The Tower and the Hive

Tower and Hive, Book 5

By: Anne McCaffrey

Narrated by: Susan Ericksen

Length: 9 hrs and 24 mins

Publisher's summary

For generations, the descendants of the powerful telepath known as the Rowan have used their various talents to help mankind - some are telepaths, others can teleport through space, others are empathic healers. The clan has grown powerful. They have led Earth to ally itself with the alien Mrdini, and together the two races have held back the predatory Hivers, a deadly insectoid species that kills all life it finds.

Like all powerful families, the Rowan clan has also made enemies. There are those who say the treaties with the Mrdini gave away too much - especially, that the Mrdini get more than their fair share of new living space as habitable planets are discovered - that the Hivers should have been exterminated by now, and that far too much power is concentrated in one family.

The clan has two goals to keep the peace: to help the Mrdini control population growth, so that newly discovered planets are distributed more evenly, and to put a final halt to Hiver advances. They are confident of success - if they can survive sabotage and assassination attempts aimed at destroying all they have worked for.

Listen to the rest of the Rowan Series.

©2007 Anne McCaffrey (P)2007 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Readers looking for intelligent, heroic adventure will find it here, and Rowan fans will be especially pleased at this felicitous closing of a popular SF series." ( Publishers Weekly)

It was an ending.

It wrapped things up with a neat bow, but it was overall rather boring.

As always the story is excellent, but .....

What made the experience of listening to The Tower and the Hive the most enjoyable?

As with most everything Anne McCaffrey the story is 5 star .. the biggest problem with this audiobook is the performance. It is obvious the narrator is unfamiliar with the characters and they the sound effects added to the recording are terrible. I wish they would re-record this book using the same narrator and style they used in the other books in the series.

What other book might you compare The Tower and the Hive to and why?

The Pegasus Trilogy, same author they are the prequels to the Tower series.

What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?

did not like the performance at all, narrator did not know the characters and the sound effects were terrible

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

only that I did not like the recording and narrator but I bought it anyway because its anne mccaffrey and is the last in the series

a nice story

was a good listen I enjoyed the plot too . would be great to path and telaport.

Humane, raw, and very relevant

Excellent insight in to sibling relationships while also exploring consequences of caustic discrimination by others.
I did miss Isthia Raven in this book, though her influence is felt in the way Damia and Afra interact with their children.

Fabulous reading

Ann McCaffereys many series I so enjoy. Losing my my vision and finding audible saved my bacon she has chosen excellent readers for this series.

Good story, could wish for a better performance

I love Anne McCaffrey, but I really wish that the performer had bothered to listen to the previous audio books so her pronunciation of names and places would be consistent. It's a constant irritant every time she mispronounces something and really detracts doom the overall experience. I almost regret buying this.

All that can be stated is it’s Anne McCaffery

I’ve read the series several times and own the books but to be able to listen to them was wonderful!!! Although I must also comment on pronunciation of names and planets surprised me, betaglease or how ever it was spelled I didn’t think was pronounced beetle juice lol!! Found that laughable and a bit odd.

Anne Macafrey is the mother of science fiction

Her ability to take us out amongst the stars is unparalleled. The way she creates different life forms and races is outstanding. I think that any one interested in science fiction should definitly read this series

awesome

everyone should listen to this FANTASTIC SERIIES you will be swept up into this BRILLIANT STORY AND SAGA

love it! The performance and voice are dramatic

love it! The performance and voice are dramatic without being overly dramatic. One of my favorite books and authors