The Rowan (1990)

I love the concept here. Psychic people who can move ships with their minds. An orphan battling terrible trauma, but with incredibly powerful talent.

Execution, though... wasn't great. There's no real overarching plot. Aliens show up briefly and then aren't mentioned again for years. There are two romances, both of which are nearly instant. The big emotional moments are summed up in a paragraph or two, while pages are spent on food or interior decorating. If you asked me what the central problem of the book is, I'm not sure what I'd say.

It's a quick read so you may as well give it a shot, it gets you thinking. Could be better though. ( )

A good, strictly sci-fi Anne McCaffery with some well-written women lead characters. The Rowan, of course, is our main protagonist, and we see her from childhood through into adulthood. The story takes place in a future time when Earth's inhabitants have colonized planets and move not through engine power but through the vast abilities of telepaths.

She is found after a mudslide because her mind will not stop shouting, and the Prime (the primary telepath of her planet) insists on rescuing her. This Prime is also a doozy of a character and is created for that purpose: not every female character can be likeable! Contrast her with the Rowan's primary caregiver, and some snippy cousins, and you have a good human basis for this sci-fi story.

Once the Rowan grows into adulthood, however, the story navigates in and around and through this interstellar travel, an invasion by an alien species, and a love story between equals. I did have to shake my head at McCaffery's /the Rowan's statement that she "never felt more womanly" than after she gave birth, but there you have it. Definitely a good and decent read and insight into a future of possibilities. ( )

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. ( )

To read more reviews in this series and others, check out my blog keikii eats books!

97 points, 5 STARS!

Quote:
Instead, she had gone from one lonely tower to another. Yegrani’s ‘long and lonely road’ had been before her a long and lonely time.
Review:
I absolutely loved reading The Rowan. It was like this book was specifically created to hit all of my "Oh my god, I love it!" buttons. It is slow paced, taking the reader through the life of The Rowan. Perhaps a bit slower than some readers might wish McCaffrey to go, even. Yet I loved the pace, and I loved watching The Rowan grow up.

This is the start of a spinoff from McCaffrey's The Talents series, several generations removed from the characters in those books, so it isn't necessary to read The Talent before reading this (and I wouldn't even recommend that you do). I'd guess at the very least seven generations have passed, if not more. Mankind has found a way to colonize space. And the only way they could do that was through the help of extremely talented Prime telekinetics and telepaths who work tirelessly to shift people and supplies and send messages across the galaxy.

Enter The Rowan. She was found as a toddler because she kept sending a distress signal to an entire planet. Her family all dead, she grew up a ward of the planet for the good of FT&T, who are the organization that employs the Primes. The Rowan is extremely powerful from an unbelievably young age. She grew up knowing she would be a Prime, and she grew up with everyone else knowing she would be a Prime. Which means that she was training to work even as a young kid. That is all she ever really does is work and study, even from as young as nine years old, except for some short vacations.

We follow The Rowan as she grows up. She is so incredibly lonely. It is heartbreaking. She works and she works and she works, because she doesn't really have any peers. Everyone around her is an underling, they all answer to her. And then midway through the book, she gets trapped on a Callisto, one of Jupiter's moons for Story Reasons, which makes The Rowan even more lonely. Because she doesn't have anyone and can't go anywhere. It breaks my heart.

Until a colony planet, Deneb, is attacked by aliens and is requesting help from Earth Prime. Only, Deneb got The Rowan, instead. Which is the start to not only an amazing story, but a beautiful relationship as well when Deneb turns out to be a newly awakened Prime worthy of being with The Rowan.

I absolutely adored this book, and I honestly would consider rereading it at some point in the future. It just felt so right. ( )