Deluge

Twins of Petaybee #3

by Anne McCaffrey, Elizabeth Ann Scarborough

The third novel about the twins of Petaybee.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Science Fiction Fantasy, Fiction, Audiobook, Young Adult, Novels

Hardcover

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Anne Inez McCaffrey was an American writer known for the Dragonriders of Pern science fiction series. She was the first woman to win a Hugo Award for fiction (Best Novella, Weyr Search, 1968) and the first to win a Nebula Award (Best Novella, Dragonrider, 1969). Her 1978 novel The White Dragon became one of the first science-fiction books to appear on the New York Times Best Seller list.
In 2005 the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America named McCaffrey its 22nd Grand Master, an annual award to living writers of fantasy and science fiction. She was inducted by the Science Fiction Hall of Fame on 17 June 2006. She also received the Robert A. Heinlein Award for her work in 2007.

Reviews

[Jerry (Rebel With a Massive Media Library) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one was good...but a bit underwhelming. Now that I've finished this one, I can finally get to The Tower and the Hive series; that's the one I've been waiting to reread, especially since I had to special order The Rowan, the first book in the series.

[Janice · Rating 2 out of 5]

While I enjoyed the original Petaybee series, I'm clearly not in the target audience for the the second series (the target audience appears to be not terribly bright 7 year olds).

[JoyfulK · Rating 2 out of 5]

This trilogy---Changelings, Maelstrom, & Deluge---picks up the story begun in Powers That Be and its two sequels. Unfortunately, the writing isn't nearly as good. I found these novels hard to put down, but thoroughly disappointing in the end. The characters don't develop, and the situations of danger they find themselves in are all melodrama. That is, everyone is continually in danger, with barely a moment to catch their breaths before they're off to another exciting event. However, everyone escapes by a hair's breadth at the last possible second, essentially uninjured, and without any change in their character or outlook. Villains are eventually conquered, but not until the last few chapters, when suddenly everything comes right in a whirlwind set of hearings in which all our heroes are miraculously believed without argument, even when their testimony is clearly implausible. How convenient.

Between geological disasters, human plots, world-hopping, and exciting alien encounters, there's not a moment to stop and say, hey, wait a minute, how come no one changes (except to get older)? The most interesting character development occurs in Sky the Otter, as his world view is considerably widened by his various experiences with the twins. The twins themselves begin as precocious children who take stupid risks and end as precocious pre-teens who ... take stupid risks. The other characters are merely cardboard. For example, the alien "deep sea otter" people could have been an interesting addition, but because there are no point-of-view characters among them, they disappear for large chunks of the books, only to appear as a deus ex machina just before the wrap-up. After half-drowning some and rescuing others, they disappear again.

Sadly, Yanaba and Sean, who carried the first series really well, are just as cardboard as the rest of the characters. They go through this second trilogy without ever really getting a handle on either their own reactions to being a species-blended family or the planetary society they're supposedly in charge of. Their marriage and family could be so interesting if the authors had actually gone there. Yanaba continually grieves over being "left out" of the twins' & Sean's selkie adventures, but the emotional fallout of this division is never resolved. It's just there to harrow us up for a few pages before the authors move on to the next adventure.

I wish McCaffrey and Scarborough had written a family drama about living on Petaybee, with occasional interference from galactic politics, instead of an adventure yarn about galactic politics, with occasional interference from family life. They've got such a interesting blend of a society here, with multiple sentient species in an interdependent society. These books could have been a much better tale.

[Pepper Thorn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maelstrom: Twins of Petaybe does not even make an attempt at any sort of ending and continues without missing a beat in Deluge. Book 3 has all the same charms and problems that it's siblings have. It does pull its punches a bit as the children start to mature which makes the ending feel a little anticlimactic and flat. I did enjoy this book and this series but it left me wanting more from both these great authors and their truly wonderful and unique concepts. The Twins of Petaybe could have been really great but in the end they were only good.

[Katy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This third book of the Twins of Petaybee, begins as the second one ended, with Intergal company soldiers searching a deserted Kilcoole, looking for the inhabitants, in order to arrest them, and imprison them, as they had already done with Marmion, her crew, and Ke-ola's family.

As Yana and her fellow Petaybeans had been warned by the planet that the company were coming, they'd had plenty of time to hide out. But, because they still couldn't get messages off of Petaybee, they decided to kill two birds with one stone, and catch and imprison all of the the landed soldiers - who had been very hampered by Petaybee bringing the snow and high winds much earlier than usual - and then use the company spacecraft to go and get help from Marmion's allies.

In the meantime, the deep sea otters had taken Ronan and Mural to Versailles Space Station, where Marmion had her base, in the hopes that they could find someone to help. Unfortunately, the company's ships got there just before them, and arrested everyone to do with Marmion, and took them to the same prison planet as all of those they had arrested on Petaybee.

The twins almost managed to escape detection but, in the end, they were caught and held on the company ship with all the other children taken from the station. They, too, were taken to the prison planet, and forced to have their heads shaved.

Fortunately, nobody had asked any of the children's names, so the twins hid among the other children until they got the opportunity to go into the sea, and swim away in their seal forms.

Back in Petaybee, all of the company soldiers were taken in ones and twos all over the northern continent, kept apart so they couldn't brew up any trouble for Yana, Sean, and their friends, and they slowly began to take part in the lives of the villagers.

Back at the prison planet, unfortunately for Ronan, he was caught by some soldiers and, to his horror, was handed over to Dr Mabo, who immediately collared him with an electric collar, and then forced him to partly change, while she constantly investigated him, no matter how much it hurt.

Mural, and Sky the otter, who had travelled with them, tried to do their best to rescue Ronan but, when the deep sea otters decided to find a handy volcanic vent, in order to power up their ship, it caused a terrible deluge, that partially destroyed the prison island.

Mural, with help, rescues Ronan just before this happens and, rather than escaping again, they go back to the island, in order, to rescue, or free, all of their friends and, just before everything calms down,

As this happened, three spaceships appeared, and everyone who could be, was rescued. One of the ships held Federated Officials, another held Colonel Cully, and the third was the ship from Petaybee.

Once people were rescued, and things settled down a bit, the Federal Officials held an enquiry into Marmion's arrest and imprisonment, where she proved beyond a doubt, that she was innocent of all charges but, because she had been accused of kidnapping Ke-ola's people, and their animals, it was decided to hold that enquiry on Petaybee itself.

Everyone got back to the planet, where they were greeted by fellow Petaybeans, and company soldiers, who were then fast friends. The enquiry was held but, due to lack of evidence, and nobody willing to accuse anyone of theft of a company spaceship, all charges were dropped, the company soldiers who had sided with Cully were punished alongside him, and the Kilcoole had itself the biggest Latchkey going.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and loved all the plotting, and counterplots throughout.

[Dark-Draco · Rating 2 out of 5]

The last book in the series was a bit of a disappointment. I mean, a sentient planet is the most original, exciting type of character, and it barely features at all, except for a few shiny underwater arrows and a convenient snow storm. Instead, the two twins go off again, without asking or telling, to try and rescue their friends, get themselves captured and sent to jail, have a few odd little escapades on another planet, then get rescued and come home again! The writing was as good as ever and I did enjoy the read for reading's sake, but the storylines were just too mildly annoying to say that I loved it.

[Wilson E. Stevens Sr. · Rating 2 out of 5]

The selkie twins, Ronan and Murel, leave Petaybee on a mission to help rescue their friend Marmie. She and her employees have been arrested and sent to a prison planet called Gwinnet. While this book is again an action-packed thriller, it is not to Anne McCaffery's normal standard. While it ends the series, it does not have a well-written plotline. It almost reads like they needed to finish the series and spent a couple of days writing something that would complete the series and satisfy the publisher, not planning to complete the series and tie up all the loose ends nicely. Frankly, I didn't like the book that much and felt the series was a waste of money and time.

[Katherynne Boham · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this last book in the Twins of Petaybee trilogy more than the first two. There is a rescue from the prison planet, a company ship is hijacked, and Dr. Mabo finally ceases to be a threat. It is an adventure story and I did enjoy reading it.
However, I did not enjoy it nearly as much as I did the 1st Petaybee trilogy. I didn't find the characters nearly as well developed as in the first trilogy and the small inconsistencies between the 1st and 2nd trilogies bothered me. Why not take the time to be sure sequels aren't contradictory?

[Valery · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't read the first two books before reading this one so I came in with little backstory. That being said, Deluge does stand well on its own.
Good read, with great writing.

For my clean readers:
Very little language. There are some scenes where children are naked after being captured, but no real descriptions. Also some inferences as to raping prisoners are made, but again, no details. Includes violence in the form of torture and war crimes.

[Mike. Gibson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another end to a fantasy epic

I have been reading Ann MCAfferys books since my your of duty in Vietnam.I fell in love with Pern and it's dragonriders and have followed wherever the Dragonlady has lead.I was heartbroken at her passing and hope she rides a golden to her just rewards.

[Michelle Swanson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good end book
I do wish they had a time jump at the end to wrap some stuff up.
Good series if you want to read a lot of books, and always know what your next book would be.
Id recommend reading all 6 Petaybee novels, book #2 in the Twins of Petaybee lagged a bit, but the rest of the series is very good.

[Kate H · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anne McCaffrey is an author I always enjoy reading. I really loved the way this series started although I felt it lost a bit of its appeal as the books went on.I do find it to be a very fascinating world with great characters but I am not sure I love the formula of the story telling. But I still quite like it.

[Ramona · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting trilogy. I am glad I decided to listen to book 3 rather than read. I enjoy the voices and the extra feeling of being there, when listening to an audiobook. This reads like a fantasy, mythological, sci-fi story because of the characters and their special gifts. It is a great "world-building" book, for any sci-fi reader.

[Meg V · Rating 4 out of 5]

I feel like every Petaybee book is basically “greedy corporate soldiers make poor choices and ultimately pay for it, and most everyone else is just fine and dandy, other than having been given a bit of grief before things were sorted out”.

That said, I keep zooming through them because it sure is satisfying to see bad people do stupid stuff they think they can get away with but they CAN’T.

[Sharon Tucker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book was great until..

The end. Then it seemed like an awkward wrap quick, wrap up.

And the twins reunions with their parents are always weird. Not like children greeting their parents at all.

And the twins never seemed as if they were 8 yrs old. More like 16.

Still. I really enjoyed the fanciful worlds, the danger and the kindness of strangers.

[Cara Noyes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great end to the trilogy

I throughly enjoyed this trio of books. The twins were cleverly written, and Sky was the best hero of the bunch.

[Maurice Jr. · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good end to the Twins Of Petaybee series. The company who abandoned their Hawaiian charges now accuses the Petaybeans of kidnapping them and stealing the totem animals who accompanied them to Petaybee. They use these trumped up charges to arrest Marmion de Revers Algemaine and her cohorts, including all the children who inhabited her space station, and hustle them off to a prison planet, Gwinnet. Ronan and Murel Shongili were on the station at the time attempting to warn them.

Their attempt to similarly arrest Sean and Yana Shongili and all their friends don't go so well, as Petaybee simply won't cooperate. Bad weather and a series of guerilla attacks render the soldiers captive- and the Petaybeans in full plan mode to rescue their own.

I enjoyed watching Marmie and her friends plot their escape, Sky and Marmie's first officer's cat Zuzu work behind the scenes to help and the twins themselves also slipping free to explore the waters of this prison planet. They find hungry monstrous creatures in the depths, but they are not what they seem. I loved seeing their connection to the mysterious deep sea otter aliens the twins met on Petaybee, and a resolution to their conflict with the evil Dr. Marie Mabo.

Well done! Sorry the series had to end, but it ended well in my opinion.

[Brian Schiebout · Rating 4 out of 5]

Deluge by Anne McCaffrey and Elizabeth Ann Scarborough is the third and Final book in the Twins of Petaybee series set in the Petaybee universe. The book attempts to detail the attempts to rescue the characters who were kidnapped by rogue company soldiers in the previous book. I enjoyed the rollicking rescue book because it is very simple to figure out good and evil. In many ways this book is a melodrama where evil is so obvious that cheering for the heroes is simple. Like all melodramas the villains do stupid evil things not because of necessity but instead because of some inherent flaw in their system. Most of the story takes place on the prison planet of Gwinnet where Marmie and her faithful servants are imprisoned. As with any prison break novel the way that it must work is because of a flaw in the system. In this case the flaw is the twins shape changing abilities and the goodness which still lives within certain of the people who are forced to serve on the planet. The abilities of Sky and the ships cat also contribute as does the seemingly coincidental landing of the Sea Otter aliens. Overall I enjoyed this book and would recommend it even though there are better books in the subject matter and genre. I was reminded while reading this book that we can never give up because it is never impossible to fight against evil and to hope for its defeat.

[Sally · Rating 2 out of 5]

The original Petaybee series drew me in quite readily with its setting and characters, thus I was looking forward to reading its sequel and hoped it was just as engaging.

Talk about a disappointment. I cannot remember of series of books so poorly written and edited (characters changing genders and names spelt incorrectly to name but two!)

While I realise that the series was about the twins, it would have been nice to have transition between the original series and this one that had greater depth and explanation for the characters that were set into the background. Instead they are cast off without anything, and if lucky, only popped back in awkwardly. Generally without actually adding to the story either.

The age of the twins setting off on their adventures also irritated me somewhat. I don't understand why precocious characters tend to be written as irritating personalities who think rules don't apply to them.

All in all, the ONLY redeeming part of this series was Sky. Hah!

[Kris · Rating 4 out of 5]

The third book of the Twins of Petaybee opens with the Company Corps of the evil InterGal corporation attempting to take over the settlements of Petaybee. They have also arrested Marmion, a high ranking official and friend to Petaybee, on trumped up charges and have taken her and loyal members of her crew to a prison planet. The twins are also captured and taken to the prison planet where they manage to escape into the waters and in seal form seek help for their friends. Fortunately Sky Otter and a new friend, Zuzu the ship's cat, are able to cause distractions and otherwise assist (their interactions were very amusing) and eventually everyone makes it back to Petaybee for a fairly happy ending.

[Alysha DeShaé · Rating 3 out of 5]

My full review is here on my personal website. I'll post a few excerpts here, though:

3.0 out of 5.0 stars

The very worst thing about this book is some of the situations that the characters are placed in. I’m reading sci-fi/fantasy so I’m not necessarily looking for total realism, but too much just falls into place for it to be believable. It was more like they were trying to quickly tie up all the loose ends that they’ve left hanging about.

The very best thing about this book is the fact that the story has ended and hopefully the authors won’t try to extend it to another trilogy. :-/

[W. · Rating 5 out of 5]

We return to a world where social structure is the key to understanding the adventures of Deluge, the third book in Anne McCaffrey & Elizabeth Ann Scarborough’s The Twins of Pataybee. The conflict continues between a unknowing, uncaring corporation and a world festooned with a variety of human and animal creatures, each with conflicting goals, greed versus life. The encounters between factions will satisfy the the sci-fi reader who enjoys a world structure centered on social relationships. The juxtaposition of varying cultures, one for business, one for family, one for life, provide intriguing comparisons. This is a complete, satisfying adventure story.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was good - great development of "situations" on Petaybee and the prison planet. Adorable cat and otter involvement! Interesting development with the aliens from Petaybee and return of the evil Dr. Mabo! Very quick resolution! I find myself wondering, however, if this could really be the end of the Petaybee stories! I hope not!

[Sharon · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is another series that I feel has gone on too long. It roams between planet-based and star station-based scenes and it's very hard to keep track of the younger generation. How funny - I read it exactly two years ago!

December 2023: Entertaining in audiobook form, with lots of fun voices for the animals.

[Jill · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought it would be fun to read, as I started the series last summer, but it just wasn't all that great. The story was disjointed, and some of it got really ugly, which was unexpected for the general tenor of the book and a McCaffery story. It was a little like reading the brainship book she wrote with SM Stirling, but the story wasn't as good.

[Lychee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable conclusion to the trilogy. I like how they kept returning to characters introduced in earlier volumes but not always in a predictable way. The second volume in the triology was my favorite, but this one served up some treats too.

[BookAddict ✒ La Crimson Femme · Rating 2 out of 5]

I loved the first series. When Ms. McCaffrey brought this back, I was happy, until this book. This book didn't do it for me. While I do like the twins and how they can shape shift, this one was crammed in with situations that were tedious and boring.

[Marissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice finish to the trilogy. It is a little unbelievable that the twins do all this stuff as ten year olds, but that is the beauty of a setting on a different planet -- they must have evolved differently from us in more ways than one!

[Fredrick Danysh · Rating 3 out of 5]

The twins of Petaybee attempt to rescue friends and immigrants arrested by the InterGal Corporation and transported to a prison colony. On Petaybee the Corporation attempts to arrest and deport all the colonists so that they can regain their claim to the senient planet.

[Cary Spratt · Rating 3 out of 5]

One misadventure after another until they all live happily ever after. Overall, this series is a bit more 'young' in tone than I prefer, but a decent read and nice follow-up to the original Petaybee series.