The Rowan

by Anne McCaffrey Narrated by Jean Reed Bahle

Overview

Told in the timeless style of Anne McCaffrey, The Rowan is the first installment in a wonderful trilogy. This is sci-fi at its best: a contemporary love story as well as an engrossing view of our world in the future.

The kinetically gifted, trained in mind/machine gestalt, are the most valued citizens of the Nine Star League. Using mental powers alone, these few Prime Talents transport ships, cargo and people between Earth's Moon, Mars' Demos and Jupiter's Callisto.

An orphaned young girl, simply called The Rowan, is discovered to have superior telepathic potential and is trained to become Prime Talent on Callisto. After years of self-sacrificing dedication to her position, The Rowan intercepts an urgent mental call from Jeff Raven, a young Prime Talent on distant Deneb. She convinces the other Primes to merge their powers with hers to help fight off an attack by invading aliens. Her growing relationship with Jeff gives her the courage to break her status-imposed isolation, and choose the more rewarding world of love and family.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

The Rowan, a powerful but lonely psychic in charge of the Federal Telepath & Transport service, touches minds and falls in love with another of her ilk who needs help fighting extraterrestrials. ``In this sensitive portrayal (expanded from the author's first published story, `Lady in the Tower') McCaffrey draws a warm and vivid picture of a struggling frontier society,'' said PW. (Sept.)

Library Journal

Have you ever wondered how life on Pern started and where the dragons came from? McCaffrey presents the birth of civilization on Pern in Dragonsdawn , the ``prequel'' to her earlier novels about this strange planet (e.g., Moreta: Dragonlady of Pern , Audio Reviews, LJ 9/15/93). Listen to the adventures of the first colonists on this beautiful planet and learn where all the names, customs, and legends come from. Reader Dick Hill provides excellent characterizations for each role and conveys much emotion. Even listeners unfamiliar with McCaffrey's other installments in the Dragon series will delight in this audiobook. Suitable for broad fiction collections.-- Miriam Kahn, Columbus, Ohio

School Library Journal

YA-- Rowan, a telepathic, telekinetic three-year-old, is the sole survivor of a mining disaster on a frontier planet. As she matures, her powers grow until she becomes one of a handful of ``Primes'' with the Federal Telepath & Teleport network, the organization responsible for telecommunications and shipping of cargo throughout the galaxy. Rowan finds herself alienated from humanity and her coworkers due to her unique talents and tremendous responsibilities until she senses Jeff Raven, a fellow talent, on the fringes of explored space. A bonding develops between the two when they are thrown together to help defeat aliens bent on destroying the human race. The Rowan was expanded from the short story ``Lady in the Tower'' in Get Off the Unicorn (1984). While not as strong a love story as The Ship Who Sang (1976, both Ballantine), McCaffrey weaves believable characters with a well-written story to produce this entertaining science fiction romance.-- John Lawson, Fairfax County Public Library, VA

Product Details

BN ID:	2940169700985
Publisher:	Brilliance Audio
Publication date:	01/25/2007
Series:	Rowan/Damia , #1
Edition description:	Unabridged
Sales rank:	551,449

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