There was a Mrdini scout present when in the first book, the mind merge of all the Talents destroyed the enormous Hiver sphere. For the first time in centuries, they found another race that could defeat their enemy without losing lives. When the Mrdini battle a Hiver sphere, it takes many, many lives and ships to defeat it. And so, in the second book, they made dream contact with some of the powerful humans on Deneb, including Damia and Afra. The contact became an Alliance, and human children and Dini young have been paired ever since, to become more acquainted and help understanding with the other race. Afra and Damia have a lot of children, and as the eldest, Laria is now ready to go to Clarf, the Mrdini homeworld, and be their Tower Prime. The world is a lot hotter and brighter than any of the Earth colonies, and that takes some getting used to. Her Dinis are excited though, about visiting Clarf, there is a lot of prestige in that. Thian is assigned as Prime on the First Fleet, to find out where those Hivers are going to, and prevent them from annihilating another planet, as they tried with Deneb all those years ago. Having Talents on board will make an enormous difference. Thian has always been interested in the military, so this assignment is perfect for him and his Dinis. So when they capture a damaged and abandoned Hiver sphere, there is a lot of excitement back home. A lot of scientists want to study the thing, and find out more about the Hivers and their technology. But when they capture an escape pod with a life Queen in it, there is a lot of controversy, both on the human worlds and on the Mrdini worlds. The Queen is secured on Heinlein base, on the moon, she won’t be able to escape from there. They want to study her, to learn more about their race, and try to communicate with her. But the Queen doesn’t seem to recognize any other life forms but her own species, nor does she react to sounds or lights to try to get her attention. She is given some of the eggs found in the abandoned sphere, and she immediately starts tending them, trying to breed/create the attendants she needs. But there are factions wanting her killed in public as her species killed so many Mrdini and humans on Deneb. It is the Empathic little Zara though, who sneaks away to Earth and from there to the Moon Base, who finds out the first clue about the Queen, that she is slowly freezing to death. Zara has always been too sensitive to go hunting with the other children, which is a necessity on Auriagae, and now it is determined she will be apprenticed to Elizara, the Medic and her great-grandmother Isthia, to become a Medical Prime. She does not have the right temperament to become a Tower Prime, no matter how much they are needed. Lots of adventures, and multiple story lines to follow and enjoy. I loved learning more about the Mrdinis and their customs. And of course I enjoyed the stories of Damia’s children and how they made themselves a good life in their chosen paths. 8 stars.
Book source ~ My home library.Damia’s children are growing up and taking their places in FT&T. All are powerful, but each has their own special Talents. Paired with young Mrdini allies when they were babies they’ve grown up with the aliens and are comfortable with them. Unlike others in the Federation who think the Mrdinis are weasel-like and shouldn’t be allies with humans. Laria, Thian, Rojer and Zara will play their parts in the ongoing search for more Hivers and the Hive home world, so that a way can be found to contain the Hivers and keep them away from human and Mrdini planets.Revisiting this story 20 years later made me realize I hadn’t forgotten much. The good mark of a story that enthralled me. Laria, as the eldest, goes to Clarf as part of the exchange that was agreed upon before she was born. Gaining experience in her own Tower has matured her and when her year is up and it’s time for her to train on Callisto and for Thian to take her place on Clarf, something else for Thian comes up. He’s needed on a fleet ship amongst a squadron that has been tracking Hive ships. At 16 he’s young for the responsibility, but it’s believed he can handle it and off he goes. Rojer follows about a year later by joining another ship and at the end of the book Zara pulls a stunt reminiscent of Damia when she was a child, but she does manage to figure out why the captured Queen appears to be dying. This book is chock full with information about Damia and Afra’s children, especially the older ones and how they’re maturing and helping FT&T. Lots of adventure, information and great story-telling. A lot more is learned about the Mrdini and there’s even new info about the Hivers. This book is an excellent addition to the series and I look forward to rereading the next book and having the saga continue.
What do You think about Damia's Children (1994)?
I wanted to like this, as it is a return to my genre sci-fi roots, but I found this particular work quite disappointing.It's not really a book, more like 3-4 novellas strung together without any overarching point. I tossed this book while in jr. high, because I thought I had the "villain" in the second story figured out, but it turns out I was wrong... although the person it turned out to be, and the way the situation was resolved was trite and VERY easy to accomplish.Definitely a "quantity" read, not a "quality" read.
—drowningmermaid
I really love the story and the characters, but Anne McCaffrey's wonderful writing is let down by poor editing. Large sections of this book were obviously not looked at by a copy editor or proofreader (I read the kindle version). At one point, the word Mrdini was used instead of Hiver, which made for complete confusion.Anne McCaffrey has always had a good talent for writing realistic characters and successfully portraying their intricate relationships. I find, as the story expands, that the reader gains a deeper understanding of not only the main characters, but of peripheral ones as well.
—L.A. Miles
I started off feeling a little "here we go again, same old same old" and thinking the writing style was a little "fluffy", but before very long I was caught up again. I'm very glad I'm reading these through (after probably 30 years since I first read them), and I'm starting to think that it's quite possible I'll work my way through them all again (definitely the Pern ones and this series) in another 20 or 30 years.McCaffrey gives me people I like, with interesting and often earnest characters. Many of them are "too good to be true", but who cares? I meet plenty of real people in my real life so I don't need all my books to be equally blunt or ordinary or whatever.As the title suggests, this book is about (some of) Damia's children. It's the 3rd in the Tower and the Hive series, which are The Rowan, Damia, this, Lyon's Pride, and The Tower and the Hive. It follows the development to a certain degree of four of the children, all in their teens, and it does that within the context of the relationship between Humans and Mrdini species as they learn to work together against their common enemy, The Hive. Nice work with the other races.
—Kathleen Dixon
