So,
I read a ton of sci-fi when I was a kid, before I started keeping track
of what I was reading. A consequence of this is that for me, this book
got lost to the sands of time. A few years ago grief sent me into a
no-reading spiral, so when enough time had passed, I went back to basics
and started reading authors totally un-associated with my lost loved
one. That brought me back to one of my first loves, Anne McCaffrey.
When I read The Rowan a few months back, I had some tickles of
familiarity. I hadn't read it before, but maybe I read something later
in the series?? As Tower and Hive is a spin-off of McCaffrey's Pern
saga, I could have. It was a very long time ago.
Then I picked up "Damia" and the tickle became a klaxon.
At
the beginning of this book we rewind the timeline a bit to allow us to
focus on a character who is little more than a passing mention in The
Rowan. Afra Lyon ,who is practically an infant, is absolutely
distraught that his favorite elder sister has been away, training with
The Rowan. We see him grow up, and earn his place by The Rowan's side as
her second. We know that Ridinger, Earth Prime has hoped that Afra
would mate The Rowan. Maybe Afra hoped that, too, but then Jeff Raven
erupts onto the scene. We get to see "backstage" of the third act of The Rowan, through Afra's eyes.
The birth of The Rowan's first
two children, the defeat of the invaders from deep space, The Rowan's
formal marriage to Jeff Raven, and the complications she suffered with
her third pregnancy, which became Damia.* I feel it is important here to
note that Afra was asked and agreed to become a formal god-parent type
designation (LP, for Loco Parentis) to all three Gwynn-Raven children.*
Afra
seems content to be a bystander in the Gwynn-Raven family instead of
beginning a family of his own. With the birth of Damia, our focus shifts
to our title character. She is constantly left out of her siblings`
games, and so is usually in trouble. She is lonely and just wanting to
play. Afra has become something special to Damia's young self, finding
her when she escapes the home unit, or daycare, and bringing her back
home safely, when she accidentally launches herself in a cargo pod
headed off-world. Damia is a constant frustration to her mother (a full
time Prime in her own Tower), and Jeff is rarely home, so when she wants
comfort, she turns to Afra. Until the cargo pod incident. Then she and
her elder siblings are sent to live with their grandmother, to save them
from the potential dangers of growing up in a space station. It also
allowed them a wider range of playmates.
For the good it did,
there was also trauma. Damia was removed from her emotional support
human. We enjoy Damia's girlhood, playing, getting in trouble, dealing
with bullies, welcoming a little brother who becomes her closest
companion. Following the pattern of "The Rowan", we have a cradle to
mating type story with some sci-fi spice, and interplanetary drama
thrown in for flavor.
I wish I could share with you the joy of
recognition I felt when The Rowan suggests Afra take a gift to Ridinger
early in the book. A pure moment of clear remembrance, which instantly
transported me to the spare bedroom in my grandfather's home when I was
somewhere between fourteen and sixteen years old. This was the book that ignited
my origami obsession. As much as I remembered, I had forgotten more. For
that reason, I am leaving my review off here. If you don't want
spoilers, stop here. Thanks!
⭐⭐⭐3/5
Beware!! Triggers and spoilers ahead!
Damia's
first sexual encounter may be problematic for modern readers. The age
gap between the couple is enough that many would call him a pedophile.
My only rebuttal to this is that McCaffrey allows her characters to have
agency. The way it is written is very much not predatory. Damia decides
the encounter will happen. The only circumstance that would make this
encounter *ape, is the age difference.
Age gap aside, Damia
permanently disables the Young man during the encounter because she
doesn't know she needs to hold in her psychic-ness during physical
intimacy. Her powers fried his brain like an egg and he will have to be
cared for for the rest of his young life. And of course the whole
situation gets Catholic Church-ed, because of course it did, her parents
are the head of FT&T.
We get an echo of this encounter
with the ultimate relationship between Afra and Damia. Many of us in
2022 will have a hard time seeing beyond the childhood relationship the
two have had, and the large age gap. I know I did, and I don't generally
have a problem with an age gap couple. I mean.... he's her GODFATHER!
He rocked her to sleep as an infant! And now they're gonna make babies!
Its creepy!
Lastly, I want to warn anyone who has had a
traumatic brain injury. We get a scene where a character is hit in the
head with a rock.
All of this info was considered in my rating. Damia is definitely a book of its time.
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