Oddly apt for a winter read, this book centers on Major Yanaba Maddock, a disabled veteran, sent to the icy planet Petaybee to die, but also on one last mission, to spy on the locals and find out what is really going on there. This book has a naive sweetness to it. It reminds me of early McCaffery books, like the Dragonsinger series. (Which is also my favorite of her work, and feels very YA to me.) Or even like a Mercades Lackey book. The story-line features a native culture full of good people having nice parties and being very accepting of alternative lifestyles versus a counter culture that's more stiff and traditional. This is a trope McCaffery is fond of exploring, like the Weyrs verses the Holds. I find it interesting to read about, but in my older years I could wish it were less black and white.The authors use a lot of Intuit culture and mix it with Irish traditions and some simplistic teraforming in a far future science fiction setting, like the Pern books or the Ship Who Searched series. This ends up feel far more fantasy than scifi. One can come up for a scientific explanation as to why the horses would evolve one horn, but one has still stuck a unicorn on ones ice planet. I know, I know, it sounds like I'm belittling the book. I'm not, but it is a creature of its time. It's like an 80s rock anthem: cheesy, and nostalgic, and taken SO seriously my the musicians who played it. Now it makes me wince a little but I still put it on and dance naked around my living room. And I feel guilty and ashamed any time it comes on streaming, or is mocked in some youtube video, because I know all the words.Powers That Be is kind of like that only in book form. I know as I read that everything is going to be alright for the characters, the romantic thread is going to pull through, no one is going to hurt too bad. The SF concepts are going to be pretty basic and predictable, basically I kind of know all the words. Even if I've never read it before.But there is comfort in that. There's a joy in reading a book like this, particularity when it's a cold blustery winter day outside. It's the book equivalent of a decent cup of tea. Not a really good tea with nibbly bits and company, but still tea. And you know how I feel about tea. Mmmm.
Powers That Be by Anne McCaffrey and Elizabeth Ann Scarborough is the first book set in the Petaybee universe. The book is a romantic science fiction story whose main character Yanaba Maddock discovers that her life may not be over after all when she is sent off to the world of Petaybee. When the story begins her lungs are shot from poison gas which she inhaled during an insurrection on a planet where she was serving as company military. As a result she is discharged and sent to the ice planet of Peetaybee where there are enough mysteries to keep the company investigators jumping all the time. The situation is complicated when the planet manages to heal her and she realizes that it has a life of its own. She also falls in love with the resident super scientist Sean Shongili who is from the family which originally oversaw the genetic engineering which was needed for animals to live on Petaybee. I was struck by three main things while I read through this story. The first was the idea of Gaea's or world organisms which underlies everything in the book. Petaybee is a living entity made up of rocks and soil and animals and so it fits that in this type of world even humans have a role. I guess I can imagine it the same as I could any alien species but it still seems somewhat more mystical rather than defined. The second thing has to do with how the characters learn that not everything fits into the nice little box which they have prepared for it. Maybe that is my problem in that a living world which does not seem organic in nature could have life seems to stretch credibility beyond my limit. The third thing I thought about while reading this book was how interesting the lifestyle of people that live in extreme climates is and how much I am thankful I don't live in one. I liked how the authors portrayed many of the realities of life on the edge of nature not as some fairy tale but as a hard struggle which is helped by the companionship of friends. We must remember that we are all on this world we now live on together and strive to make it feel more like home for everyone.
What do You think about Powers That Be (1994)?
This was great fun to read and makes you a just a tad suspicious about where they got the idea for Avatar from. The one thing I didn't like was how they felt they had to spoon-feed you every plot development. Most of the foreshadowing seemed more like forescreaming, with the result that nothing really shocked you when it finally occurred (after the 10th blatant hint). Or maybe I've just read too many McCaffrey books in a row. That's probably why I'm sick of every character's eyes dancing, flashing, laughing, etcetera. An author's idiosyncrasies really get to you after a while!!
—Blake Baguley
My wife recommended that I read this book, and she's the primary reason that I've become a fan of Mercedes Lackey, so I decided to give it a go.Powers That Be reads very distinctly as written by feminine hands, and this is made most clear in the romance of the main character (Yana), as well as the very socially-oriented aspect of the book. Despite the conflict, this is really a book about healing, friendship, and a chance at a second life. There's a definite idyllic charm to some of the characte
—Daniel Millard
Anne McCaffrey is one of my guilty pleasures. Her Brain Ships series is probably one of my favourite SF series to read, and I'd thought for certain that I'd read most of her early trilogies. Powers That Be has never been a favourite of mine (I think the Crystal Singers is way up there though), I do own one or two of the novels from the Powers series, but for some reason it doesn't pull me as strongly as her other books do. Yana, the main character is a battle stricken veteran who is sent to Petaybee to recover from a gas attack which has pretty much destroyed her lungs. She lives in a village with the locals on this harsh planet where touching metal can kill you, it's that cold. I know, terrible description. I tried! (but not very hard). I recently started book 2 and realised, I've never read book 2 before... I hereby make it my quest this year to finish not only the Power's trilogy, but also the Freedom trilogy (tho it's now 4 books... quadility?). I know, I'm a glutton for punishment.
—Minh
