The Rowan by Anne McCaffrey

 

I've heard Anne McCaffrey's name mentioned over the past several decades. But I had never read any of her novels until this year when I decided to listen to the unabridged audio version of The Rowan, which was published in 1990 and narrated by Jean Reed Bahle. The Rowan is a science fiction/romance novel and is the first novel in 'The Tower and the Hive' Series.

I was partly inspired to read a novel by Anne McCaffrey because she became the first woman to win a Hugo Award and also the first woman to win a Nebula Award. I figured that if she had won both of these prestigious literary awards, then she must be an excellent writer.  So why not give one of Ms. McCaffrey's novels a try? 

It wasn't until Chirp Audiobooks had a sale for The Rowan by Anne McCaffrey, that I downloaded and listened to this audiobook. It's plot sounded somewhat intriguing and the book seems to be well liked overall by readers.

Ugh, The Rowan's plot is bland, flat, and boring! It is such a one dimensional read. I don't understand it's appeal. Most of the character's were over the top dramatic in their interactions and it seemed like they were (almost) constantly bickering amongst each other when it came to the primes... And the romance between Jeff and the Rowan wasn't much of a romance, in my opinion.

The audio production for The Rowan was lacking. I don't know if it was originally recorded in the 1990s or when exactly, but the sound production is bad. Plus, the sound effect used to make it sound like the characters were communicating telepathically was annoying.

I didn't like The Rowan and I will not be continuing with the series. I doubt I'll be reading another novel by Anne McCaffrey either.

Below is the publisher's summary for The Rowan by Anne McCaffrey found on Chirp's website:

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.

I am giving The Rowan by Anne McCaffrey a rating of 1 star out of 5 stars.

Until my next post, happy reading!!!