In my quest to read every book I own, I picked this one up that has been in a TBR pile since I was a kid. I had high hopes for it. Those hopes did not hold up.

Killashandra is an unlikable protagonist. She is arrogant and conceited, which can work for characters, but she's also a hypocrite. She constantly judged another female character for certain thoughts and actions while having those thoughts and wanting to do those same things. Also, I recognize that this story was written in the 1980s, but I got 20% of the way through the book and realized that Killashandra had not had any shown conversations with another named female character, which was very jarring.

Killashandra was a bit of a Mary Sue, a comment I hate to make but fits exceptionally well in this case. ( )

Another from my uncle's box of paperbacks, this is my first Anne McCaffrey (I know) and it was an oddly compulsive read yet also weirdly dull.

The novel starts with Killashandra, a young musician in her late twenties, being turfed from the music school she has been studying at for the past decade. Her pitch is perfect but her higher register isn't good enough. She meets a Crystal Singer and basically decides this is how she's going to spend her life, cutting crystal for an obscure guild on a remote planet. The rest of the novel is Killashandra going to the planet, joining the guild, being trained and cutting crystal. Once.

Killashandra is a strange character. She's driven, but she's also not quite sure what she's driving towards. There's virtually no romance, yet she sleeps with pretty much every second guy she meets. There's a nebulous quality to her character that actually makes her quite compelling.

I enjoyed McCaffrey's writing style enough to try more, though I do hope her other novels have a little more happening than just a woman learning a trade. ( )

Killashandra Ree is an inspiring opera singer who gets diverted into a secretive and very exclusive guild when her Opterian teacher finds an "unacceptable" burr in her voice. However, a whole new world is now open to her, albeit with some quirky restrictions. Must read all three books in the series! ( )

An interesting universe with the main driver of technology being crystal, particularly from a single planet.
MC is a female power fantasy (which is fine, plenty of male power fantasies out there, like peter hamilton)
only downside is there is no real challenge for the MC to overcome.
I have the omnibus that has all three stories, the trend continues, with only minor challenges given the the main character.
After reading some of the other reviews that mention the musical knowledge comes from the authors personal history, it does seem to me a self insert.

Characters arent particular memorable, and worlds are lacking a bit of description, with some side characters having more flavour than the main cast.

i don't regret reading the series but i wouldn't say it's a must read. ( )

Chapter 1: Main character can't be #1 in her field, rage-quits after 10 years of training despite infinite other career possibilities in the field

Chapter 2: Main character physically restrained by stranger, thinks it's not yet time to call for help despite help being readily available because she's apparently somehow not technically in "personal-liberty infringement" zone yet

Me: Nope ( )