Crystal singing, A bit of an odd profession and yet it is the primary occupation of the Heptite Guild. In Killashandra by Anne McCaffrey, book two of the Crystal Singer Trilogy, we return to the life of protagonist Killashandra Ree. The book opens with her returning from the crystal ranges hoping to make enough credits to leave Ballybran for a vacation. She quickly discovers that the crystal she has brought in, a rather nice collection of white crystals, is perfect for a repair order for an optherian organ. During a conversation with guild master Lanzecki, Killashandra also learns that the shipment of crystal will be accompanied by a singer who can perform the repairs and train technicians for future repairs. While interested in the opportunity, she is also leery when she is informed of a secondary objective for the trip. The planet she is traveling to is being covertly investigated to determine the legitimacy and support of the planet-wide travel restrictions on all native inhabitants. After discussing it with other guild members, Killashandra ultimately decides to take the job and make the best of her trip. Upon her arrival on Optheria events start to gradually reveal that the planet is not what it seems and her secondary objective, the investigation, may be more difficult to achieve than she thought.
I am going to start out by saying that I am a huge Anne McCaffrey fan and am probably biased towards this book because of that. This book was really good though and I greatly enjoyed it. One of the biggest draws was its focus on the interpersonal relationships of the characters, specifically the one between Killashandra and Lars, an optherian native. I say that because the latter part of the novel is largely driven by their interactions as they develop a romantic relationship that often overshadows both the events happening on Optheria and Killashandra’s previous relationship with Lanzecki. As this is such a huge part of the developing plot and story line it is rather difficult to ignore. However, it is also fraught with tension as the relationship develops extremely quickly and starts with an extremely unstable base. Honestly, I am rather surprised it works out as well as it does all things considered. I said previously that the plot is driven by the relationship and in many ways it really is. Killashandra’s secondary objective, to investigate the restriction on native optherian’s interplanetary travel, is inextricably bound up in her relationship with Lars as he is protesting that restriction and conducting his own investigation. With the interconnectivity of the two plotlines these two characters come perilously close to making emotion based decisions that have the potential to rapidly make things worse. Luckily cooler heads prevail and it all works out but still. There are only a handful of things about the book that I am not entirely sure I liked. Most of them are based around the same theme so this will be easy to cover. Starting at the very beginning of the book, when Killashandra first brings in the white crystal that is perfect for the organ repair, there are a lot of coincidences that occur. I know that it is just connecting the disparate elements of the story but it was just a little unsettling about how frequently this happened. This is not a bad thing but it did feel a little off to me. Overall, a good book and I would give it a 3.5 out of 5 stars.
A great example of science-fiction this book would probably appeal to readers who are fans of that genre, especially adult readers as that was the intended age range. However, I can also see this book holding at least some appeal for young adults as there is little in terms of content that would make it inappropriate. There are suggestive themes, especially in the later parts of the novel, but nothing explicit. Beyond that there is limited violence or other potentially mature content so it should be good. I have no issues with recommending it to teenage readers. As always, feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.