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3.8 AVERAGE
3.8 AVERAGE
I first read this series in middle or high school, and while I couldn't remember much of the plot I recall enjoying it immensely. So when I saw this for $2 in a used bookstore the other day, I couldn't resist picking it up. It's a fast, engaging read with beautifully developed characters. I love the mechanics of space travel and teleportation as well. It's also possible that the nostalgia of reading something I haven't looked at in ages made it even more enjoyable. Definitely curious to read the whole series this time around, since I only ever made it through the first three when I was younger.
Oh lord. I liked this book when I was a kid, but re-reading as an adult, the gender politics is pretty much intolerable.
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
It felt like it was written in the 1950s. Cosy Science fiction about talented humans with telekinesis/telepathic etc powers. First half was good, but when The Rowen finds love at first sight it gets a bit boring, and her drive to have a great many children is just plan weird.
This was my first Anne McCaffrey and all I can saw is: goddammit Jeff!!! A number of people encouraged me not to pick this up as my first attempt of a book by her and now I can definitely see why!
The world she's building with this series is really unique, which is what convinced me to go ahead and pick it up. In The Rowan, shipping and telecommunications across the worlds of the Nine Star League is handled by psychic Talents of the Federal Telepaths and Teleporters (FT&T). This creates an interesting and unique government structure—one of the characters describes FT&T as more of a shipping service than military government. I love the idea of the USPS managing an inter-galactic government. It's a really creative idea, dismissing the problems of interstellar space travel with psychics, which facilitates this wonderful space opera!
The book is broken up into four parts and the first one was really strong to me. At the beginning, a freak mudslide destroys a whole mining town, killing everyone but one 3-year old girl, the Rowan. I felt like McCaffrey was really trying to explain her views on raising children, especially those who have survived trauma. There were also some delightfully '90s moments, like when she gets into a huge fight with another girl because she psychically makes herself tan faster on a beach trip.
But then things go completely off the rails as soon as Jeff shows up. I was totally entranced by the portrait she was painting of the coming of age of the titular character and the world she was building, but Jeff sucks all the energy out of the plot. And, seriously, in a world with characters named Lusena, Siglen, or Isthia, you picked the name Jeff for your mysterious love interest?! The rest of the book is about putting her life aside to take care of Jeff, make sure he eats, and be pregnant with his baby. Don't get me wrong, I love domesticity in literature and I think women should be empowered to choose whatever path they want in life, but there are literally multiple alien invasions (including what I think I'm supposed to believe was their first contact with alien life?!) that take all of 15 pages of the narrative, while the main focus is this inexplicable life-changing infatuation she has with the blandest love interest I've ever read.
That being said? I'm definitely going to pick up some more of Anne McCaffrey's work, including other books in this world. As irritating as this romance is, there were many elements that felt successful. I enjoyed the attention to domesticity and surviving trauma (even if it didn't all work for me) and her depiction of women, their lives, and motivations felt very ahead of her time. In the end no matter how many elements seemed like they were taking off, Jeff managed to bungle it all. I couldn't justify giving it 3 stars because, honestly, I didn't really enjoy reading this and had it been even slightly longer I would have DNF'd.
The world she's building with this series is really unique, which is what convinced me to go ahead and pick it up. In The Rowan, shipping and telecommunications across the worlds of the Nine Star League is handled by psychic Talents of the Federal Telepaths and Teleporters (FT&T). This creates an interesting and unique government structure—one of the characters describes FT&T as more of a shipping service than military government. I love the idea of the USPS managing an inter-galactic government. It's a really creative idea, dismissing the problems of interstellar space travel with psychics, which facilitates this wonderful space opera!
The book is broken up into four parts and the first one was really strong to me. At the beginning, a freak mudslide destroys a whole mining town, killing everyone but one 3-year old girl, the Rowan. I felt like McCaffrey was really trying to explain her views on raising children, especially those who have survived trauma. There were also some delightfully '90s moments, like when she gets into a huge fight with another girl because she psychically makes herself tan faster on a beach trip.
But then things go completely off the rails as soon as Jeff shows up. I was totally entranced by the portrait she was painting of the coming of age of the titular character and the world she was building, but Jeff sucks all the energy out of the plot. And, seriously, in a world with characters named Lusena, Siglen, or Isthia, you picked the name Jeff for your mysterious love interest?! The rest of the book is about putting her life aside to take care of Jeff, make sure he eats, and be pregnant with his baby. Don't get me wrong, I love domesticity in literature and I think women should be empowered to choose whatever path they want in life, but there are literally multiple alien invasions (including what I think I'm supposed to believe was their first contact with alien life?!) that take all of 15 pages of the narrative, while the main focus is this inexplicable life-changing infatuation she has with the blandest love interest I've ever read.
That being said? I'm definitely going to pick up some more of Anne McCaffrey's work, including other books in this world. As irritating as this romance is, there were many elements that felt successful. I enjoyed the attention to domesticity and surviving trauma (even if it didn't all work for me) and her depiction of women, their lives, and motivations felt very ahead of her time. In the end no matter how many elements seemed like they were taking off, Jeff managed to bungle it all. I couldn't justify giving it 3 stars because, honestly, I didn't really enjoy reading this and had it been even slightly longer I would have DNF'd.
The Rowan is about a woman who was found orphaned as a baby on a small mining planet. Her entire town was destroyed during a mudslide leaving her as the only survivor. She may not have survived anyways due to her being trapped inside a vehicle under the mud. However, Rowan has incredible psychic powers in telepathy and telekinesis which caused people from other planets to hear her crying. She was eventually saved and placed with someone to watch over her. Due to her strong powers, they thought that the Rowan would grow into someone called a Prime. Primes are the strongest of Talents, talents being people with psychic powers. She eventually grows up and takes over a Tower, but she's lonely and listless. Until one day she hears a distress signal from someone on a distant planet which changes her life forever.
I would give the first 2/3 of this book 4 stars. It kept my attention, I liked the characters, and even though it moved kind of slow I could tell it was building towards something. And then... I don't know. I got up to the part where the Rowan takes over a Tower and then she hears a distress signal and was still liking it. But then she merges herself with this stranger to help and it's instant love. He calls her 'love' and she's in love now even though they don't know anything about each other. Then they're sleeping together and within a few chapters she's pregnant and ... whaaa? I don't know, I thought there was this whole building of the character Rowan but the love story was instant. I'm not a big fan of 'love at first sight' relationships because you miss out on the characters getting to know each other and to me, you don't feel a connection to it. Now I'm just ranting. So basically I didn't like the ending but the beginning was really good. End rant.
I would give the first 2/3 of this book 4 stars. It kept my attention, I liked the characters, and even though it moved kind of slow I could tell it was building towards something. And then... I don't know. I got up to the part where the Rowan takes over a Tower and then she hears a distress signal and was still liking it. But then she merges herself with this stranger to help and it's instant love. He calls her 'love' and she's in love now even though they don't know anything about each other. Then they're sleeping together and within a few chapters she's pregnant and ... whaaa? I don't know, I thought there was this whole building of the character Rowan but the love story was instant. I'm not a big fan of 'love at first sight' relationships because you miss out on the characters getting to know each other and to me, you don't feel a connection to it. Now I'm just ranting. So basically I didn't like the ending but the beginning was really good. End rant.
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
My first reading of The Rowan was in my teens, so I have a soft spot for the whole series. I also enjoy re-reading it for relaxation. Think space TNT, operated by telekinetics with a few aliens thrown in for drama. The world is 'diverse' but written in a way that gives no complexity to race or culture.
I can't remember how much I liked The Rowan when I first read it sometime in middle or high school. It has not aged well (I still like the cover illustration), and most of its problems stem from Jeff Raven. It's possible I thought him romantic when I was young, but he's so overbearing and bossy. Not sure if I'll continue on to Damia, but I'll likely pick up The Ship Who Sang and a few Pern books.
The audiobook was just ok. Sometimes the narrator's pronunciation sounded robotic as if she was auto-tuned. I did appreciate how the telepathic conversations seemed to be recordied in lower quality with a hint of white or background noise. It helped to differentiate between different conversations between people in one room and people on a different planet/moon/whatever.
The audiobook was just ok. Sometimes the narrator's pronunciation sounded robotic as if she was auto-tuned. I did appreciate how the telepathic conversations seemed to be recordied in lower quality with a hint of white or background noise. It helped to differentiate between different conversations between people in one room and people on a different planet/moon/whatever.
I was actually really into the first 2/3 of this book. It promised a strong, powerful, female prime. I was actually a little scared of Rowan? Like, she was about to disrupt the whole talent ideal and take some names... but then she fell into insta-love with some dude, gave up on everything that had been set up in the first part of the book and decided to exist for the sole purpose of having babies. OH and then her husband became far more powerful than her, because that makes sense. A lot of outdated, sexist ideas in this one. It could have been great.
Ahhh, this was a blast from the past! Classic McCaffrey - strong characters, interesting world-building, and an engaging plotline. How might humanity have evolved if we discovered Talents among us - men and women capable of telekinesis, teleportation, and other mental enhancements? In this story, a young child orphaned during a mudslide that destroyed her entire village finds herself as one of the most powerful Talents of her generation. The book deals equally with her loneliness as she grows and matures, her quest to find both friendship and love, and her duty to protect the entire human race from an alien threat. This was one of the first sci-fi/fantasy books I read growing up, and re-reading it was a wonderfully nostalgic experience.