The Rowan (Tower and Hive, #1)

by Anne McCaffrey

The captivating first novel in the classic science fiction series The Tower and the Hive.

An extraordinary woman with unparalleled telepathic abilities is destined to face a lonely life of servitude—until she receives a telepathic plea from across the stars.

As a young girl, The Rowan is discovered because her incredible gift: telepathic abilities that are more powerful than anyone has ever seen. As she grows older, she uses her talents to benefit society as a Prime, responsible for communicating and moving ships through space. But a life as a Prime is a lonely one, leaving her longing to find personal connection and meaning.

When a distress call from a distant planet reaches her, The Rowan is drawn into a rescue mission that will put her powers to the test—and everything changes when she meets Jeff Raven, another telepath who just might have that crucial spark of connection she’s been searching for.

• ISBN10: 0441735762
• ISBN13: 9780441735761
• Publish Date: 1 September 1991 (first published 1 October 1990)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Penguin Putnam Inc
• Imprint: Ace Books
• Format: Paperback (US Mass Market)
• Pages: 336
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780441735761

Reviews

[wyvernfriend]

I used to love this series when I was younger and it did stand up to re-reading for me.

The Talents are spread out over the Nine Star League using their psionic abilitiies to help things along. Among these abilities there's a lot of variety and power, but there are very few high-powered telepaths, the ones who can help push cargo, and onto a small mining colony one is born. Orphaned at an early age and known as The Rowan she's trained by the Prime on her planet. The first part follows her youth. Her life changes when she comes into contact with another telepath, male and needing her help. She discovers more about herself and her abilities and has to face some of her fears.

I liked it, there were some casually sexist moments in it but it was published in 1990, and the author is of an age where some of that was normal. Still the attitudes have improved from the first book, I do want to continue with this series and see where and how it continues to entertain (I hope)