Rowan, a telepathic, telekinetic three-year-old, is the sole survivor of a mining disaster on a frontier planet. As she matures, her powers grow until she becomes one of a handful of "Primes" with the Federal Telepath & Teleport network, the organization responsible for telecommunications and shipping of cargo throughout the galaxy. Rowan finds herself alienated from humanity and her coworkers due to her unique talents and tremendous responsibilities until she senses Jeff Raven, a fellow talent, on the fringes of explored space.
When Killashandra Ree joined the mysterious Heptite Guild, she knew that she would be forever changed. Crystal singing brought ecstasy and pain, near-eternal life...and gradual loss of memory. What she hadn't counted on was the loneliness she felt when her heart still remembered what her mind had forgotten. Fortunately, someone still cared enough to try to salvage what was left of Killashandra's mind. But she would have to learn to open herself--to another person, and to all her unpleasant memories
This sequel to McCaffrey's Crystal Singer continues the story of Killashandra Ree, a failed musician whose perfect pitch has given her entree to the glamorous but dangerous profession of mining and cutting rare, valuable crystal. She is grateful for a new assignment that takes her off the oppressive crystal world of Ballybran, but when she arrives on Optheria to replace and tune the crystals of a famous organ, she steps into a new adventure.
Her name was Killashandra Ree. And after ten grueling years of musical training, she was still without prospects. Until she heard of the mysterious Heptite Guild who could provide careers, security, and wealth beyond imagining. The problem was, few people who landed on Ballybran ever left. But to Killashandra the risks were acceptable....
McCaffrey continues to develop her brainship concept, with a new collaborator this time, the one who worked with her on The Death of Sleep (1990). The brainship Carialle and her brawn, Keff, find a habitable planet inhabited by an apparent mix of races and cultures and dominated by an elite of apparent magicians. Appearances are deceiving, however, and by the time the explorers have discovered the planet's secrets--not to mention other intelligent races--they find themselves in a desperate battle to save it.
