Damia

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.