This book should really be titled Afra as at least the first 1/3 of the novel is only about him and and his relationship with The Rowan. When the Rowan and Jeff Raven marry and start to have children the second third of the book follows Damia's childhood and how she is cared for by Afra. The final third of the book follows Damia as she is assigned to a tower at the tender age of 16 and feels lonely and abandoned,. She then becomes prey for a hostile alien invader and barely escapes. Her escape is costly and she goes to her grandmother for recovery. during this time she enters a new relationship with Aftra and together they cope with a second, friendly first encounter.

Re-read 1/30/2023 ( )

After about the 50% mark, I just skipped and skimmed the rest of the book because I couldn't take it anymore. Not even my intense teenage nostalgia for this series can make up for my experience of it now. The men CONSTANTLY meet together specifically in order to subvert Rowan's wishes, particularly as a mother. The moment I officially tapped out was when she caught her husband about to ship off their kids to ANOTHER PLANET without telling her! WTF!?!?!?! And then near the end the romance between Damia and the guy who basically raised her does not sit well with me. Unfortunately the men-walking-over-women thing continues into the next generation with Afra gleefully telepathically putting Damia to sleep at will without her consent. I am so disgusted and disappointed. ( )

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. Damis is my favorite book in this series although I actually like Afra better than her. ( )

Damia is the daughter of Prime Talents The Rowan and Jeff Raven. Her own telepathic and telekinetic abilities manifested at an early age, unimaginable powers even greater than her parents’, challenging to wield much less control. As willful as her mother ever was, Damia defies her family’s attempts to tame and train her—only to bond with Afra Lyon, a Talent who serves The Rowan, and who becomes the object of her affection.

When she comes of age, Damia learns that a Prime of her capabilities and temperament has no time for love. Assigned to serve the farthest human colonized world from Earth, Damia leads a lonely existence until she telepathically connects with an alien presence in another galaxy—a potential threat not only to Damia, but to the love Afra wants to share with her...

I liked this one, but the romance in it made it kind of squicky. I don't remember being bothered by it when I was a teenager, but the idea of the romantic interest standing in loco parentis for the heroine was icky. Even if the actual romance didn't show up until she was an adult. ( )