burst-ing with ideas for new stories of that world, its people, and its dragons. Contributor Bio:  Hill, Dick Reader of over four hundred audiobooks, Dick Hill has won three coveted Audie Awards and been nominated numerous times. He is also the recipient of several "AudioFile" Earphones Awards. "AudioFile" includes Dick on their prestigious list of Golden Voices.