Powers That Be

Rating:
Summary: pitiful
Review: Alas, Ms. McCaffrey strikes again. Throughout her writing, she is plagued by....bad writing. Her ideas are wonderful, and if only properly executed, could make up wonderful books. Too bad that she, and this book in particular (the early Pern books were not so bad) is predictable, inconsistant and sloppy. She might care to try reading her books and noticing the number of things that change from page to page. This is particularly infuriating, as it should not be so difficult to avoid. Unfortunately, she appears not to have made this one small effort. In this book, there was a) no character development worth speaking of, b) no surprises or involving moments, and c) much that rang false and superficial. Not worth reading, except on a desert island.

Rating:
Summary: pitiful
Review: Alas, Ms. McCaffrey strikes again. Throughout her writing, she is plagued by....bad writing. Her ideas are wonderful, and if only properly executed, could make up wonderful books. Too bad that she, and this book in particular (the early Pern books were not so bad) is predictable, inconsistant and sloppy. She might care to try reading her books and noticing the number of things that change from page to page. This is particularly infuriating, as it should not be so difficult to avoid. Unfortunately, she appears not to have made this one small effort. In this book, there was a) no character development worth speaking of, b) no surprises or involving moments, and c) much that rang false and superficial. Not worth reading, except on a desert island.

Rating:
Summary: Science Fiction gone to the dogs? Nothing wrong with that!
Review: Albeit, I'm biased--a long time Anne McCaffrey fan, and I've corresponded a few times with Elizabeth Ann Scarborough. But for all I'm loyal to Pern, Pern has *nothing* on this one.

Petaybee is a world without equal--both in climate, its own special 'personality', and in the characterization of its people. From charming Sean Shongili to helpful Bunny to the single-minded determination of Torkel, each character is different and unique. And no super-heroes either--even Yanaba makes mistakes.

Of course, there are minor problems. The affectionately dubbed 'Anne-science' shows up in this book, too... but only skeptics can allow that to interfere with the story. Personally, I don't care just how they managed to make humans able to tolerate that climate... what matters to the story is that they *did*.

The characters aren't limited to humans, either. Although only in bit parts, cats, dogs, and a breed of long-haired horses called 'curlies' play important roles, making this book good for any animal-lover. But those are all *common* animals... want something more exotic? How about seals? And if that's not enough, check out the unicorn on the cover.

All in all, Powers That Be falls in its own category of science fiction. The science is dubious, but the fiction more than makes up for it.

Rating:
Summary: Predictable and shallow 'formula' novel.
Review: I have to hope that this book is mostly the work of Ms Scarborough, it would be sad to think that Anne McCaffrey's writing has descended to this level of shallow 'fantsay for teenagers'. The characters are poorly defined, and the whole book overlaid with a thick layer of fake Irishness. I half expected leprechauns to pop up on a toadstool somewhere, offering to lead people to pots of gold.

Considering the very believable and skillfully planned books that Anne McCaffrey is capable of (the early Pern books for example) this one looks like it was thrown together out at $0.0x per word. A pity.

Rating:
Summary: I like this book!
Review: I liked this book, which was quite surprising since i never really liked science fiction before. im eager to read the next 2 books.

Rating:
Summary: This book is out of this world!
Review: I love this book! It is written deftly, and in such a way that the reader feels he/she is reading a historical account of something that really happened, instead of a story out of Anne McCaffrey's imagination. the first time I checked it out, I read it 3 times before I returned it to the library! I recomend it to ANYONE- especially Anne McCaffrey fans!

Rating:
Summary: One of anne's best!
Review: In my opinion this was one of anne's best. (Never haveing read any other of elizabeth's books I can't coment.) I wasn't to sure about it when I first picked it up, but once I started it I couldn't put it down. I am now totally looking forward to the next 2.

Rating:
Summary: 4 stars for the idea...
Review: The idea is beyond wonderful, I REALLY want to live on this planet McCaffrey and Scarborough have created. That being said I've worried about McCaffrey for some time as her books in recent years have... well... Let's just say she may feel in a hurry or something. Elizabeth has written other books alone, that I have found enjoyable, and own, so this can't be all or even mostly her fault. I do read this trilogy over and over, but a good bit of that time is spent with the book face down and me daydreaming. And oddly enough only those darn cats, the planet itself, and the large beaming medicine woman from the novels feature at all in my daydreams...

Rating:
Summary: I loved it
Review: This book was excellent. I found full of meaning, and Yana was a hot chick.