2011 Books – Anne McCaffrey’s Tower & Hive series

It’s been a while since I’ve mentioned how much I love Anne McCaffrey’s Pern series. Which, I have to tell you (again), is phenomenal. Love it. But… I have been rather remiss in reading anything else by Anne other than some short stories. I know, I know. It’s horrible.

So in order to start fixing this minor little oversight, I read her Tower and Hive series. Which, I have to tell you, is fantastic. Love it. When I grow up, I want to be a T-1 Prime. Yup.

But enough of that, let’s get to the stories, shall we?

There are 5 books in the series:
The Rowan
Damia
Damia’s Children
Lyon’s Pride
The Tower and the Hive

The first book introduces the reader to the future Earth (and neighboring planets) and to “talents” – those with gifts of telepathy, teleportation, etc. You learn that there are different levels of talents and that the highest is to be a T-1, and the best of those become Primes. Very cool.

Anyway, the Primes run the towers from which they fling ships and cargo across the solar system with their talent.

But book one, though brushing the subject of what a talent, or a Prime does, really focuses on a young girl who, as a baby, is trapped in a mud slide. Her family is killed, and she is rescued. Without knowing who her parents were, they just start calling her The Rowan. We watch her grow up, her talent blossom and the difficulties that come with learning to run a tower. We meet Jeff Raven a very powerful T-1 who just pops up out of nowhere… and then we’re introduced to an enemy – think of a giant ant or preying mantis.

By the end of book one, the enemy has been sent running and The Rowan and Jeff Raven have begun their lives together.

The rest of the series follows much the same pattern by showing how Jeff and the Rowan’s children and grandchildren have to grow up so quickly to deal with the demands of running towers in the ever-expanding solar system (and the lack of other families to produce powerful T-1s) and the constant threat of the Hivers (those insect-like enemies).

The stories are fun, some are heart-wrenching, there’s always some comedy, lots of adventures, and even (and especially in the last book) the question of morality – do we completely wipe out the hivers or simply limit their ability to take over other planets?

Fun books, very well written and seriously, by the end of book one, you’ll want to be a T-1 Prime too.