On Earth they had died out 70 million years ago. But on Ireta they ruled in all their bizarre splendour. The Dinosaurs. Relics from a forgotten age, they roamed a planet as mystifying as any in the galaxy. And the expedition sent to explore it was trapped within its toils as quickly and mysteriously as their relief ship disappeared. And worse. For the Heavyworlders, half the expedition's personnel, reverted to type, and as predatory carnivores systematically hunted down their colleagues. Only the frozen sleep of cryogenics offered an escape. But for how long?
Heres a happy ending to McCaffreys futuristic Rowan (aka the Talent) series (Lyons Pride, etc.), as Humans, their allies, the Mrdini, and the insectoid Hivers, who menace both, find ways to coexist. The main heroes are the Talented members of Federation Teleport and Telepath, dominated by the family that began the organization, but increasingly including different blood lines. McCaffrey provides an introduction, What Has Gone On Before, but its nearly as confusing as it is helpful.
In this sequel to Damia's Children , the psionically Talented children of Damia Gwyn-Raven and Afra Lyon are pushed closer to the forefront of the struggle between the human Nine Star League and their alien Mrdini allies against the blind expansionism of the insect-like Hive culture that threatens both their civilizations.
Here McCaffrey introduces another generation in her saga of a family of powerful psionic Talents ( The Rowan and Damia ) raised to serve the Nine Star League. The eight children of Damia and Afra Raven-Lyon approach the threshold of maturity on Iota Aurogae, where they have been raised with young Mrdinis, the only other intelligent life that humankind has encountered--save for the pernicious Hive Culture, which has sought to destroy all other species in its drive to expand through the universe.
In this second volume of the trilogy begun with The Rowan , McCaffrey introduces Damia Raven, brilliant and willful daughter of Angharad Gwyn (the Rowan) and Jeff Raven, leaders of the psionic Talents of Federal Telepath & Teleport, who make interstellar commerce possible. The precocious Damia's difficult childhood is made tolerable by the care and solicitude of Afra Lyon, her parents' valued friend and assistant, who secretly loves the child as much as he did her mother.
