Rowan

Rating:
Summary: A Rave
Review: What is most attractive about this book is the character "The Rowan" herself. A charismatic person on the outside and one of the most powerful people alive, yet has a painful past and an empty lonliness that many should identify with. You'll celebrate when she meets "the One." A love story, but without those annoying Billy Crystal-ish junk; just direct and honest love. I cried. I laughed. I learned something. It's an experience, and I urge you to try it

Rating:
Summary: This is the best book I've ever read!
Review: I thought this book was great. The Rowan is an interesting and well developed character, as is Jeff Raven. I think it is very cleverly written and provokes a lot of thought. I also think it's neat because the settings really stars and moons). As my friend said, "I like space. Space is good." I totally agree. If you want to read a spectacular novel, pick up The Rowan. -JG

Rating:
Summary: Absolutely splendid!!!!!
Review: The Rowan is a fabulous book. I have read it 6 times and recommended it to my friends who in turn thoroughly enjoyed it. I recommend it to anybody who wants to read the best book in the galaxy. Sincerely, Karen Hope

Rating:
Summary: 'Path, 'Port etc.
Review: This is the best book of the whole series. It gets somewhat confusing at times but otherwise it is a very good book. Rowan is the most talented Prime ever born until she gets a distress call from an unknown Talent "Deneb". She finds out later his name is Jeff Raven. When the Rowan and Jeff meet for the second time on Callisto that's where Jeran comes in. I highly recommend this book for anyone who believes in life on other planets. After reading this you must read "Damia", "Damia's Cilderen" and "Lyon's Pride"

Rating:
Summary: Interesting premise, banal story
Review: This book is OK read; but what it really lacked was tension. Perhaps someone evil to pit the heros against.

Rating:
Summary: The Best!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Review: This the best Science Fiction book you will ever read. It explains in great detail the Rowan's lifestyle and you will want to read it so much you can't put it down. I couldn't! In fact I am working on the sequel "Damia" which I recommend also! So if you like action, adventure, Science Fiction, Kids, Cats and Telepaths read this book! It's out of this world!!!!!

Rating:
Summary: This book encourages a reader to use their imagination.
Review: Even though some say understanding comes with age, all fifteen years of me say this book was beyond excellent. I am most attracted to books that encourage me to think, creating the images in my mind. Anne McCaffrey has just become one of my favorite authors. Very few people can give the gift of an adventure that you will remember for years to come. Anne McCaffrey pulled it off quite nicely, and for that, she has my respect, and thanks. Delighted Reader- Melissa Nimmo

Rating:
Summary: What A Wonderful Love Story!
Review: I loved the whole book. There wasn't a part I didn't enjoy! I've read and reread The Rowan so many times I've lost count! My favorite part is when Rowan falls in love with Jeff Raven. For us regular folk, falling in love is a long and often painful experience. We learn who they are and what they stand for, over a very long time period. And more often than not, we are fooled. But with the Rowans and Jeffs mind merge, they know every thought and feeling each has ever had. They know instantly what kind of person each is and what they stand for. There are no secrets. It takes time for us to fall in love because it takes time to learn what kind of person each is. But to know in an instant...Wouldn't that make falling in love a whole lot safer? I think Anne did a wonderful job with the romance part of the book. (she did great on the other too, but Ijust loved this part the best) She took all the months and sometimes years it takes to really know someone and showed us what it would be like if we knew everything in an instant.

Rating:
Summary: I LOVE this book!!!
Review: The Rowan is my favorite science fiction book of all time. I can't tell you how many times I've read it. I own three copies, a new paperback, a paperback that's falling apart and a hardcover that took me forever to find. There is something about this book(indeed, about all Anne McCaffrey books)that reaches out and grabs you and makes you think, Oh, why can't I just leap into this book and meet those people!

The book is set sometime in the future and humankind has spread out into space with the aid of the Talented, people with incredible mental abilities, like telepathy, telekinesis, and clairvoyance. The Rowan was the victim of a terrible accident as a child and a whole planet heard her telepathic cries for help. She has the potential to be the most powerful Prime Talent ever. As she grows into her amazing abilities, she grows away from others. She discovers that her powers isolate her from everyone around her. One evening, a telepathic distress call from an unknown Talent of Prime ability shakes her whole universe. And that's how she meets Jeff Raven, a charismatic young man from distant Deneb. The Rowan stands beside him against a mysterious alien threat to his planet and realizes she never wants to leave him, that she loves him, and he will move solar systems to have her in his arms.

These characters are wonderful! The romance between the Rowan and Jeff Raven is so touching, yet it is written in such a way that it's not too sweet. It's practical and forthright, a wonderful narrative. And let's not forget gruff Reidinger and gentle Afra and Rascal, supporting characters that make the book what it is.

I've read the entire series and not one measures up to this one. If I could, I would beg Anne McCaffrey not to end it with The Tower and the Hive, which I think is the last. The Rowan is the book that convinced me I wanted to be a writer. Read it. Read it many times and find in it what I've found. It's a wonderful story.

Rating:
Summary: The Author is a Bigot--Her Book IS A Woman Hater
Review: McCaffrey is a bigot and this book proves it! Is this book SUPPOSED to be pro-women? Don't think so. In her book the ideal woman meets certain criteria: she dissed any female characters who were insectile, virgins, or fat. Perhaps the author is really a man.

Someone in McCaffrey's childhood must have been a hulking nightmarish bully who made her life difficult: her hated characters turn out to be petty and overbearing JUST BECAUSE they are fat. Her writing offended me because my addiction and obesity were forced upon me as a little girl, and I was forced to stay locked indoors. In her book, just how or why the women ended up being fat is never mentioned.

But she finds more ways of discriminating against women...a fleet of female alien foes are insectile women from another planet, whose children are captured by humans and taken to science labs for dissection (yikes). And one character, an older woman who has chosen to stay chaste for life, (I paraphrase here) is sent by The Rowan a harsh telepathic message that she is "a shriveled up old virgin"!

I'm surprised that a pro-women book would have The Rowan displaying such ardent, feverish hatred towards other women. The universe of The Rowan is a place most women would not be wanted or welcome.

I suggest to McCaffrey, just re-title it "Pretty Popular P**ssed-Off Princess With Petty Pink Problems".

Happy Bigoted Reading! cuddlygirl, age 26, NYC