Dragon's Kin
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| Dragon's Kin | |
 First paperback edition cover |
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| Author | Anne McCaffrey with Todd McCaffrey |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | Dragonriders of Pern |
| Genre(s) | Fantasy novel |
| Publisher | Del Rey |
| Publication date | November 2003 (1st edition) |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover & Paperback) |
| Pages | 292 pp |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-345-46198-3 (hardcover) |
| Preceded by | The Skies of Pern |
| Followed by | Dragonsblood |
Dragon's Kin is a science fiction novel in the Dragonriders of Pern series. Written by Anne McCaffrey with Todd McCaffrey, it was first published in 2002.
[edit] Plot summary
The story tells how the people of the fictional planet Pern discover the special abilities of the watch-whers or whers, a distant relative of the dragons. Subsequently, these beasts are used in mines to warn miners of gas pockets and also to locate stranded miners, should there be a cave-in.
The story begins some years before the 3rd Pass in Camp Natalon, a mining camp. There, the reader is introduced to a young boy Kindan, whose father owns a watch-wher called Dask. During a mining cave-in, Kindan loses his entire family as well as Dask, and is adopted by the Master Harper Zist, who begins to train him to be both an entertainer and a spy, something that Harpers do. This is how Kindan learns that the camp is divided into two parties, Natalon's and his uncle, Tarik's.
Meanwhile, the camp is without a watch-wher and minor accidents keep delaying the work. Despite the protests from Tarik and his group, Natalon decides to trade an entire winter's worth of coal for a chance for Kindan to ask a queen watch-wher for an egg. He succeeds and begins the difficult task of raising a nocturnal animal. As no records exist on how to raise or train the watch-wher, Kindan has no clue but is luckily aided by the mysterious Nuella. Together, they train Kisk and, in the process, learns a great deal about this species. This proves to be vital as, towards the end of the novel, Kisk's abilities will save many lives, including that of the camp leader, Natalon.
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