The Rowan

Tower and Hive, Book 1

By: Anne McCaffrey

Narrated by: Jean Reed Bahle

Length: 9 hrs and 48 mins

Publisher's summary

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.

Listen to the rest of the Rowan Series.

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

Critic reviews

"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." ( Publishers Weekly)

Just OK!

I suspect that if it was 1975 and I was 19 again, I would have loved this novel. However, the 2015 me found it a bit dated.

It is my understanding that Anne McCaffrey was one of the first women Sci Fi writers to incorporate strong female characters. McCaffrey was the first women to win a Hugo and the first to win a Nebula. However, I found the all the characters a bit flat and the women too willing to let the men protect and take care of them.

The best part of the novel is the beginning when we see the title character 'The Rowan' growing up. Once 'The Rowan' reached 18 and sex was introduced into the story, the novel was more like a Harlequin romance novel in space.

All in all, it wasn't terrible-just not quite as good as other titles I have listened to.

Good story marred by a dated narration

This not the best Anne McCaffrey book, but it's still a good story. However, the audio book is undercut by an old narration with poor production values. Words are mispronounced (Deneb!), there are odd gaps in the narration that interrupt the flow, and there is 'clipping' on some phrases. Just very distracting. I wish the publisher would create an updated narration.

Reader sounds like my phone reading what’s on the screen.

Sounded like the reading was sent thru an app to make it sound like a computer. Not easy to get used to.

Decent. McCaffrey tells a good story, but...

her shallow representation of humanity results in difficulty with immersion. Borders on romance novel writing at times, which undermines the incredible world she has created.

meh

my first McCaffrey book is a meh, starts solid falls Abit but, not the worst I've read... definitely setup for a series. so if this is the worst then I ain't doing too bad.

Fun and very interesting!

I got hooked pretty fast. The storyline is original and details are described so well. It kept me wanting to know more. I am so ready for the sequel!

Love this author but

This story was hard to get started in, good once going but again mind speaking done in audio was too loud… you kept wanting to turn the volume up and down. And definitely did not work with ear phones.

Love the Dragon Riders of Pern series when read as a kid. Would encourage reading whole series. Maybe looses something in audio.

excellent

If you could sum up The Rowan in three words, what would they be?

wonderfully engaging story!

What did you like best about this story?

The can't stop listening factor of the story that catches you and keeps you comming back for more.

Which character – as performed by Jean Reed Bahle – was your favorite?

The Rowan

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

Yes I laughed and cried. The deaths were so sad.

Any additional comments?

This is a wonderful book. I used to own it as an audio cassette version and it sounds just like I remember. It has always been one of my favorite books ever since highschool when I first read it in paperback. I just had to have this book, but then the whole series is great.

Ann McCaffrey is one of the Divas of sci-fi

I can't think of a single book by Anne McCaffrey that I haven't enjoyed. The Dragon Rider's of Pern are my favorites. I read those voraciously when I was young and I'm slowly re-reading them through Audible as I have a free credit here and there or find one on sale. The first Tower and Hive book was excellent, but very different from the Dragon Rider's series and I might have to use some of my credits to go through the Tower and Hive series as well. I really wish the whole series was on Audible Plus so I could binge-listen. :) You really can't go wrong listening to Anne's books. They are a bit lighter and more positive than a lot of the current sci-fi authors. It's nice to read something where the good guys win without losing 90% of the main characters. I still love the guts and glory, hard core sci-fi, but it's nice to read something lighter once in awhile.

Mercedes Lackey at her best!

I don't know why we bother to review Lackey"s work. She never fails to deliver. She has again written a well plotted and fast paced winner.