Rating: 
Summary: Disappointment
Review: I have long believed that McCaffrey can do no wrong but "The Tower and The Hive" just didn't do it for me. Admittedly, there were some wonderful moments but nothing to compare to "The Rowan" or even "Damia's Children." Maybe she lost something by having many main characters instead of one as in "Damia", it didn't show in "Lyon's Pride." I honestly wish that I never read this book -that I had left that universe to my own imagination because I got no sense of closure for the end of this series. I came away without any satisfaction. Don't bother reading this unless you really like Zara since this is the first time you really get to see her. Read "To Ride Pegasus" or "Pegasus In Flight," earlier books set in the same universe.
Rating: 
Summary: Good read but left too many loose ends
Review: I've loved the Rowan series but if this is the last of the series then I'm unhappy. Not because it is ending but because there were too many issues not resolved. Unlike real life, we only have the writer's words to continue knowing what is going on. I enjoy all of Ms. McCaffeys' books but this one left me feeling unfullfilled. Hopefully she will read comments and give us another 'Rowan' book with fewer mistakes (as with Afra being Damia's brother) and more resolutions not just a dangling ending
Rating: 
Summary: Dull, underdeveloped aand unfinished
Review: I have read all the others in this series, and all the dragon books multiple times, I doubt I will reread this one. It had lots of potential, the disfunctional talents, the tensions on home worlds, the unease about the Lyon clan, tensions between human and mridini all of which could have gone somewhere and didn't.
There is certainly potential for another book- but I hope its not as dull as this one
Rating:
Summary: Not a terribly good read
Review: I've read Anne Mccaffrey books since I was 14 & loved them all, but The Tower & the Hive left me so disappointed. Wishy-washy characters, weak storylines, and more questions than answers does not make a good final book in the series. The story also didn't flow for me & seemed unfocused. What on earth were the publishers thinking letting this book go to print? A pre-teen new to her work may get some enjoyment from this book, but not those who have read McCaffrey's other books and know how well she truly can write.
Rating: 
Summary: I love McCaffrey but this one was a little lacking.
Review: There had to be an end to the Rowan series. I only wish the end of the series was a little deeper and memorable. The best thing about this book was Laria and Kincaid's relationship. It was just not developed enough. I will not tell anyone not to read this book but I will say that you need to prepare yourself for a not so easy read. I did not waste my money, but Anne McCaffrey has a lot better books out there. She is still my favorite though!
Rating:
Summary: Jumbled collection of sub-plots
Review: I wanted to like Tower and the Hive, which is the conclusion to McCaffrey's talent series, but I found this novel to be a confusing jumble of prose and an endless parade of insipid minor characters all worshiping at the altar of Lyon/Raven. The Lyon/Raven family are all just too good to be true. Everyone (except the bad guys), seem to love them. They are saintly.They can do no wrong. They never die. Please. Even the Lyon/Raven clan's relationships are all perfect. Each couple is more than happy to settle down to become a Lyon/Raven baby-making machine. When accidental pregnancy occurs the prospective fathers all seem to be happy and thrilled. I don't know about you, but I found this to be too saccharin for words. The only character that really interested me was Laria. But I found her relationship with Kincaid to be implausible and unhealthy. Everyone's reaction to this was very low key. Kincaid is gay; we've seen no indications otherwise in any of the previous books. To have the Mrdini manipulate them to become a couple seemed wrong somehow. Perhaps if Kincaid had bi leanings...But suddenly to get involved in a long term straight relationship? Implausible. Especially when the same character says at some late point: "I'll love you as much as my sexual orientation allows..." Either he loves Laria, or he doesn't why give us a qualifier? Other than that, there are several loose plot threads and silliness. The whole part with the 'Nose' was just ridiculous. The human nose is just not that sensitive. And what about the ethics of manipulating an entire species using biological warfare? This novel seemed like the jumbled collection of several different prospective novels rolled into one. It lacked the cohesion I've come to expect from a McCaffrey novel and left me feeling unsatisfied.
Rating:
Summary: A Medium Rate Conclusion to a series
Review: While I greatly enjoyed the first 4 books in this series, this the 5th book is rather slow. Its almost as if it was written to finish off a contract or just to give the author another book out there. Don't get me wrong the writting is fine and all, but the storyline is rather flatline. Nothing really exciting or dangerous happens, we just observe a lot of politics, family interaction and fleet movements. All in all I'd say this book can be safely skipped, barrowed from the library or purchased if you really want to complete the series.
Rating:
Summary: A satisfactory conclusion to an engrossing saga.
Review: In this last of McCaffrey's Talent stories, the psychically gifted team of Angharad "The Rowan" Gwynn and Jeff Raven of Deneb have the dynasty they've founded to draw upon as Humankind takes its long battle against the insect-like Hivers to the home-worlds of that destructive species. For, as Jeff tells one of the Talents' critics in exasperation, the best way to get new Talent is to breed it! Which is why, like every other book in this series, THE TOWER AND THE HIVE is as much about the Gwynn-Raven and Raven-Lyon family as it is about the struggle between the Human-Mrdini alliance and the incomprehensible Hivers. Since I've been following this series from its beginning, I already cared about Damia Gwynn-Raven, Afra Lyon (a "methody" Capellan who more than holds his own despite his wife's considerably greater mental powers), and their young adult children. The new generation's coming-of-age stories play out while the book's "A plot" unfolds, and I am pleased that (as in real life) every single loose end does not get tied up - but nothing major is left hanging to frustrate the reader. The resolution of the Hiver threat is handled not at all as I might have expected! Which is a good thing, and the author doesn't rob her "villains" of their wonderfully creepy alien-ness in the process. The Mrdini, though, become more alien than ever before as we get a look at their culture (and their biology) that is almost too close for comfort. A satisfactory conclusion to an engrossing saga.
Rating:
Summary: Was McCaffrey awake?
Review: Was Anne McCaffrey awake when she wrote this book? I have never encountered such a paint by numbers effort from this author. There was no character depth or development, and the plot was simplistic to the point of boredom. It does not end the series at all. I'll stick to the earlier books in the series and will never attempt this one again.
Rating:
Summary: Tying up loose ends in Anne McCaffrey's Talent series
Review: When I was reading "The Tower and the Hive" I did not know it was intended to be the last volume in Anne McCaffrey's Talent series. Ideally I like to read a book without looking at what is on the dust jacket or hearing too much publicity; this is not always possible, granted, but I had picked up McCaffrey's book because it was part of the series and finally got around to reading it without hearing this was the end. Ironically, my primary feeling while reading "The Tower and the Hive" was not that McCaffrey was wrapping things up, but rather that she was setting something up for down the road. My mistake. The Humans and their Mrdini allies are still trying to find a way to deal with the Hiver menace. At the center of this effort are the Talented members of Federation Teleport and Telepath, especially those belonging to the Gwyn-Raven dynasty founded by the Rowan (of whom there is far too little). McCaffrey provides an introduction, "What Has Gone On Before," that will serve as an involved reminder for those who have been following the series but which will undoubtedly confuse newcomers who stumble on the book by accident, not knowing it is part of a series. I resisted the idea that "The Tower and the Hive" was about solving the Hiver problem, although the title is certainly a big clue in that direction. In retrospect, this book is essentially a collection of sub-plots involving "Lyon's Pride" the children of Afra Lyon and Damia, the Rowan's daughter: Laria finds love, Zara deals with the problem of Mrdini reproduction, and Thian is out with the fleet investigating strange Hiver worlds. At one point I thought the character of Vagrian Beliakin was going to shake-up things big time, but that proved not to be the case, and I am wondering if there is some subtle message to someone with the pivotal role played by Pierre Laney's unique talent in the novel's climax. Ultimately, I think the value of "The Tower and the Hive" is not as a culmination to the Talent Saga, but how the book stands in contrast to other noted science fiction sagas dealing with bug aliens, specifically Robert Heinlein's "Starship Troopers" and Orson Scott Card's "Ender's Game." Whether this is intentional or not on the part of the author, the comparisons seem both inevitable and fruitful. McCaffrey has always showed a talent for creative problem solving, which is one of the key elements at the heart of both the Talent and Pern series, so I would not dismiss her biological solution to interstellar warfare as mere pacifism. We should be mindful of the author's intended message when we notice that this series ends not with a big bang, but with a gentle fall of rain.
| 
