To Ride Pegasus (The Talent Series)

Henry Darrow is a surprisingly accurate astrologer. He predicted the car accident that would give him a serious head injury and would put him in the one hospital with an ultra-sensitive electroencephalograph, otherwise known as a Goosegg. After his surgery he woke to a nurse watching him. He had a precognitive episode predicting they would get married and since he was being monitored by the Goosegg the chart showed the unusual activity in his brain at the exact moment of his episode. Scientific proof that parapsychic talent exists. From that point Henry Darrow begins the hard work needed to form the Parapsychic Center and bring all those with Talent under its protection.

This book contains four short stories chronicling Henry Darrow's hard work to get the Center started then a place for the Talented to stay where their quarters weren't crammed in with others and could be shielded to protect their minds. Land for the center, finding Talents to bring into the fold and getting laws passed to protect them all started with Darrow, but continued well after his death.

While this book was first published in 1973, I didn't read it until after came out in paperback in 1986. Did I read it in 1986? No. I read it in 1990 after reading The Rowan, the first book in The Tower and Hive series. After reading McCaffrey's Dragonriders of Pern series, I was hunting for other works by her to read and when I picked up The Rowan I didn't realized there were three books prior to it in a series called The Talent. Once I realized that fact it was just a matter of hunting down the books.

I was enthralled with the idea that people had extrasensory abilities and I remain enthralled to this day. A fan of Anne McCaffrey since my brother gave me Dragonflight when I was a kid (in the 70s), I love her writing. She brings a world and people to life with a minimum of description that is a perfect balance between describing what she sees and allowing the reader to paint their own version of the same picture, letting imagination fly. Her plots are tight and the characters are well-developed. The endings always make you want to have the next book on deck, so you can dive right back in.

To Ride Pegasus is the beginning of the The Talent series and it morphs into The Tower and the Hive series with The Rowan. If you like books that feature people with a wide range of parapsychic abilities then this story and all those that follow should appeal to you.

*Book source ~ My home library.

This is an interesting group of four stories which explore the explosion of psychic "Talents" in a not-so-distant future Earth. Talents range from telepathy, telekinesis (moving objects with the mind), healing, clairvoyance, precognition, empathy, telempathy, and others. In a time when psychic phenomenon can be proven scientifically, Darrow must direct the course for the safety and use of these talents.
McCaffrey explores ideas such as: * How would "normal" humans act in a society where some people have more abilities than others? * How would society protect the Talented from wrongful legal suits? * Can the Talented police themselves?
While the stories were originally written as short stories and, as such, are somewhat disjointed, there is a logical progression with recurring characters propelling the Talented into the future.
An engrossing book, it is followed by Pegasus in Flight and Pegasus in Space. These novels are the bridge between modern Earth and the universe of "The Rowan" when the Talents help colonize space.

Anne McCaffrey has to be admired for her vision if nothing else. Here she starts a with book which is a good read, well written, well thought through and most enjoyable. But as somebody who has read the whole 8 book Pegasus/Tower and Hive series what i admire most is the breadth or her ambition. This is a good book, but when it morphs into the beginning of an epic series it becomes so much more.

Not to be missed.

I originally had the paperack, and love the series. I recommend sticking with the physical edition. I prefer to have my books on kindle for many reasons but there are literally multiple typos on every single page of the digital edition. The typos range from mispelled words to punctuation errors to sentences that are just illegible due to misplaced, incorrectly copied words. Very disappointing digital edition.

To Ride Pegasus is an interesting novel of the talents that we all may or may not possess but not use. The setting is great with interesting well developed characters that developed the story line. Is this the future or just a story. I would recommend this book and series too anyone who enjoys well written novels. Enjoy reading

When most people think of Anne McCaffrey they think of her famous PERN series. This book and the others follow are a separate series (TO RIDE PEGASUS, PEGASUS IN FLIGHT AND PEGASUS IN SPACE).

The basic premise of this series is that many people posses psychic abilities "Talents" that they often hide in an effort to fit in with society. A small group of these Talented people band together, beginning a world wide organization of similarly gifted people that leads to a society divided into those who possess Talents and those who are envious and wary of them. This opening book of the series is really four short stories that McCaffrey wrote early in her career (the first published in 1969). Like many early works this one lacks the polish and charm of later works.

I would recommend this only to those who are fans of other books in the PEGASUS or ROWAN series.

Anne McCaffrey is best known for her series about the dragonflies of Pern, but her books about "Talent" (psychic abilities) is also excellent. The idea that people with the ability to foresee the future, move objects, influence people,etc with the power of their minds band together to protect the world is one with many possible stories. If you like well written stories about memorable characters, I encourage you to try Anne McCaffrey.

It's an interesting premise, but the conflict was not focused enough, the main POV switched to someone else a third of the way through the book, and the climate and denoument took place in all of about five pages. Maybe this is characteristic of 1970's sci-fi.

If you have read and liked McCaffrey's other telepath books you will be interested to learn background information about the beginning of the telepath/teleport organisation. Of course the story has aged quite a lot (the dates given in the story have already long past - the trouble with setting things in the near future!), but the concepts are still interesting.
The plot progresses through short stories - which makes it a little disjointed. Following on in this timeline are "Pegasus in flight" and "Pegasus in space" which are in standard novel form.

Long before the current crop of psychic and otherworldly movies and books, was a well read and well written series of books by a science fiction, fantasy writer called Anne McCaffrey.

I first read this series of books when I was in my teens and re-read them on my kindle only recently and they are just as good as I remember them.

I waited for years, for Anne McCaffrey to continue the series but I have not seen it in print or on kindle (but that's not to say it doesn't exist).

I have happily re-read Anne McCaffrey books again and again - however - I am not really a fan of the Dragon series of books, instead preferring other books she has written like To Ride Pegasus - part of the Talent series.

Todd McCaffrey (Anne's son) has been writing books, his first with his mother Anne and several more now, on his own. But I don't really like the way he writes and he is a poor imitation of his mother's genius gift for storytelling.

No need to read the other books in this series (originally I accidentally picked up this book from a bargain bin outside QBD bookstore in Brisvegas) but then I had to read the rest after reading this :-)

Enjoy!

Anne McCaffrey is a powerful writer who has the ability to reach out and take the reader on an amazing journey. To Ride Pegasus is just the first of a series of fantastic stories about mind over matter. I highly recommend this book and Pegasus in Flight, The Rowan, Damia, Damia's Children, and Lyon's Pride. If you've not read them all, you are missing a great adventure. You will want the stories to go on and on.

I love the print version of this book The Kindle version costs the same but is FULL of errors This is a continuing the store Kindle issue defrauding the consumer! Any good lawyers reading this review???

I read the "Rowan" series before I found this book. I actually started reading it only because it was written by Anne McCaffrey (one of the best in the business). Not long after I began reading I realized this was the precursor to the "Rowan" universe. This book was a surprise. A wonderful book written by one of the greatest authors in any universe.

I love the print version of this book The Kindle version costs the same but is FULL of errors This is a continuing the store Kindle issue defrauding the consumer! Any good lawyers reading this review???

I read the "Rowan" series before I found this book. I actually started reading it only because it was written by Anne McCaffrey (one of the best in the business). Not long after I began reading I realized this was the precursor to the "Rowan" universe. This book was a surprise. A wonderful book written by one of the greatest authors in any universe.