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233rd out of 320 books
—
444 voters
The Kin (The Kin #1-4)
It is two hundred thousand years ago. A small group of children are cut off from their Kin, the Moonhawks, when they are driven from their "Good Place" by violent strangers. While searching for a new Good Place, they face the parched desert, an active volcano, a canyon flood, man-eating lions, and other Kins they've never seen before. Told from four points of view, with ta...more
Paperback, 640 pages
Published
June 9th 2003
by Firebird
(first published 1998)
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I can't believe I stuck with a book that was 628 pages long and all along I knew it was a "2"!
There were a few good points to this book, but mostly not. The fact that the author said he made it all up did not help. I would have liked to have known that he did some research into our ancestors.
I was a little intrigued that their language was so, well, primitive. The characters that he portrays at least had language. They encountered others who not only did not have language but also didn't seem...more
There were a few good points to this book, but mostly not. The fact that the author said he made it all up did not help. I would have liked to have known that he did some research into our ancestors.
I was a little intrigued that their language was so, well, primitive. The characters that he portrays at least had language. They encountered others who not only did not have language but also didn't seem...more
I truly cannot understand why so many people rate this book so highly, here and on Amazon.
I could give myself a headache trying to delineate all the reasons why I disliked this book. I'll just stick to the most obvious one, the one that got in the way most often of my enjoying the story: The writing is terrible. It's wooden, stilted, flat, and totally unengaging. The narrative voice used not believable for the setting -- one doesn't expect paleolithic peoples to say or think things like "really...more
I could give myself a headache trying to delineate all the reasons why I disliked this book. I'll just stick to the most obvious one, the one that got in the way most often of my enjoying the story: The writing is terrible. It's wooden, stilted, flat, and totally unengaging. The narrative voice used not believable for the setting -- one doesn't expect paleolithic peoples to say or think things like "really...more
The Kin was originally written as a series of four short books, but it has been compiled into one book in later editions. It is set in Africa 200,000 years ago. A group of men has recently been ousted from their home by violent strangers, and they are wandering through the desert looking for new Good Places. When they abandon the four very young orphans for their own survival, two older children separate from the group and go back to rescue the little ones. This group of children then has many a...more
Rating: 3.5
I read this when I was in high school, and I remember that despite the enormous length of the book (that alone tends to discourage me from reading sometimes), I thought that The Kin was quite engaging. While it did start off a bit slow, I quickly found myself liking the characters, and caring about what happened to them. I think that this helps, because the plot revolves quite closely around the main four.
Also, I quite liked the mythology in here, and how it tied into the different c...more
I read this when I was in high school, and I remember that despite the enormous length of the book (that alone tends to discourage me from reading sometimes), I thought that The Kin was quite engaging. While it did start off a bit slow, I quickly found myself liking the characters, and caring about what happened to them. I think that this helps, because the plot revolves quite closely around the main four.
Also, I quite liked the mythology in here, and how it tied into the different c...more
The Kin by Peter Dickinson was a good read that was worth the while. I personally thought that is was an excellent book. the book is about a group of people in an ancient Africa who are trying to survive the harsh lands. The book is split up into four different sections to tell one big story. the book is split up into stories told by the perspective of four different characters. the characters telling the story are Suth, Noli, Mana, and Ko.
Out of the four stories the one that I really enjoyed w...more
Out of the four stories the one that I really enjoyed w...more
For my full review please visit my blog: The Kin: Ko's Story review @ From the Shadows I Review
3.5 stars
This didn't grab me as much as the previous two books. I wasn't entirely sure why at first but I figured it out a bit later on in the paragraph. This book doesn't lack anything that the other two had, the scene setting was beautiful, the oldtale was wonderful and the writing sublime. Now I'll get on to why I didn't fully enjoy this book as I promised I would. It wasn't the book in any way,...more
3.5 stars
This didn't grab me as much as the previous two books. I wasn't entirely sure why at first but I figured it out a bit later on in the paragraph. This book doesn't lack anything that the other two had, the scene setting was beautiful, the oldtale was wonderful and the writing sublime. Now I'll get on to why I didn't fully enjoy this book as I promised I would. It wasn't the book in any way,...more
Peter Dickinson is probably my favourite author whose books I haven't all hunted down. (No, I lie, that's Diana Wynne Jones, but only because I haven't got hold of Enchanted Glass yet.) He's really good at character and immersive settings, and he does remarkably complex things with the very simple imagined grammar of the first humans to use language.
I read this at Sophie's urging, and I'm happy to say that it was worth my time! I'm very interested in evolutionary psychology and ancestral nutrition, and Dickinson's imagined world adds some great talking points to our family conversations. Some of the most fruitful themes: responsibility, altruism, fear, friendship, violence.
Intended for children, but so rich, imaginative, intense, and satisfying I recommend it for all ages 10 to 110. A little bit like Clan of the Cave Bear, which I did like, but so much more. Fans of fantasy and science fiction will like it, too - the characters are humans but since they are of 200,000 years ago they are almost 'alien.'
I couldn't stand this book. It was incredibly long and not much happened. I guess the writing was pretty good and the author did a good job describing that time period, but it was a very unnecessary book. I thought it went on for to long and the characters didn't have conflicts that were worth writing 628 pages about. It didn't have enough significance and it didn't teach me anything. I would never suggest this book.
The Kin fits into the YA fiction category, and reading it from that perspective I enjoyed it. It's kind of a Clan of the Cave Bears for young readers, but totally sanitized when it comes to sex. And the violence is not too graphic. The story is told in four mini-books from the POVs of four of the young Kin, two boys and two girls. There are Kin with language and those without, Kin who dwell in different environments, Kin who live peacefully and those who hunt men. Full of adventure and character...more
A fascinating book.
A group of young children is separated from their families, in prehistoric times. When you read this book, it's really as if you are there with them. You begin to know them, love them. Dickinson is a very good author.
A group of young children is separated from their families, in prehistoric times. When you read this book, it's really as if you are there with them. You begin to know them, love them. Dickinson is a very good author.
I really liked this book. I wish it were a series or a trilogy or something. I wanted to hear more about the people and the story. To me that is the definition of a good book.
I didn't think I would enjoy this book but I was surprised by it. It is rich and wonderful and makes me think about what it means to be people.
It was definitely not like any other book I've read. But that doesn't mean that's necessarily a great thing. It was well written and interesting, but just not really my cup of tea. I had to finish it, of course...lol. Oh well :)
First long book that i ever read. got me into reading... what an amazing astonighing journey. i love this book.
One of the worst books I've ever read. And that's saying something.
Cool idea, but the caveman culture gets a little cutesy.
I didn't like this book to much. It was my book club book.
A wondrous book, beautifully crafted.
This is a pretty interesting story of how prehistoric man could have survived. I had fun with it, but it got repetitious with all of the "running from a new peril" thing a lot of children's books suffer from. The best part, for me, were the myths that separated some of the chapters. Dickinson's strength in this novel really seemed to be his ability to create an entire mythos for a completely unknown culture, and those parts made up for the repetition of the rest of the story for me.
Nov 05, 2008
Marcia Williams
added it
I found these books to be a quick, easy read. The author used a technique I had not encountered before with each alternating chapter reflecting a myth of the people and the next showing how the hunter gathering group passed over an area shown in the myth or encountered an animal described in the myth. It was effective and interesting. Dickinson's characterization of the early humans was believeable and somewhat reminiscent of Jean Auel's writing.
A sweeping tale of prehistoric man. When strangers take over their territory, the Moonhawk clan must leave the lands they know and set off across the desert in search of new Good Places. The story is told through the eyes of four young people: Suth, Noli, Ko, and Mana. Dickinson deftly weaves legends in amongst teh story of the Kin, and the prehistoric world he imagines feels real; it is familiar yet alien.
I thought this book was an interesting look at what life was like for early man. I liked how it was told from more than one character's point of view and how each character had their own inner struggle that coincided with the group's struggle for survival. Although it was a bit long and it took me a while to get into at first, I found that there was enough action to keep me interested.
Thinking I hit a bump in an otherwise smooth road by reading Eva I thought I would give this story a try. It didn't do the trick. Another strange story that confused me trying to figure out why everything seemed so difficult for the clan. It was frustrating and not entertaining or educational.
I don't remember a lot about this book, because i read it in sixth grade, like four years ago. i remember that it was kinda bizarre, but i remember liking it. it wasn't amazing, but it was interesting. and it also took me forever to read, cuz it's HUGE.
I absolutely loved this book. I saw it at Borders and received it for my birthday when I was in high school. It was way better than I had thought it would be. This is one of my favorite books by far and has stuck with me all these years.
Eeh. Didn't finish. A long run-on story.
I guess he was trying to "document" how the people would have lived, and yes, it reads like a documentary.
Other than that it's a fun book.
I guess he was trying to "document" how the people would have lived, and yes, it reads like a documentary.
Other than that it's a fun book.
Very nicely conceived ya novel placed at about 100,000 BCE. Written from four points of view.
Very interesting book about early humans
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Peter Malcolm de Brissac Dickinson OBE FRSL (born 16 December 1927) is a prolific English author and poet, best known for children's books and detective stories.
Peter Dickinson lives in Hampshire with his second wife, author Robin McKinley. He has written more than fifty novels for adults and young readers. He has won both the Carnegie Medal and the Whitbread Children's Award twice, and his novel...more
More about Peter Dickinson...
Peter Dickinson lives in Hampshire with his second wife, author Robin McKinley. He has written more than fifty novels for adults and young readers. He has won both the Carnegie Medal and the Whitbread Children's Award twice, and his novel...more
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Nov 16, 2011 09:05pm