FROM THE PUBLISHER

With three acclaimed novels- Powers That Be, Power Lines, and Power Play- bestselling authors Anne McCaffrey and Elizabeth Ann Scarborough launched a vibrant new science-fiction saga that told the story of a sentient planet, Petaybee, and the humans who fought to protect it from the rapacious designs of an all-powerful interstellar corporation determined to exploit the icy world's natural resources. Led by Yana Maddock and Sean Shongili, Petaybee's protectors prevailed. But now Petaybee is changing in mysterious, unprecedented ways, and the return of off-world scientists threatens the amazing planet and its equally amazing inhabitants with new dangers.

CHANGELINGS

They are Ronan Born for Water Shongili and Murel Monster Slayer Shongili. Twin brother and sister. Children of Yana and Sean. Children of Petaybee. As such, theirs is a destiny deeply intertwined with the sentient planet that is their home. For Ronan and Murel are more than human. Like their father, each can transform into a seal and converse telepathically with the planet's creatures- such as the friendly otter whose life they save one day from a pack of ravenous wolves.

But the twins' bravery has unforeseen results when a visiting scientist witnesses their startling metamorphosis and becomes obsessed with their capture. To protect their children, Sean and Yana send them to stay with a powerful family friend on an orbiting space station. But no one realizes that Ronan and Murel hunger to discover the origins of their shape-shifting talent- and that their search for knowledge will place them squarely in the path of peril.

Meanwhile, Petaybee is changing- and much faster than an ordinary planet'snatural evolution. It appears that portions of the sea are heating up and a landmass is suddenly rising from the depths. To investigate the startling occurrence, Sean heads out to the open water in his seal form. But the newly unstable region holds untold mysteries- and the potential for disaster.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Those familiar with McCaffrey and Scarborough's first SF trilogy about life on the sentient planet Petaybee will best appreciate this solid start of a new series, which picks up where Power Play (1995) left off. Murel and Ronan, the precocious twins born to Maj. Yanaba Maddock-Shongili, administrator of Petaybee, and geneticist/selkie Dr. Sean Shongili, lead an idyllic, if frigid, life on the icy planet for their first eight years. Protected by their snow leopard and track-cat nannies, they change into seals, play with otters and telepathically communicate with each other and the fauna. When it appears their abilities have aroused the sinister interest of off-world scientists, they're sent to live on a space station with a family friend. Fast-paced adventure follows as the twins thwart their enemies and further deal with their selkie natures. Flat characterization, anthropomorphic animals, sentimentality and simplistic takes on various cultures (including Inuit, Irish and Hawaiian) make this novel best suited for those with a taste for less-sophisticated SF. (Dec.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

VOYA - Marsha Valance

Twin brother and sister Ronan Born for Water Shongili and Murel Monster Slayer Shongili are selkies who can communicate with their sentient birth world, Petaybee. When a visiting scientist observes them transforming, their parents send them to a space station for safety. Following the children to the station, the scientist uses her grandson, their playmate, to gain their confidence so that she can study their shape shifting. The story's pace accelerates as the twins elude capture and set out to rescue their selkie father from an undersea volcano on the planet's surface. This first book in The Twins of Petaybee trilogy continues to chronicle the awakening sentient planet Petaybee and its settlers, who are trying to keep its natural resources from being exploited, that appeared in the Powers trilogy. By focusing on the twins born to Major Yanaba Maddock and geneticist Dr. Sean Shongili, the authors offer protagonists who will mature as the series continues, making it ideal for young adult fans. The treatment of nonhuman characters and assorted cultures is very simplistic, but the trilogy functions well as uncomplicated fast-paced adventure, making it suitable for junior as well as senior high readers. The book is a recommended purchase for junior and senior high libraries. VOYA CODES: 4Q 4P M J S A/YA (Better than most, marred only by occasional lapses; Broad general YA appeal; Middle School, defined as grades 6 to 8; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12; Adult-marketed book recommended for Young Adults). 2006, Del Rey, 288p., Ages 11 to Adult.

Kirkus Reviews

First in a trilogy spun off from previous books about the sentient planet Petaybee (Power Lines, 1994, etc.), following the adventures of a pair of adorably inquisitive twins. With their formula down pat, the authors don't waste time getting readers excited with dangerous thrills or much of a plot. Instead, the narrative putters along inside the cozy icebound settlement of Kilcoole, where the Irish-Eskimo townsfolk have adapted quite well to their bone-chilling climate and created a few charming customs (shared with us in lengthy detail). The promising premise of the planet that thinks and does for itself is mostly frittered away here in a series of obviously padded non-events and a utopian mindset so starry-eyed that even Ursula K. Le Guin would find it naive. The twins themselves-Murel and Ronan, born to Yana and Sean of the previous trilogy-are an interesting pair with a neat quirk: They can change into a seal's form in water. After getting into a minor scrape involving poachers of the planet's cute telekinetic otters (unauthorized people looking to do harm are always landing on Petaybee), the twins are sent off to school on a space station to examine information that will help them understand the volcano that's threatening to become active back home. A less-than-thrilling subplot involving a scientist with bad intentions occupies some, but not enough, of the time on the space station before the book rattles to a close. A waste of time for any audience other than young adults.