Freehold [Mass Market Paperback]

Michael Z. Williamson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 30, 2003

The innocent run when everyone Pursueth! Sergeant Kendra Pacelli is innocent, but that doesn't matter to the repressive government pursuing her. Mistakes might be made, but they are never acknowledged, especially when billions of embezzled dollars earned from illegal weapons sales are at stake. But where does one run when all Earth and most settled planets are under the aegis of one government? Answer: The Freehold of Grainne, the only developed system that belongs to neither the unes nor the Colonial Alliance. There, one may seek asylum and build a new life in a society that doesn't track its residents every move, which is just what Pacelli has done. But now things are about to go royally to hell. Because Earth's government has found out where she is...This is a fast-paced novel of an indomitable individual against a monolithic tyranny.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 688 pages
• Publisher: Baen (December 30, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743471792
• ISBN-13: 978-0743471794
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.2 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (56 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #550,177 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Michael Z. Williamson is retired military, having served twenty-five years in the U.S. Army and the U.S. Air Force. He was deployed for Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Desert Fox. Williamson is a state-ranked competitive shooter in combat rifle and combat pistol. He has consulted on military matters, weapons and disaster preparedness for Discovery Channel and Outdoor Channel productions and is Editor-at-Large for Survivalblog, with 300K weekly readers. In addition to these activities, Williamson tests and reviews firearms and gear for manufacturers. Williamson's books set in his Freehold Universe include Freehold, Better to Beg Forgiveness, and Do Unto Others. His novel The Hero - written in collaboration with New York Times best-selling author John Ringo-has reached modern classic status. Williamson was born in England, raised in Liverpool and Toronto, Canada, and now resides in Indianapolis with his wife and two children.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

72 of 78 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Enthralling look into what could be, December 27, 2003

By 

I. N. Fellenzer "nicki_f" (Arlington, VA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Freehold (Mass Market Paperback)

When I first finished this book, my first reaction was, "When can I move?" It was only a few minutes later that I realized that Freehold existed only in the wildly creative mind of Michael Z. Williamson. I also realized that Mr. Williamson had just given me a glimpse into the future - where we, as a human society are headed, and where I wish we would end up.

Kendra Pacelli escapes from a human hell -- the kind of Earth most dread, but know deep inside that we could become if we continue on our present course. Human beings are controlled by government, by force, tracked, licensed and regulated. The United Nations, corrupt and power-hungry, governs earth with a socialist iron fist. Framed for a crime she didn't commit, Kendra escapes to the Freehold of Grainne - a society of a truly free people that refuses to become part of the UN's domination plans.

In her new home, Kendra learns what it's like to be truly human - to live, love, work, deserve, achieve and succeed without a power-hungry government controlling her every move. She learns that to be a wholly human means relying on oneself, taking responsibility for one's own actions and reaping the consequences. She realizes that true freedom is not easy, but worth defending.

As is typical of tyrannies, the UN cannot afford for the Freehold to exist. It cannot afford to allow its enslaved sheep to realize just how subjugated they are. The UN cannot tolerate the existence of a free, uninhibited society, so it attempts to destroy Freehold and the beneficial, successful society its inhabitants treasure.

It is during this war that Kendra learns how much she treasures freedom and what she will sacrifice to preserve it.

This book is an excellent read. It's a page-turner from beginning to end.

Freehold is a society of free human beings - a society I, personally, want to inhabit.

24 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent political/military SF, January 11, 2004

By 

Leo Champion (Boston, Massachusetts) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Freehold (Mass Market Paperback)

667 pages. Feels like 150. This is a *good* book. Reasonably interesting plot, nice depiction of a libertarian society that is, however, a little *too* perfect. Realistically flawed in some areas - there are still jerks here and there, and corporations can be dishonest - but still, the streetgangs in Freehold don't write graffiti and mug people, they take care of the local park and help lost children find their parents.

That that's the worst flaw I've found in Freehold, says something. The book's well done; realistic, some excellent ground combat, and Williamson clearly knows what the hell he's talking about in everything from economics through war and diplomacy. Writing style is crisp, using less words rather than more - something I like - and intelligent.

A very, very impressive first novel. I'm looking forwards to more from this guy.

25 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Admiration for a Good First Work, January 12, 2004

By 

"psevetson" (East Hartford, CT United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Freehold (Mass Market Paperback)

Buy this book if you like Military fiction or Libertarian philosophy, worked out in an unflinching and sometimes blunt way.

It's an excellent tract on Libertarianism carried out to a logical extreme, and a **** RIPPING GOOD ADVENTURE/WAR YARN ****. The infantry fighting and guerrilla warfare are just as credible as anything I've ever heard from a Viet-vet or any other military people who've ever described fighting in my hearing. The desperation and fear and occasional sense of unreality are all immediate, full-color, up close and personal, brutally direct.

The pre-war sequences are pleasantly entertaining, with a bit of set-piece background thrown in to educate the reader about the realities of life in a genuinely Libertarian society, as the author conceives them. In this, too, Mike reminds me of Heinlein -- just enough background to provide color for the piece, not enough to overwhelm or even seriously impede the plot. He has a good touch for this.

I had trouble in one or two places sympathizing with protagonist Kendra -- I couldn't get a read on what she was _feeling_ as she had certain _thoughts_ -- but the rest of the time she was completely real. That needs more consistency, but it's still better than three-quarters of the stuff I read.

I think this is a good first work, and in fact the rigorous working-out of the effects of theories does remind me quite a bit of early Heinlein (sorry, Mike). It hangs together nicely, and all the major plot threads are tied off in believable ways. It's not for the under-13 crowd, as it handles adult subjects in adult ways, without flinching or Bowdlerizing; both sex and violence are dealt with in the book, in ways that seem integral to the plot.

The thing that I find most likable about the book is that neither the hero nor any of her comrades are glamorized. The only thing I found even slightly unrealistic about the plot was the survival of all three members of the central trio throughout the war ... I guess someone hinted to Mike that you can't kill off major characters in mass-market any more, if indeed you ever could. I've also got some issues with his concept of how such a political system would work, but my point here is that his _people_ are believable as actors within the system.

I recommend it if you're tired of reading books of Glorious War, and if believable people are more important to you than sweetness-and-light characterization. It's a good book, and I look for more from this writer.

--Phil