boeklogboek: Anne McCaffrey

The second book in the Tower and Hive series, published July 1, 1992.
Genre: sci fi romance / fantasy romance
Cover: love it

Of all the Rowan's children, Damia was the most brilliant, the most difficult, the loneliest, and the one who had inherited the greatest Talent. It was obvious from childhood that she was going to be a Prime, with all the honours, burdens and strains of that elite class. Her one friend was Afra - Older, wiser, Talented in his own way, but 'belonging' almost exclusively to the Rowan and the workings of Callisto Station.
As Damia grew up, her Talent became almost too strong to control, and the solution was separation - from her parents, from Callisto, from her beloved Afra. Sent to the distant planet of Deneb, to her strange and gifted grandmother, Damia began the training necessary to turn her into a Prime of extraordinary gifts - a Prime who could contact the minds of approaching aliens through space, some of whom threatened to totally destroy the worlds of the Nine Star League.

Damia is the middle child of the Rowan and Jeff Raven. Her older brother and sister share a very tight bond, often completely excluding Damia from their games and life. So Damia gets into trouble, trying to entertain herself. And on a moon base, living inside a bubble, that can become dangerous. She loves to play with the animals, the Coonies (cats) and they love being with her. She also loves to play inside the escape pods, something that is not allowed. Being highly talented, she learns early on how to shield herself from those watching, and she soon finds out how to open a door.
When she almost dies during one of her adventures, there is no other choice but to send her and her brother and sister to Deneb, to their grandmother and lots of cousins to play with and a whole planet to roam on. The Rowan is devastated by the near loss of her child, but almost more so that she cried for Afra, and not her mother. And her new pregnancy is not easy on her as well. When Damia finally gets her little brother, she keeps in touch with him over the vastness of space, and Lariad loves the sister he has never seen with all his little heart. So when he finally gets to Deneb as well, there is this great bond between them already, and finally Damia is no longer so lonely.

Deneb is a newly colonized world, and some people really dislike Talents, although they are very much needed to settle the worlds. How else could they travel the fast distances in space in a matter of seconds instead of many light years, and stay in touch with the other worlds. And with the arrival of her Talented grand children, Isthia Raven finally gets one of her dreams to come true, a school for Talented children. She herself and her family are all self taught, and her full potential was never measured. She wants more for her family than that, she wants them to have a successful career and to be an asset to her planet.

After an accident on Earth, Damia is send to another planet, the mining planet Auriagae, to become their new Prime. She needs to shift huge carriers of ore to the other planets, and the high grade quality of the ore is wanted everywhere in the League of Planets.
Damia loves to relax in a small capsule out of orbit, listening for danger. Auriagae can’t afford the early warning system that is installed just yet, so she is their first line of defense. So when she does make contact, she is ecstatic. She is so sure that she has found her soul mate, but Afra and her family are afraid for her. Why is she so drained by the contact? And why doesn’t he tell her anything about his own system? So when they merge with her, and find out the truth about this invader, they have to destroy him. But not without casualties. Lariad, as the focus of the mind merge, dies, and both Afra and Damia are severely burned out. They need time to heal their minds. But one good thing has come from it all, Damia finally knows that Afra is her mate, and they become bonded, like her mother and Jeff Raven all those years ago.

And when they are mostly healed, they make another contact with aliens ...

I so love this series, I have read it often, and I am never bored or skipping pages. I really feel for Damia, who is so alone as a little girl, and so clever and creative. She has a great feeling for animals, and they all love her. Being such a powerful Talent, life is not easy for her.
Afra has always loved her, since the day she was born, but he has kept his distance. She had to realize it herself, and live her own life. Even though it was often hard on him, now that she finally opened her eyes, it was worth it.
The book is divided into parts of Damia’s life, with of course things that happen to the other main characters and their worlds told as well. Jeff Raven is Earth Prime now, running FT & T. He commutes between Callisto Moon, where the Rowan (his wife) is the Prime, and earth. For powerful telekinetics like they are, that is an easy thing to do. Book 3 review will be posted soon.

8 stars.