The first new Pern novel since 2001 and the first written in collaboration with McCaffrey’s son. The series is now more than 20 years old and she continues to add depth intrigue and a host of new characters to the mythical Dragon World.
Young Kindan has no expectations other than joining his father in the mines of Camp Natalon. However, mining is fraught with danger and a disaster leaves Kindan orphaned. Grieving, Kindan is taken in by the camp’s new Harper and finds a measure of solace in a burgeoning musical talent…and in a new friendship with the mysterious Nuella. Nuella helps Kindan when he is selected to hatch and train a new watch-wher for the camp, a creature distantly related to dragons and uniquely suited to specialized work in the dark, cold mineshafts. Meanwhile, long-simmering tensions are dividing the camp. As warring factions threaten to explode, Nuella and Kindan begin to discover hidden talents in the watch-wher–talents that could very well save an entire Hold and which show them that even a seemingly impossible dream is never completely out of reach … For the first time, Anne McCaffrey 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.
Anne McCaffrey (1926 - 2011) was one of the world’s leading science-fiction writers, and won both the Hugo and Nebula awards. Born and raised in the US, although of Irish extraction, she moved to live in Ireland, in the heart of the Wicklow Mountains, where, as well as writing, she breed horses. She was recently awarded the Margaret A. Edwards' Lifetime Achievement Literary Award. She was the creator of the Dragons of Pern series.
