Anne McCaffrey - The Tower and the Hive  

Table of Contents

Readers looking for intelligent, heroic adventure will find it here, and Rowan fans will be especially pleased at this felicitous closing of a popular SF series.

McCaffrey maintains the high quality of characterization of humans and aliens alike, and, once again, she skillfully interweaves the plot threads, making it easy to follow the action on all fronts. A rousing conclusion to a most satisfying series. Booklist

Fans of the series will plunge right in. Kirkus Reviews

The fifth installment in the authors Rowan series brings to a satisfying culmination the tale of three generations of a uniquely gifted family while leaving room for future novels. McCaffreys skillful storytelling and fluid writing ... make this a necessary purchase. Library Journal

A well-told tale ... McCaffreys popularity is immense and justified. Booklist

Charming ... A warm and vivid picture of a struggling frontier society. Publishers Weekly

One of the best McCaffrey novels to come along in years.

McCaffrey is in fine form ... Interesting ... Amusing ... tempestuous. Locus

Winning, carefully developed young characters, an attractive alien society, and an enemy drawn with more than a touch of mystery. Publishers Weekly

McCaffreys fans wont be disappointed... Hugely enjoyable ... Fascinating in its exploration of the brains potential and untapped powers. Calgary Sun

Another exciting episode in the thrilling epic of the Rowan ... Read and enjoy! Romantic Times

RESTOREE DRAGONFLIGHT DECISION AT DOONA ALCHEMY & ACADEME (COMPILED BY ANNE MCCAFFREY) THE SHIP WHO SANG MARK OF MERLIN* DRAGONQUEST RING OF FEAR* TO RIDE PEGASUS OUT OF THIS WORLD COOKBOOK A TIME WHEN KILTERNAN LEGACY* DRAGONSONG DRAGONSINGER GET OFF THE UNICORN THE WHITE DRAGON

I have excellent reason to be particularly grateful to four experts in writing this conclusion of the Talent (aka The Tower and the Hive) series. Dr. Jack Cohen of the University of Warwick and I discussed how I could solve the problem of colonizing Hivers. So I had a structure to begin with. I was dumbfounded to discover that my dictionary had only five lines about the very complex subject of pheromones. The Web came to my assistance and I asked for help, which was quick in coming from Jonathan Brecher and Louis Culot of CambridgeSoft on their special expertise, both as generalists and for specific knowledge about pheromones. We had some lively E-mail exchanges, since Jonathan knew of Lyons Pride when I approached him for assistance. His colleague Louis Culot supplied additional details. I wish also to thank Bibb Graves from Hewlett Packard Houston for a description of gas chromatographs, which register the strength and composition of pheromones. We extrapolatedas is the function of science fictionthat the future would miniaturize what are actually large and cumbersome instruments. But then most current gas chromatographs (GCs) have altered considerably from their original forms, and no doubt will have altered even more by the time of The Tower and the Hive.

I am also grateful to my readersMary Jean Holmes, Lea Day and my daughter, Georgeanne Kennedywho try to spot any inconsistencies, typos and grammar problems which might occur in the fifth of a series that was first started in 1990. I am indebted to my editor, Susan Allison, and her staff of copyeditors, for their valuable comments and assistance overall.

what has gone on before...

When an unknown enemy threatened all Human life on Deneb, Jeff Raven shoutedtelephathicallyfor help and reached the Rowan, the lonely Lady in the Tower at the Callisto Tower of Federated Teleport and Telepath (FT&T). With her help as Callisto Prime Talent, Jeff freed his planet of invasion. He also became the next Earth Prime.

The Rowan and Jeff Raven had five children. The precocious Damia, the second daughter of their marriage, emerges as a Prime Talent too, and is sent to occupy the Tower at Iota Aurigaes new mining planet. There she encounters an intelligence on a distant spaceship, known as Sodan. He tries to lure her into giving him directions to her planet. Her family becomes suspicious of her enchantment with this mind and sends her brother, Larak, and Afra to divert her. In the ensuing meeting of minds, Larak is killed by a brutal telepathic bolt from Sodan, who is only a mind. Damia and Afra are seriously injured too. While recuperating on Deneb, Damia and Afra are contacted by the dreams of the Mrdini. An alien race, they have been fighting the dread spheres of the Hiver queens, who were the invaders which Jeff and the Rowan had thwarted.

The Mrdini are exceedingly impressed by the fact that Deneb was able to defeat the attacking Hiver sphere without loss of life. They have been fighting the Hivers for two centuries and only suicide squadrons are able to penetrate and destroy the spheres.

In order to cement relations between the two species, Mrdini young are placed with Human young and grow up learning each others language and culture. Damias children, starting with young Laria, each have a pair of Mrdini young.

When Laria reaches sixteen years of age, she is sent to Clarf, one of the five Mrdini worlds. On Clarf, Laria teaches Basic to Mrdinis and learns their adult language, accompanied by her two Dinis, Tip and Huf. At eighteen, she takes over as FT&T Prime at Clarf Tower as the Star League Alliance of Human and Mrdini continues to track down or resist the Hiver incursions.

Then three Hiver spheres penetrate League Space and three pursuit squadrons of mixed Human and Mrdini ships are sent after each of the Hiver ships, to track them to their separate destinations. Another group is sent to trace their ion trails back to their planet of origin. In order to continue these searches most effectively, FT&T is asked to supply the flagship of each group with a Prime, or sufficient lesser Talents, to keep in touch with the League Base and to receive additional supplies of food and material on what could be long voyages.

Young Thian Raven, Larias brother, is sent to the Vadim, under the command of Captain Ashiant, as he and the ships backtrack the fleeing Hiver spheres. Thian himself comes under threat when the nova-blasted, derelict Great Sphere of the Hivers is found in space. A jealous latent Talent attacks him while he is part of a team exploring the dead sphere, and he is nearly killed. Damia assists him in identifying his assailant.