Have you ever come across a book by one of your favorite authors that you realize you have never read before? I recently did just that when I started reading To Ride Pegasus by Anne McCaffrey, the first book in the Talents series. She has been one of my favorite authors since I was a teenager and even though she passed away over a decade ago I am still reading some of her books for the first time. This particular book deals with the concept of people systematically studying various paranormal abilities, though they use the term para-psychic instead, such as telepathy, telekinesis or precognition. It consists of four short stories, all set in the same universe and following in chronological order where they work on setting up the first institute for the study of these abilities and the protection of the people who have them.
I have read some of McCaffrey’s other series that deal with similar topics but at the same time they are drastically different to this book. I say that because this series is still based on earth while most of her books are based far in the future and in space. There are still elements that are recognizable as the earth that we are familiar with. It also is set in a time period where there is still a lot of disbelief and pushback about these abilities and the people who are able to use them. I would have like a little bit more character development for some of the stories as the only character we really get to learn a lot about is Daffyd op Owen, the second man to run the institute that studies these abilities and the people who use them. He appears in three of the four stories in this anthology and is the only one to be a major character in more than one of them. It makes it interesting to see short snippets from the life of the people running the institute and the various legal, political and social battles that they face as they get it up and running. Overall, there is a semi-cohesive narrative that tells the beginning and early evolution of the institute though. I rather liked how this created a different feel than many of her other works that I have previously read. In my opinion, this gets a 3.5 out of 5 stars.
I would recommend this book to other readers, especially those who are already fans of science-fiction or are already fans of Anne McCaffrey’s other works. This book is also one of those books that may be aimed primarily at adult readers but would potentially be suitable for younger readers, depending on the reader. I would consider it suitable but I know not everyone else may agree. One thing to keep in mind is that it is considered science-fiction but it is entirely earth-based, unlike many other more popular works of science-fiction. The book also deals with the concepts of telepathy and precognition which may be topics that people are uncomfortable with so that should also be something to be aware of before you start. I really enjoyed it and hope others will as well, even though it is an older piece of science-fiction, relatively speaking. If you happen to be familiar with it or anything else by Anne McCaffrey feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below. I look forward to hearing what you think.