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christines's review against another edition
I hit the romance and holy shit was it bad
beltsquid's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.5
A note about this edition: Storygraph has it indexed as being in Indonesian, but I read a hardcover English copy with only 235 pages in it. As far as I could gather, the first edition comes off as a partially-edited draft. There are shifts in format and tone, such as notes in brackets like "[mental shrug]"; an extended psychic battle in the last third of the book shifts to nearly a script format. I don't know if these are retained in the versions that have one hundred more pages, as I'm not particularly compelled to seek out the later editions.
Look, I retain a nostalgic fondness for Anne McCaffrey; I devoured the Pern series when I was in middle school. I loved Dinosaur Planet and Sassinak. But I think younger me did well to steer clear of her other series, because her weaknesses really show when I'm not being entertained by things I get fixated on (dragons and dinosaurs). The Rowan is The Most Specialest Psychic Girl in the Galaxy, she has no flaws, lives in luxury as a child, and the worst thing that happens to her outside of her sad orphan backstory is that a mean girl ruins her Furby (I do have to hand it to Ms. McCaffrey for predicting the Furby by a full 8 years). Then she gets a very special psychic bobcat for cool people, but it factors very little in the story to the point in not appearing in the back half of it at all (Rowan is continually haunted by her dead Furby, though). By the time she got the special psychic bobcat I was thinking "ohhhhh this is wish fulfillment for girls who really like cats the way Pern was wish fulfillment for weird girls who like dragons"--but the cat does not matter at all. Instead the latter half of the book is concerned with Rowan's poorly developed whirlwind romance with a guy named, and I am not kidding, JEFF RAVEN. Sorry Anne you populated this world with people who have extraordinary names and your hunky dude is named Jeff? I can't take it seriously.
But speaking of romance, sex, and sexuality, this thing also seems like a halfassed rerun at The Crystal Singer, as Rowan goes out of her way to have sex with a much older man upon reaching maturity and then winds up on a planet that she can't leave For Reasons (until she can).
There are Ideas in here; Rowan and Jeff's interstellar psychic romance could read as an anticipation of internet-based LDRs. Rowan having psychic agoraphobia because of the way she was taught gestures at how people absorb the flaws of the people who raised them without meaning to. I don't know what's in those extra hundred pages in all other editions of this novel. Maybe that version is something a weird, lonely teen could lose themselves in. But the version that this weird, lonely adult read just didn't do it at all.
Look, I retain a nostalgic fondness for Anne McCaffrey; I devoured the Pern series when I was in middle school. I loved Dinosaur Planet and Sassinak. But I think younger me did well to steer clear of her other series, because her weaknesses really show when I'm not being entertained by things I get fixated on (dragons and dinosaurs). The Rowan is The Most Specialest Psychic Girl in the Galaxy, she has no flaws, lives in luxury as a child, and the worst thing that happens to her outside of her sad orphan backstory is that a mean girl ruins her Furby (I do have to hand it to Ms. McCaffrey for predicting the Furby by a full 8 years). Then she gets a very special psychic bobcat for cool people, but it factors very little in the story to the point in not appearing in the back half of it at all (Rowan is continually haunted by her dead Furby, though). By the time she got the special psychic bobcat I was thinking "ohhhhh this is wish fulfillment for girls who really like cats the way Pern was wish fulfillment for weird girls who like dragons"--but the cat does not matter at all. Instead the latter half of the book is concerned with Rowan's poorly developed whirlwind romance with a guy named, and I am not kidding, JEFF RAVEN. Sorry Anne you populated this world with people who have extraordinary names and your hunky dude is named Jeff? I can't take it seriously.
But speaking of romance, sex, and sexuality, this thing also seems like a halfassed rerun at The Crystal Singer, as Rowan goes out of her way to have sex with a much older man upon reaching maturity and then winds up on a planet that she can't leave For Reasons (until she can).
There are Ideas in here; Rowan and Jeff's interstellar psychic romance could read as an anticipation of internet-based LDRs. Rowan having psychic agoraphobia because of the way she was taught gestures at how people absorb the flaws of the people who raised them without meaning to. I don't know what's in those extra hundred pages in all other editions of this novel. Maybe that version is something a weird, lonely teen could lose themselves in. But the version that this weird, lonely adult read just didn't do it at all.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Fatphobia
Minor: Rape
elenahitomi's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
val_eris's review against another edition
2.0
I’m sure this is somebody’s fantasy but it sure isn’t mine. I often feel like these older books have no idea what men should act like to appeal to women but maybe there’s a different group of women who like someone overly flirtatious and possessive from the first second they meet. Is that what you’re into? No? Then there’s no point in reading this. The whole attitude toward reproduction is also very archaic, it’s all very compulsory heterosexual and just kind of... a boring and housewife-y vision of the future.
thejestess's review against another edition
3.0
I cannot tell how much of my enjoyment is nostalgia and how much of it is genuine. The book is absolutely of it's time, and also exactly what I wanted to read right now
The Rowan's family dies early on to render her an orphan, and then her mother figure dies as she's turning 18
rowanwells's review against another edition
2.0
I wasn’t expecting that much at first, but the beginning of the book was really good and fluid and kept me engaged, so I just became increasingly disappointed as the book went on. It seems like McCaffrey got bored of writing it halfway through and just forced herself to finish. In the last 20 pages a completely new conflict is introduced purely to tie up loose ends that she left at the beginning of the book. It felt aimless and confused, leaving the reader feeling even more confused by the end of the book.
skoglundk's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
squirrelsohno's review against another edition
2.0
Adult me is judging teen me for having once given this book five stars. I'm not here for the creepy relationship based on
Spoiler
a telepathic meeting that is suddenly full blown instalove without them meeting, and then once they do meet, even more instalove.alboyer6's review against another edition
5.0
I'm not sure how many times I have read this series. It is just a lot of fun with some incredible characters. I love how she used psi talents as the way humanity spread out among the stars and dreamed of a book that one day would unite this series with the Pern series. I have just heard of McCaffrey's death and I may just have to pick it up again.
trufyre's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0