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338th out of 2,947 books
—
12,435 voters
Freedom's Landing (Catteni #1)
Kristin Bjornsen lived a normal life, right up until the day the spaceships floated into view above Denver. As human slaves were herded into the maw of a massive vessel, Kristin realized her normal life was over and her fight for freedom was just beginning…
The alien Catteni value strength and intelligence in their slaves—and Kristin has managed to survive her enslavement w...more
The alien Catteni value strength and intelligence in their slaves—and Kristin has managed to survive her enslavement w...more
Paperback, 336 pages
Published
June 1st 1996
by Ace
(first published May 24th 1995)
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I bumped into this by accident in the library, and since McCaffrey died I’d been meaning to read something by her, and the blurb looked to be promising SF with a dash of romance I decided to take the entire series with me on Christmas break. I’m so glad I did, because I really liked this first book.
It dives right in when Kris an escaped human slave on a strange planet, encounters Zainal, a Catteni (the aliens who invaded Earth and took a bunch of humans off-planet as slaves), who is on the run...more
It dives right in when Kris an escaped human slave on a strange planet, encounters Zainal, a Catteni (the aliens who invaded Earth and took a bunch of humans off-planet as slaves), who is on the run...more
Freedom's Landing by Anne McCaffrey is the first book in the Catteni Sequence. The book takes place in a near future world where earth has been conquered by an alien humanoid race called the Catteni. One of the first things the heavy gravity Catteni do when they conquer a world is to enslave a certain percentage of the population for work on one of their own worlds. Kristen Bjornsen was one of those captured and taken to the world of Baravi where she escaped. After rescuing a Catteni who had the...more
I am reviewing the book Freedom's Landing by Anne McCaffrey which is a very good science fiction that I got from a local secondhand shop. A friend of mine who is heavily into science fiction and fantasy novels reckons she is his favourite author. He also doesn't like her later books especially the ones she did with other people. I noticed in the part about her she has won the Nebula & Hugo awards for her books. This book is I think one of her earlier books and is the start of a trilogy. The...more
From Publishers Weekly
...more
With a tale of human and other slaves abandoned by harsh masters on an ostensibly deserted planet, McCaffrey begins another highly readable series about successful survival in difficult circumstances. Kristin Bjornsen, an escaped human slave on the planet Barevi, saves one of the Catteni masters, Zainal, from being killed in a blood feud. When she tries to return him to the capital city, she is caught in a roundup of troublemakers designated for colonization duty. Among t
This is a survivalist story, about a group of humans and aliens working together to establish civilization. They fight natives, not in the form of primitive aliens, but in the form of mechanized robots that seem to farm the planet on autopilot. Who owns these machines? They don't know, but they'd love to find out.
The group has to deal with plenty of normal concerns, as well as hostility toward the Catteni (the race that invaded Earth), Zainal, who is deposited with them. Kris, a survival expert,...more
The group has to deal with plenty of normal concerns, as well as hostility toward the Catteni (the race that invaded Earth), Zainal, who is deposited with them. Kris, a survival expert,...more
I have never read anything by Anne McCaffrey before...but knowing that she is a prolific writer of fantasy novels was pretty obvious from the long line up with her name it on that particular library shelf. This book is part one of a series set in a future time when the earth has been over-run by the Catteni people who have enslaved large chunks of the human population. In fact they seem to be doing this on a large scale throughout space. The "people" in this story have been dumped on a supposedl...more
more SiFi than fantasy to be honest. Good detail (as always) and characters are fantastic. The plot didn't really grab me, there was too much other content getting in the way (not exactly 'PG' if you know what I mean. She typically has very colorful series and characters so I have no doubt that the continuing books in this one are great, I just won't be reading them.
I was hooked on this series immediately. I remember hoping it would become a series and being delighted when it did. I love tales of people thrust into unforseeable circumstances with the world turned upside down, and how they tackle their problems and use their skills, environment, and each other to survive.
Aliens have invaded earth. Kris has been enslaved like many others and transported far away to another planet. Through some coincidences, she is rounded up with hundreds of other slaves, hu...more
Aliens have invaded earth. Kris has been enslaved like many others and transported far away to another planet. Through some coincidences, she is rounded up with hundreds of other slaves, hu...more
This was really good...nice hard sci-fi with a lead female who isn't an idiot. All kinds of neat robots that groom a prison planet and a lot of discussion among mixed-species prisoners on who and how should labor be divided and such. Very cool hard science fiction with all the robots and stuff with a female lead.
Ok...so I liked this book but I didn't love it. I sooo wanted to love it but alas I did not. The story seemed really interesting and as a science fiction freak I was crazy excited to read this series. Truth be told I'm glad I read it, but....for me the writing really wasn't all that great. In some places it was actually fairly distracting. The thing that bothered me most was the weird way the characters individual voices changed. By voices I don't mean their actual voices of course but rather th...more
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Jul 20, 2010
Jesi
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
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I'd read this book as a teen, and remember liking it. I read it again these past two days, and I realize just how many "small things" I overlooked/didn't notice as that teenager.
Things that I noticed were the narrator's attitude toward rape - how male rape seemed to be so cavalierly rejected/made fun of. I realize that this is an old book, and at the time of it being written, the attitude toward the subject was probably "male rape doesn't happen," but still, reading it from my perspective now, i...more
Things that I noticed were the narrator's attitude toward rape - how male rape seemed to be so cavalierly rejected/made fun of. I realize that this is an old book, and at the time of it being written, the attitude toward the subject was probably "male rape doesn't happen," but still, reading it from my perspective now, i...more
Nice, simple. Good guys (mostly) win, some aliens are good guys, pioneering on a new planet. And if you are going to be pioneering on a new planet, the kinds of humans you want to have along are Americans, Aussies, and the Irish. That is, McCaffrey isn't afraid of being politically incorrect and uses stereotypes liberally... The only really interesting character is the alien, natch. But I like McCaffrey's story-telling, and she never hurts my brain.
This turns out to be the first of four, not sur...more
This turns out to be the first of four, not sur...more
If the other books in the trilogy are like this one, i won't be finishing the series...while the plot was an interesting concept, the writing was annoying and awkward and could use a lot more editing; I was expecting at least some fantasy and got all science fiction (which is just a matter of taste, I suppose); certain characters seemed underdeveloped; the protagonists were mostly more irritating than sympathetic; and some of the subject matter was more...mature than i was prepared to deal with...more
I remembered enjoying this series in high school, so I asked my mom to lend them to me so I can re-read.
The premise is still interesting to me (humans and other aliens who have caused their Catteni conquerors-overlords too much trouble get dropped on an inhabited planet to see if they can colonize it) and I still enjoyed the overall story, particularly the romance between two of the main characters (human Kristin Bjornsen and Catteni Zainal). On the downside, I found Kris' extreme self-sufficien...more
The premise is still interesting to me (humans and other aliens who have caused their Catteni conquerors-overlords too much trouble get dropped on an inhabited planet to see if they can colonize it) and I still enjoyed the overall story, particularly the romance between two of the main characters (human Kristin Bjornsen and Catteni Zainal). On the downside, I found Kris' extreme self-sufficien...more
Whilst I enjoyed this book, I found aspects of it annoying. I was interested in the concept of setting up a colony on another planet - but it just happened too easily in this book - suddenly they are all living in comfortable first world conditions, without a massive amount of effort getting there, and have plenty of time to persue activities other than pure survival. Kirstin also seems to have no problems slotting in having children with all her other activities.
I suppose that on the whole tho...more
I suppose that on the whole tho...more
I ordered a few of McCaffrey's books from the library after seeing the outpouring of grief and reminiscing upon her death. Thought I'd jump on the bandwagon and started with Freedom's Landing (published in 1995), the first book in the "Catteni Series."
Catteni (or "Cats") is the name of an alien species that has a habit of kidnapping humans (and others) and dropping them on (presumably) unused planets to see if they're inhabitable (non-Catteni = canaries in the coal mine). Kristin Bjornsen, a fe...more
Catteni (or "Cats") is the name of an alien species that has a habit of kidnapping humans (and others) and dropping them on (presumably) unused planets to see if they're inhabitable (non-Catteni = canaries in the coal mine). Kristin Bjornsen, a fe...more
When I was in middle school, one of my best friends had a nearly obsessive desire to read everything Anne McCaffrey ever wrote and with Science Fiction marketed to adults in general. After I enjoyed the first few books of the Dragonriders of Pern series she talked me into reading, I was eager to see what else McCaffrey had to offer... I was passed Freedom's Landing. At fourteen I really, really liked this series (not quite the love I had for Pern, but still better than most of what was available...more
I liked this first book enough to check out the next three from the library. The series feels hollow. Many major events are not written about just spoken about in conversation and not covered well. An okay story line but not delivered well or filled out. Too many things introduced but never talked about again or developed. For such horrible events like the invasion of earth, forced pregnancy, slavery and others it was really too much Pollyanna style. Could have been a really thought provoking se...more
I've read most of what Anne McCaffrey has written, and find most of it thoroughly enjoyable fluff that I have re-read anywhere from several to many times, because it's quick, and it's like having a coffee with an old friend. I read the first three books of this series quite some time ago, and haven't touched them since. However, recently, I decided to read the fourth book, but if I was going to do that, I'd have to re-read the first three, since I barely remember them. And who knew? Maybe at thi...more
I enjoyed this the first time I read it. I like the plot and the characters. However when I read it again recently I paid more attention to the details of how they go about setting up thier new society and i find a lot of improbable aspects. For example they have a shortage for wood even for cooking but they manage to start smithing and a kiln. Where do they get the wood for that let alone makeing steel from iron ore which requires charcoal if you havn't got coal to "cook" carbon into the ore. a...more
I remembered reading Anne McKaffrey's books about Pern many years ago and liking them, so I picked this up at the library. The story is interesting but I was disappointed to find some mild bad language, and then a very explicit sex scene near the end, totally unecessary for it to be so detailed. It was poorly edited as well, found quite a few typos and misplaced words. Not the quality I was hoping to find. I'm not planning to continue the series.
the invaders have taken man from earth and spread them out in colonies across the universe. the colony she first was taken to was a slave planet, that she could not live in, she escaped and only found out that she was captured when she tries to help a man from the alein race that has subjectated her and all of earth. The catine and her are taken to a new colony and left as the first generation of people left to colonize the planet.
Not a bad read. The book picks up after the Earth is invaded by aliens (called the Catteni) and humans serve as slaves on other alien planets. The heroine Kris gets dropped on a uninhibited planet with a slew of other humans and other enslaved species. They are essentially guinea pigs: if they are able to settle successfully on the planet, the Catteni can move in and live there. So there is minimal flying around in space for science fiction, it's more about building a civilization from scratch....more
I read these books one summer while at my grandparent's house for a week. To this day, I can't read them with out thinking of that summer.
The beginning of this story comes from a short story first published in Get off the Unicorn called "The Thorns of Barevi." I was intrigued to see how she took that short story and made it into not one, not two, but an entire series of books.
The beginning of this story comes from a short story first published in Get off the Unicorn called "The Thorns of Barevi." I was intrigued to see how she took that short story and made it into not one, not two, but an entire series of books.
This book was really great. Very well written and i can't wait to read the 2nd book. I wanna know more about the (view spoiler)
Really an awesome read and i didn't even miss the normal amount of romance i prefer in my books. There's was a little and it was peachy. And there because it was right and not just there for the sake of it.
Really an awesome read and i didn't even miss the normal amount of romance i prefer in my books. There's was a little and it was peachy. And there because it was right and not just there for the sake of it.
aliens invade earth, take lots of prisoners. A bunch get dumped on a new planet to see if it is "safe" for the alien overlords. Main character is a woman. She falls in love with one of the alien overlords, who has been abandoned on the planet with them all. Ok, but nothing that I really liked. Might read the next couple, might not. Depends on how I'm feeling I guess.
My mother of all people thought I'd like these and got them all for me from the library, it was probably a bit more adult than I probably should have been reading at the time (I was 13-14), but I enjoyed them enough to finish the series, and interesting mix of sci fi and fantasy stuff. I am thinking of rereading them now that I'm...older.
I think I prefer the dragon books...but then again, dragons make everything better...I did enjoy this book, though at this point in time the characters seem a little naive, I'm not sure if it's because I am so much older reading her again or if times have just changed. I will finish the trilogy, the story line is entertaining.
McCaffrey in a different vein: Having been a Pern fan for many years, I found this a very different work.
Though very much a space opera, I have bought the sequels as it is compulsive reading. However, great literature it isn't, and the inventiveness I much admired in McCaffrey's Dragon series is thin on the page.
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| Adolesent Favourite | 1 | 8 | Jan 05, 2009 08:36pm |
Anne McCaffrey was born on April 1st, 1926, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, at 1:30 p.m., in the hour of the Sheep, year of the Fire Tiger, sun sign Aries with Taurus rising and Leo mid-heaven (which seems to suggest an early interest in the stars).
Her parents were George Herbert McCaffrey, BA, MA PhD (Harvard), Colonel USA Army (retired), and Anne Dorothy McElroy McCaffrey, estate agent. She had two...more
More about Anne McCaffrey...
Her parents were George Herbert McCaffrey, BA, MA PhD (Harvard), Colonel USA Army (retired), and Anne Dorothy McElroy McCaffrey, estate agent. She had two...more
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Dec 22, 2010 05:42pm