Book Shelf

The Rowan - Anne McCaffrey - Corgi œ3.99

In the not too distant future, psychic talents are recognised as
fact. Initially feared, these abilities have now been seen to be
useful to mankind. People possessing them - known as Talents -
have varying powers of telepathy, telekinesis etc, ranging from
the weakest T12 to the highest T1. Top of the tree are the Primes,
of which there are only a handful. These individuals are
responsible for communication and transport of equipment, people
and cargoes from one end of the star system to another. However,
their rarity brings with it a sense of isolation from their fellow
humans; they even have difficulty relating to each other.

When a mudslip on the planet Altair wipes out a mining colony,
only one three year old girl survives ... and turns out to be the
strongest Prime ever discovered. Not being able to remember her
real name, she dubs herself The Rowan, after the colony. The book
tells her story, through her childhood and adolescence into
adulthood, showing the training she undergoes and her
relationships with other people including the formidable Siglen,
the Prime who trains her.

Though very different from the other Anne McCaffrey books I've
read, notably the Pern series, The Rowan is a most enjoyable book,
with a good mix of humour and sadness. It certainly makes you
realise that being one of the most important, useful and powerful
people in the galaxy may not necessarily be the best life in the
world. Sometimes it can be lonely at the top.

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