Customer Reviews

Freedom's Landing (Turtleback School & Library Binding Edition)

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(12)

 

 

McCaffrey's tale of humanity struggling to survive on a harsh new world appeals to the same frontier spirit that makes people enjoy stories of the Wild West. Her tough yet sensitive characters grab your heart - you really care about what happens to them. This trilogy is a fairly fast and enjoyable read and is highly recommended to McCaffrey and fantasy/sci-fi fans.

I disagree with the previous reviewer who called this a book for 12 year olds. It is well written and enjoyable. McCaffrey has an immense talent for writing books for both ages, children and adults. This is definately for adults.

My only fault with the book, and to be honest, I'm not sure it is a fault, is that McCaffrey's plots usually consist of someone being put in a bad situation, and their ability to cope. There is not usually a major obstacle to overcome or a quest to achieve. More often, her stories tend to focus on minor obstacles the characters face in a setting strange to them. Enjoyable, but it makes for rather anti-climatic endings.

Now, to qualify my review, I will first say that besides Crystal Singer (which I hated vehemently), this is the only other Anne McCaffrey book I've read. So, I'm not the zealous fan disappointed by a book lacking in customary quality, I'm more neutral - and in fact, I may be quite the opposite, having quite a negative opinion of McCaffrey's writing after reading Crystal Singer.
I picked up Freedom's Landing because the plot interested me. Humans shipped as slaves by an alien race, forced to colonize an unknown planet - that was the sort of sf I could stomach. The book's premise is interesting, but as others have commented, the plot in Freedom's Landing is lacking and inconsistent at times. The action was a bit trite and predictable, and didn't really draw you into what was going on. This is certainly not a book for those who read for an adventurous plot or action - this is definitely more character oriented. The focus in Freedom's Landing is not the advancement of a plot, but the introduction of the reader to important characters, the growth and romance of the main character, Kris. And that is where this book wins.
Kris is a strong character - a whole person and someone I found I could relate to and like. She is totally fleshed out in the book and you really enjoy following her journey in the book. Unlike many sf or fantasy books, her growing love of another character [sorry, won't spoil for others] is very believable and realistic. She's the sort of character that you can root for - and that's why this book is worth reading. The book is a great character novel - something unusual in the traditionally action/plot-oriented fantasy or sf,which is why many people may not like this book. But if you're interested in getting to know a bunch of interesting characters and follow their development, then this is the book for you.

On a good point, this is the best book in the Freedom series but after this, it just goes down. There isn;t musch of a story line and the romance almost becomes tacky. This is definitly not one of Anne McCaffrey's best sagas. The Dragons of Pern and The Crystal Singer are much better for science fiction fans.

As I enjoyed her Dragonrider series, I decided to try out the "Freedom" series. I borrowed all three books from the local library and gave them a whirl.

Now, this book is seemingly more fantasy than reality. Every problem the people have is solved so simply, so quickly, and so easily I began to wonder if there was going to be any conflict at all. I was wrong. Even the things that appeared to be conflicts were, when faced, solved just as easily. Besides all this, the characters are incredibly flat. Kris is the only one with real personality, and even she seems like an idealized version of the author.

Basically, don't bother with this book unless you have a lot of time on your hands, or just have to read every Anne McCaffrey book you can find.

This is another expanded short story from GET OFF THE UNICORN. This time, it's "The Thorns of Barevi", which Ms. McCaffrey called "...an attempt to cash in on the lucrative market for soft- and hard-core pornography in the '60s." Need I say more? This expansion into a trilogy stretches a thin story past the breaking point. The unreal speed of technological development was especially irritating (left on the planet with axes, knives, and blankets, less than two months later they're rebuilding circuit boards to put a cell phone net up? Not likely!) McCaffrey has never been a technology-driven author, but this is ridiculous! Her anti-military prejudice shows throughout, and the social dynamics in the group can charitably be called unlikely (who really thinks Aarens wouldn't have suffered a fatal "accident" shortly after being rescued?) The remaining books in the trilogy go downhill from here. Overall, leave this series alone.

Doesn't it bother anyone that Anne McCaffrey cannot write a single book to save her life? I read FL when it first came out, and thought to myself, "This is a rather enjoyable diversion, thank goodness it's only a single book," and with one sentance, my illusions were shattered. I didn't find Kris very engaging, or Zainal; Mitford was my hands-down favourite. Plot had potential, if it could have been wrapped up in one book. As a writer myself, I know that sometimes you don't need to tell the reader everything. Did we really need to know who the Farmers were, or could we just be satisfied knowing that the colonists had shut down the machinery and were doing their own thing? McCaffrey needs to decide what her conflict is: we have man against man, man against woman, man against alien, man against machine, and man against nature. I found the last the most interesting, the rest filler. Also, if McCaffrey includes people from different countries in her storie! s, she should take the time to get to know them. Scandinavians on the whole do not need a lot of help with English, thank you very much, are you just trying to annoy me? Read this book if you're a fan, but don't expect much from it. Sorry, Mrs. McC., but this one just doesn't cut it.

(for an infinitely better read on a similar theme, try "The Earth Abides") Anne McCaffrey can write(see her Dragon series), but she doesn't demonstrate her talents here. Most of this poorly thought out and illogical book is written in an embarrassingly inept attempt at a smartassed American dialect. Her grasp of American idiom is poor at best and is so gratingly "off" it spoils whatever moment McCaffrey is trying to construct. It's like listening to very loud, very acid rock played on a very bad transistor. Characters are shallow and badly constructed. Plot is random, heading apparently nowhere, and the book is a patent first installment in a series...perish the thought! Shame on McCaffrey and her editors for this pulpy piece of trash, particularly as her readership has every reason to expect a higher quality work. This book makes a case for book burning as a form of public service.

Kristin Bjornsen was a student in Denver before she was kidnapped and enslaved by the Catteni, a race of war-mongering giant humanoids. She escapes from slavery on the planet Barevi, lives off the land, then is captured again. She and a multitude of others are dumped on an unknown planet where they must fend for themselves. Most of the writing is spent on scouting expeditions and the mechanics of survival and food procurement. Too boring for words. If you are looking for character development or plot, look elsewhere. So bad I couldn't force myself to finish.

Is it just me, or have Anne McCaffrey's books gone to hell since the loss of Judi-Lynn Del Rey? Just shows you what a good editor can do.

the plot was less interesting to me then the characters. Bottom line is that captured species including humans and one member of the capturing species end up on a planet to be forceably colonized. the book focuses on the interaction of the members of the colony and less on a actual plot.

the villian of the group is a hu-man who 'hits' on the girls to have sex with them. for this he is put in stocks, abused, threatened with being castrated, and at one point forceably bound and carried up a cliff while terrified, where upon he wets himself, bringing more abuse on himself.

the other human males in the group are somewhat sexually neutral, although the 'girls' can and do 'pair' off with some men but apparantley never with a man that might want sex with them as there is no discussion of any sexual activity among humans. Mostly the value of the men in this story is their ability to be useful to the colony, doctors, engineers, etc. but the average male is rare to find in the book.

where the book gets 'racy' is the sexual antics of the lead female with a species of people that look 'human' but arent. actual human males dont seem to 'come up' to the standards of the 'cat' man and there is a graphic description of of a sexual encounter with the non-human species with the lead human female, as well as discussions by human females about how well endowed the 'cat men' are in general.

i wont give away the ending since there really isnt any, but by the end of the book i was convinced that in McCaffrey world, human men werent worth much except and unless they contribute to the comfort and care of the females, and 'cat' men would be every girls dream.

who would this book be for? hmmmm maybe jaded females who hate men and love cats. everyone else, forget it.