The Rowan

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)

Interesting Story - Performance is lacking

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I so wanted to enjoy this book but the "reader" is not a voice actor to the point that it is annoying for me being used to real talent in this area from other audible books. The performance is amateurish with often little or no emotion or believable speech patterns and other times exaggerated.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Rowan

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Jean Reed Bahle?

Lisa Gardner

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

not many

7 people found this helpful

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.

5 people found this helpful

An Oldie...

One of books I read when younger and has been remembered. I enjoyed the audio jus as much. Too bad the whole series isn't available unabridged.

3 people found this helpful

Audiobook version: meh.

I enjoyed the story (used to read this series often when I was younger), but the narrator's performance was lacking and audio quality was worse than I'm used to. I will still listen again, though, so it's not a total disappointment.

3 people found this helpful

A Great Book and a Passing Audio Recording

I love Anne MacAffrey's books, and I loved this one when I read it. But the audio recording, perhaps because it was a tape first, is warped and awkward most of the time. The enhanced download is passable. By the end, I had almost gotten used to it.

5 people found this helpful

Not a bad start

This is sort of a continuation of the Pegasis series and does continue the story. The only downfall is the length of the book which if this was a movie would have been over in about 30 minutes, still it is a good listen. However, the reader does not seem to be that good since she cannot seem to pronounce some of the names of the places correctly even according to some of the dictionaries online or in print. If you can get over the fact that the name of the planet that Jeff comes from is spelled Deneb and not Deneeb as the reader pronounces it, she is a good reader.

5 people found this helpful

Uneven series

I remember reading this series when it came out and loved reading anything McCaffrey wrote. When looking for my next audio book I came across the almost forgotten series and was eager to enjoy once again.
I think as an audio book it fails. When they came out it was generally a year between books and you needed the refresher if you weren't like me and loved the excuse to reread. But way too much repetition and books 3, 4and 5 were a struggle with a weak ending to the point I'm considering returning them. It makes me sad. So read the books but I recommend avoiding the audio on this series.

1 person found this helpful

Love the series, but...

What didn’t you like about Jean Reed Bahle’s performance?

She sounds like a computer voice. I refuse to believe a real person is narrating.

Any additional comments?

Love the series, so I'll put up with the bad narration.

1 person found this helpful

Anne McCaffrey is a master

Her stories are excellent, easy to read and solidly written. This story takes a logical look at where we will be if ESP and telekinesis are real and useful. Mix in a bit of space opera with literal BEMs and you have a winner.

1 person found this helpful

Rowan Rocks

What did you love best about The Rowan?

The development of this series is just awesome. Mixing space, telekinesis and teleporation with aliens and humans is a great combo!

Who was your favorite character and why?

Rowan and Purza

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

YES

3 people found this helpful