Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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146 of 153 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Nolo Contendere, January 10, 2004
Hi, it's Mike. I'm told it's a bad idea to respond to reviews, but I'm lousy at taking advice.The comparisons of me to Heinlein are appreciated, of course, but not fair to him. Heinlein was a master of human experience and soul, and I learn something every time I read his better works. I'm simply not that good. As to the statements propounding this obvious fact, I wouldn't think a PhD would be necessary for the conclusion. Nor did I "invoke" Heinlein. I mentioned him in tribute and quoted him twice with permission of his widow. And who in hard SF wasn't inspired by him? It's true there's influence from him in "Freehold." The political system is a combination of that in Starship Troopers, and one he mentioned in passing in Expanded Universe. "Farnham's Freehold" has no bearing on it, except that we both used the term "Freehold," a thousand year old term for land held without being a tenant owing fealty. There's no deeper meaning behind the title than that. It's not a utopic novel. The "heroes" torture people to death, there's a financial scandal that makes Enron look small, petty schemers and thugs and no succor for the poor. If that's a utopia, please don't buy me a ticket. I extrapolated from existing concepts as a mental exercise to see where it would go. The "incompetent" military operations are drawn largely from my 18 years service in the Army and Air Force. I'm sorry some people don't find them believable. I've had little disagreement from veterans, however. As to public education, local and private education was the norm in the US through the 19th Century and even after WWI. HEW was created in 1953. A quick glance at letters home during the Civil War shows the common soldier to have been more erudite than the typical high school graduate today. "Everyone does it," regarding public education is not conclusive proof of its necessity. Technical education in many nations, Germany for example, is handled largely through corporate support in exchange for employment. Students from American private schools or home continue to shatter the curves set by publicly educated students. The society isn't covered in as great a detail as some would like, because the novel is about Kendra. Writing a discourse about a political system would take 1000 pages or more and be very dry. I had to pick two of background, plot and character. I chose the latter two. As to rating, I give myself 3 stars. In the four years since I finished this, my second novel (and first by a major publisher), I've learned a lot more about the craft of writing. "Freehold" IS long. What started as a story of a young woman in outrageous circumstances expanded with other characters and a rich setting, which I hope to do justice to in other works. This was the story of a person. I hope it's entertaining, and perhaps inspires thought. But there was no deep message about the human condition. I'm a writer, not a philosopher. Hopefully and with thought, my future works (pending now! shameless plug. Please see my website, the URL should be obvious) will read better, more concisely, and with better purpose. Thanks to all who have read or commented. Mike
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60 of 64 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Enthralling look into what could be, December 27, 2003
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.
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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Best new vision in a long time, March 28, 2005
Mike is far too modest in his own review. Although his willingness to indulge in self-criticism bodes well for the sequal, Freehold is itself a spectacularly intriguing vision of a free-market society in conflict with larger, older, corrupt societies. Analogies to the fledgling US colonies vs. the British Empire are apt, but this is no cheap adaptation of history to a science-fiction setting. Mike brings a very well-thought out world to vivid life with characters and relationships which live and breathe and you come to care about through the course of the tale. As previous reviewers have commented, this is no Hollywood-style Happy Ending special, and people die and take brutally life-altering damage - which is a fact of war and something which people are better off acknowledging and accepting as a part of the price of combat. The underlying themes of responsibility, sacrifice, loss and triumph are vital and beautifully presented, although there is plenty of action, warfare, combat, gadgets, guns and more as well. Overall, a rollicking good read and a must-add to any serious collection.
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