Dragon's Kin  by Anne McCaffrey & Todd McCaffrey
Review by Tom A. Wright

A common theme in Anne McCaffrey's Pern books is to have a gifted child or two from the working class overcome family obstacles to make an important impact on the entire society. This is definitely true of Dragon's Kin.

What keeps this novel from being a tired rehash of Dragon's Song is elements of the world of Pern we haven't seen much of before - the miners, watch-whers (ugly cousins to the dragons), and a blind girl.

The major conflicts in this book are slow to build, and are far from world shattering, but the story makes up for it with good character development.

Wondering what will happen to Kindan, the young boy orphaned early in the book, and Nuella, the blind girl kept hidden from the mining community where they live, easily keeps readers turning the page.

This book is a collaboration between Anne and her son Todd, who is working on a Pern novel all his own. If Dragon's Kin is any indication of Todd's ability to step into the world created by his mother, we may continue to see stories in Anne's most famous world continue well past her retirement. I hope Todd's up to the task. - he has big shoes to fill.
 

Tom A. Wright was the first PWP Webmaster (1998-2005) and served as PWP President in 2004. He and his family now make their home in Arkansas. In addition to writing, he and his wife Annette also raise pygmy goats. Tom is the author of two sci-fi novels, Distant Ties and Broken Ties.

Return to List of Reviews