 This was the first Anne McCaffrey book that I ever read. I actually listened to it as an audio book and I enjoyed it quite a bit. I like the character Killishandra Ray. She is an opera singer with a perfect pitch who washes out of professional opera singing. So she becomes a crystal singer which are specialized miners who locate and cut these magical crystals on a distant hostile planet. She turns out to be the best of the best at that. A lot of people resent her quick rise of the industry but she she doesn't settle for anything but number one and it's a it's a good book. This ridiculous cover painting though. Come on.