Petaybee was growing up. Day by day, the sentient planet--like any child--was learning to recognize and understand the meaning of outside stimuli, to respond to those stimuli, to communicate its own needs and desires...even to use human speech. But few outsiders truly cared for the feelings and intelligence of what they perceived to be a giant hunk of rock--or a mere oddity to be gawked at. Some came to worship the newly awakened soul. Some came by invitation, but without comprehension, to harvest the almost magically curative native plants. Big game hunters came chasing rumors of fantastical creatures that simply gave themselves up for the killing. And tourists came in droves, many of them searching for long-lost relatives among those whom Intergal had relocated to Petaybee during its colonization phase. The Petaybeans had their hands full trying to protect their beloved planet from the sudden influx of visitors. Then some of Petaybee's staunchest champions--Yanaba Maddock, Marmion de Revers Algemeine, Bunny Rourke, and Diego Metaxos--were kidnapped. The perpetrators wanted Petaybee for its incredible mineral wealth. Their other attempts at plundering the planet had all failed, and now they were determined to force the Petaybeans to make a trade: the planet for the people. They simply didn't understand that such a bargain was impossible. For the only one who could speak for Petaybee was Petaybee itself--and no one knew what a living planet could do once it found its voice...
From the Hardcover edition.
From Publishers Weekly
This final volume of the trilogy that began with Powers That Be opens with the marriage of Yanaba Maddock, administrator of the sentient planet Petaybee, to geneticist and selkie Sean Shongili. The pregnant Yana soon has to travel off-world to defend Petaybee's interests before a skeptical galaxy, leaving the planet open to devious exploitation by such predators as old enemy Torkel Fiske. The narrative shifts focus between the primitive but honest planet and the glittering space city of Gal Three as travails mount at both locations. Yana and two young friends are kidnapped by pirate Onidi Louchard; pilgrims and treasure seekers flood Petaybe. Throughout, the story oozes with the same sentimentality and one-dimensional characterization that afflicted the previous volumes. McCaffrey and Scarborough are capable of better, jointly as well as individually. Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
The third novel in McCaffrey and Scarborough's series about life on the sentient planet Petaybee follows The Powers That Be (1993) and Power Lines with what may be the riveting saga's most exciting episode yet. Petaybee plays an even bigger role in events this time, for it develops not only a direct means of communicating with humans, but also a sense of humor as it continues to mature (a planet awake barely 200 years is still a baby). This volume begins with the marriage of Yanaba Maddock and the selkie (man-seal) Sean Shongili and concludes with the births of their selkie twins, but the conflict between those who would protect the planet and those who would exploit it continues to be at the heart of the plot. The writing and characterization as well as the infusions of Celtic and Inuit lore remain of high quality. There are also resolutions here that wrap up the series, but readers sad to see it end will note that Yanaba wonders at the conclusion what Petaybee had in mind for her children, thereby making an opening, perhaps, for more to come. Sally Estes
Description:
Petaybee was growing up. Day by day, the sentient planet--like any child--was learning to recognize and understand the meaning of outside stimuli, to respond to those stimuli, to communicate its own needs and desires...even to use human speech.
But few outsiders truly cared for the feelings and intelligence of what they perceived to be a giant hunk of rock--or a mere oddity to be gawked at. Some came to worship the newly awakened soul. Some came by invitation, but without comprehension, to harvest the almost magically curative native plants. Big game hunters came chasing rumors of fantastical creatures that simply gave themselves up for the killing. And tourists came in droves, many of them searching for long-lost relatives among those whom Intergal had relocated to Petaybee during its colonization phase. The Petaybeans had their hands full trying to protect their beloved planet from the sudden influx of visitors.
Then some of Petaybee's staunchest champions--Yanaba Maddock, Marmion de Revers Algemeine, Bunny Rourke, and Diego Metaxos--were kidnapped. The perpetrators wanted Petaybee for its incredible mineral wealth. Their other attempts at plundering the planet had all failed, and now they were determined to force the Petaybeans to make a trade: the planet for the people. They simply didn't understand that such a bargain was impossible. For the only one who could speak for Petaybee was Petaybee itself--and no one knew what a living planet could do once it found its voice...
From the Hardcover edition.
From Publishers Weekly
This final volume of the trilogy that began with Powers That Be opens with the marriage of Yanaba Maddock, administrator of the sentient planet Petaybee, to geneticist and selkie Sean Shongili. The pregnant Yana soon has to travel off-world to defend Petaybee's interests before a skeptical galaxy, leaving the planet open to devious exploitation by such predators as old enemy Torkel Fiske. The narrative shifts focus between the primitive but honest planet and the glittering space city of Gal Three as travails mount at both locations. Yana and two young friends are kidnapped by pirate Onidi Louchard; pilgrims and treasure seekers flood Petaybe. Throughout, the story oozes with the same sentimentality and one-dimensional characterization that afflicted the previous volumes. McCaffrey and Scarborough are capable of better, jointly as well as individually.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
The third novel in McCaffrey and Scarborough's series about life on the sentient planet Petaybee follows The Powers That Be (1993) and Power Lines with what may be the riveting saga's most exciting episode yet. Petaybee plays an even bigger role in events this time, for it develops not only a direct means of communicating with humans, but also a sense of humor as it continues to mature (a planet awake barely 200 years is still a baby). This volume begins with the marriage of Yanaba Maddock and the selkie (man-seal) Sean Shongili and concludes with the births of their selkie twins, but the conflict between those who would protect the planet and those who would exploit it continues to be at the heart of the plot. The writing and characterization as well as the infusions of Celtic and Inuit lore remain of high quality. There are also resolutions here that wrap up the series, but readers sad to see it end will note that Yanaba wonders at the conclusion what Petaybee had in mind for her children, thereby making an opening, perhaps, for more to come. Sally Estes