McCaffrey's first forays into the realm of the Talented begins in some of her earlier novels and short stories, including To Ride Pegasus (1973) and Pegasus in Flight (1990). Rowan is the transition from the near-future of the Pegasus stories to the far-future of common space flight and interplanetary colonization.

The specific origins of Rowan and Damia (1992) are rooted in short stories, two of McCaffrey's first: "The Lady in the Tower" and "A Meeting of Minds."

Reprinted in Get Off the Unicorn (1977) from the various science fiction pulps in which they were first published, they form a central part of their respective novels. In both novels, much of the opening details the early lives and budding romances of both mother and daughter, while the closing chapters bring the characters back to the essential conflict that runs through the remainder of the series: seeking out and destroying the Hivers...