Having reread most of McCaffrey's Pern books earlier this year, I was intrigued when I saw this audiobook, first in a previously unknown to me series, available in Audible's Plus catalog.

Enjoyable enough though I felt that the world building wasn't as good as in the Pern series. ( )

The first book of the Tower and the Hive series. The Rowan is a powerful telekinetic who is discovered when she is orphaned in a disaster during early childhood. As one of the incredibly rare Primes who are the core of the space program she is isolated and lonely. Much of the book covers her early years and trauma. As an adult she is assigned transport to Callisto and one day is contacted by a previously unknown Prime demanding help for his colony against alien invaders. It's love at first contact! Most of the action of the book is compressed into the last few chapters.

book re-read 1/17/2022 ( )

There were definitely moments (particularly of male domineering) that irritated me, but then there would be amazing moments of feminine empowerment I loved, particularly in the final conflict resolution. So good. The pacing was weird after part one, but not necessarily in a bad way. I just had to get used to it. The romance aspect is the single fastest case of insta-love I've ever encountered, but I suppose it could be explained by the nature of telepathy and those two characters being Primes. I hated the way Rowan seemed to lose herself in some ways to that relationship, but on the other hand I appreciated the lack of other frustrating romance elements often present in those storylines (like jealousy). Ultimately the parts I didn't like were outweighed by my overall enjoyment of the characters, worldbuilding, and main conflict. Upon this reread the book didn't live up to my memory of the perfect rating I gave it when I first read it as a teen, but it was still very entertaining. I can't wait to reread the rest of the series.

Also, I absolutely love the cover art! ( )

Anne McCaffrey is one of my all time favorite sc-fi/fantasy authors. Her 'The Tower and the Hive" series is among my favorite series of all time. The characters are engaging and the story grabs me right about and keeps me interested until the very end. I do feel that story gets a weak towards the middle but it picks up at the end. The Rowan is a great book as a start to the series or as a standalone novel. ( )

This is part of the Talented universe. I enjoyed the storyline. The main reason for this is because the main character, Rowan, grows up and changes personality due to a trauma. The writing is quite believable. Then as the story moves forward she continues to change according to interAction with people and events. ( )