Customer Reviews

Damia (Bookcassette(r) Edition)

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I truly loved Anne McCaffrey's 2nd book in the Rowan series "Damia". The indepth details and the look into the past of Afra and Damia was wonderful. You saw things from both perspectives. The twists and turns of the emotions were unbelieveable and kept you on the edge of your emotional plain. I found myself crying and upset sometimes at the way things played out but it made the end seem that much more pleasant. Truly a work of art by AM. I found the life of Damia, the Rowan's daughter truly unexpected and full of twists unlike her mothers. I highly reccomend the interspace thriller if you like to see a few surprises. I'd tell more but I don't want to ruin the experience. Enjoy!

Damia could be a biography. Were it not for the fact that it is the sequel to one of Anne Mccaffrey's most popular science-fiction books Damia could very well be about a real person in another time. Damia is that real. The reader is instantly captivated: Damia's little adventures when she is little, from innocent things like running around the Callisto Moon Base to getting caught inside a capsule at the worst possible moment draw from the reader everything from humor to even apprehension. As the story matures so does Damia, and her roles become more than that of a mischievious child-she is a heroine, an average woman, and a phenomenon all in one. Anne Mccaffrey was also careful to make sure that while the story centered on Damia, the other characters, some designed to stand on the sidelines until they recieved the spotlight and limelight, developed as well, so the overall impression one gets is of a wonderful tale that is so intricate and rapturous you'd be hard pressed to put the book down. There are more dangers to Damia than a pool and growing up, though-alien species are focusing on her world, and not all have benign intentions. Her wrenching battle with a terrible, malignant mind erodes a great deal of her, more than just her mental powers. Fortunately she eventually emerges, fully recovered, to deal with a new species, one whose intentions are to ally with the Humans and to project both of them into a new era of peace and triumph.

I must admit I was rather put-off by the novel when I saw it on the shelf: the Greek Damia ate her children, so I did not look forward to reading the tale, even if it were by Anne Mccaffrey. But when I read the Rowan, and then started on Damia, I realized the instant I opened up the book this is not that Damia: the heroine I read was a brave, compassionate, and human character, and I'm certain you will agree.

No really! It's hard to find books where the sequel is better than the original but each book I pick up in this series is better than the last.

Only Anne McCaffrey could manage to make a princess into an underdog as sweetly as this story does. Damia is even deeper than her mother Rowan and even more trapped by her talents. Even with a strong mother, Damia has to struggle to find herself before she can become more than a liability to her talents.

A story where a mother does everything right and her daughter still has trouble because she's smarter and stronger than her peers.

Damia Raven is the third of the five immensely Talented children of Jeff Raven and the Rowan, and she may be the most gifted of them all, as becomes apparent to everyone on Callisto Station before she's three years old. The first 90-odd pages of the book retell the events of The Rowan from the viewpoint of Afra Lyon, who is ten years younger than the Rowan and 24 older than Damia, whom he helps to raise while her parents try to keep up with the demands of their duties in telekinetically flinging freight from the Sol system to its distant colonies. Worshipping the Rowan secretly yet knowing that he can never be what Jeff is to her, Afra resigns himself to a life of silent service as "l.p."--in loco parentis--to her children. And in fact he seems better able to control Damia than her parents are, instilling control and manners in her and keeping her from becoming the overbearing tyrant that an unchecked psychic could all too easily be. Yet even Afra can't keep her from the pains of emotional isolation that are her legacy from her mother. At barely 18 she's assigned to Iota Aurigae, the latest of Earth's colonies, when she receives a telepathic message from an entity calling itself Sodan. Against the advice of Afra and her beloved younger brother Larak, she seeks closer contact with it and suffers a devastating trauma when she learns the truth about the being she has almost fallen in love with. But it's an ill wind that blows no good, as both she and Afra discover in trying to console each other that they are as truly mind-mates as ever Jeff and the Rowan were. Then a series of strange dreams begin to trouble her nights, leading to a First Contact with yet another alien species which may prove to be valuable allies against the still-threatening Beetles.

McCaffrey's skilfull throwaway makes her future seem very real: though humanity has been in space probably no more than a couple of centuries, we learn early on (and very casually) that several of the colonies' environments have caused rather radical mutations in their people, as for example Afra's native Capella, where the people have a "slightly greenish" skin tone. She also has, as a mother, a good understanding of how children grow and develop, and has extrapolated from her own experience to paint a convincing picture of what a powerful telepath/teleport/telekinetic's infancy and childhood might be like. One thoroughly delightful aspect of the story are the "Coonies," favorite pets at the Towers, which are described as cats but share many traits with raccoons (the one on the front cover actually looks most like a red panda). Another thing I particularly like is the new first names she invents for many of her characters, keeping in mind that in the 23rd century there will certainly be many that are strange to us, just as we in the 20th and 21st centuries have many that were unknown in the 17th and 18th. Like the preceding volume, this one has elements of both romance and science fiction, but is sufficiently non-gooey to suit those who think the former is a waste of time.

This was the first Anne McCaffrey book I ever picked up, and I loved it! Ten years after I'd originally read it, I sought it out and re-read it, and I enjoyed it just as much as I had the first time. The characters are completely believable, and one can sympathize with them quite easily. I would recommend starting with The Rowan (the first book in the series), but Damia is also a good stand-alone novel.

McCaffrey's mastery of characters is evident, and she weaves a rich environment for them. This is one of those books I didn't want to be ejected from on the last page, I just wanted to stay immersed in the fantasy and see how the characters developped further. Definitely high on my list of fantasy favorites.

This book first tells the story of Afra, who we met in The Rowan, and then goes on to tell Damia's story. I don't think that this book has the same plot as The Rowan at all, although there are a few similarities. If you were intrigued by Afra in the first book, you'll love him in this book. It was wonderful to find out more about him. Damia's childhood makes for an entertaining read, moreso, I think than the Rowan's. However, the Rowan was much more mature as a teenager and young woman than Damia. Teenage Damia is spoiled and annoying, and it's a wonder Afra could ever put up with her. That was one of the reasons I gave this book a four instead of a five. The other reason is that the whole Damia and Afra relationship seemed very strange. Afra never seemed to be very upset by the fact that he was falling in love with the same person he used to babysit. However, in spite of those two things, I really enjoyed this book.

This book is great!Reading about Rowan and how her children grew up is really interesting.Reading about Afra's childhood and his life afterwards,as a work partner with Rowan,is captivating,and makes one identify with him in all he went through.Damia's childhood fit in very well with Afra's story(or maybe I should say it the other way around),and the life and adventures of Damia hold one's attention.Damia's quick and painful maturity leads into a whole new story,both personally for her and for the humans of the Nine Star League.(I am not giving away the plot!)All in all,a great book about the heroes and their relationships.Read and enjoy!

I give it to Anne for her wonderful ability to weave such a beautiful and detailed story of one girl, the daughter of the most influencial and powerful psionics in the terran galaxy, into something that captures the readers attention like no other. Damia is a beautiful character, both in soul, and apparently in body. It is hard not read this and not feel the rebel inside you again as Damia begins her childish exploits, or not feel the ache of parenthood wrenching upon you as you see the point of view of Afra. As if the magic doesn't end, Anne spins a furious web with the way she handles the love in the novel.....it is hard not to feel part of this novel......it's awakening.

I found this to be disappointing as sequels go mainly for what it did for the other characters in the novel. It is very hard to believe that the extremely strong-willed (and very maternal) Rowan would have shipped her older children off to be raised by their grandmother. It is also find unlikely that Damia's parents would so readily accept her relationship with a man old enough to be her father regardless of their friendship with said person. Basically an OK novel but not one of her best.

Again, McCaffrey has written a marvelous new series. I have read her whole Pern series and loved it. Now this! Its just perfect! The characters are so realistic! I recomend this series a thousand times!!