I thought I’d write about a book that I found fascinating when younger and wish I owned. It’s called ‘The Crystal Singer’ by Anne McCaffrey.

The novel centers around a young woman named Killashandra  Ree, who has spent ten years studying to be an opera singer and fails. One day she runs into a man at the spaceport and they get to talking. After a whirlwind romance, she learns what he does for a living and eventually (for reasons I don’t want to give away) follows him back to the world of Ballybran.

Ballybran is the source of crystals that power the engines and communications systems of Anne’s world. However, only singers with perfect pitch can operate the voice activated cutters. And there’s a catch: there’s a spore that invades a person’s body when they arrive on Ballybran. Some people die from it, others only partially adapt (leaving them deaf but with high visual acuity among other things) and the ones who fully adapt are the crystal singers.

The spore keeps it’s host alive for hundreds of years, but the only ones who can leave the planet are the singers and they only can for short vacations. So, with that said, what happens to Killashandra?

You’ll have to read and find out.

Pick it up and check it out.