Freedom's Ransom (Freedom) (Freedom)
by Anne McCaffrey
Our Price: $74.25
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Buy Used: from $1.00 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Anne McCaffreyNarrator: Dick Hill
Edition: Audio Cassette
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Format: Audiobook, Unabridged
Published: 2002-06-10
ISBN: 1587888890
Number of pages: 8
Publisher: Brilliance Corp
Book Reviews of Freedom's Ransom (Freedom) (Freedom)
Book Review: Flop, flop, floppity-flop
Summary: 2 Stars
Once in a blue moon a trilogy can become a series and continue the story of a fictional world.
This book is not one of those rare times.
I've always disliked Kris, the lead female character, but I could stand her, and I enjoyed learning about Botany and seeing Zainal through her eyes. Not now. Not in this book. A strong woman has become flat and weak and easily swayed. The woman who risked her life to escape slavery on a alien planet and knocked a potential rapist out cold now can't stand up to her stepsons. Zainal, the lead male character, has become dull. What made Zainal so interesting to me was the mystery of the man. We rarely saw his thoughts, only his actions. This book is peppered with Zainal's more mundane thoughts, never anything interesting or his frustration at not being able to search out the Farmers. The other character's, major and minor, have undergone personality changes as well. They're little ones, barely noticeable if you haven't read the other books recently. But I read all three back to back, and could easily tell things weren't quite right.
The flow of the story is another flaw. In previous books different characters POV's were separated into long sections, and rarely switched from Kris's view. In this book McCaffrey makes the novice mistake of switching POV paragraph to paragraph. It doesn't happen often enough to make the book completely unreadable, but it happens often enough that I can't simply slip into the book's world via a character's eyes. It's too jarring.
Not that I want to immerse myself in the book because the plot is horrid. We all know Earth needs to rebuild, and the colonists of Botany plan to help. We also know Zainal, at one point, planned to search out the Farmers. Of the two potential plots available to write, McCaffrey chose the first, and it is a bad fit for the characters. Kris and Zainal were set up as adventurous explorers in previous books. Now they're in sales. The plot of this book is better suited to be an interesting and somewhat amusing subplot of a book focused on Zainal's search for the Farmers.
Overall, I'm disappointed with this book. It has its moments, but I wish I had spent my money on something else and borrowed this one from the library. I won't be reading it again.
Summary of Freedom's Ransom (Freedom) (Freedom)
When Kris Bjornsen and her fellow slaves were dumped on an uninhabited planet by the alien overlords called Catteni, there was no guarantee they would survive. Without the help of Zainal, a renegade Catteni exiled by his own people, they might all have been food for the predators of the new world. But they did survive, building a civilization and a home on the planet they named Botany. In time they were instrumental in driving the Catteni away from Earth and neighboring planets. Botany is free now, and so is the devastated Earth.The survivalist days are over, and the time has come for Botany to find its place in the power struggles of the newly configured universe. As an agricultural planet, rich in resources, Botany has more to offer than the colonists may have thought. A trip to Earth shows Kris and Zainal very dramatically how weakened the home planet is after years of Catteni domination, and how much Earth needs what Botany can give. Other worlds too have had their wealth skimmed away by the Catteni: the nearby planet of Barevi is little more than a corrupt bazaar, where bits and pieces of Earth's once powerful technology can be traded for grain and mineral ores. Earth needs food, and the resources to rebuild. Botany needs technology - from solar satellite panels to simple batteries - and, some say, the will to protect itself from being overrun by refugees who may or may not have strength and skills. As alien influence fades, the people of Botany must decide what kind of world they will become.
Freedom's Ransom is the fourth novel in Anne McCaffrey's Freedom series, also known as the Catteni Sequence. The sequel to Freedom's Landing, Freedom's Choice, and Freedom's Challenge, Freedom's Ransom will please some fans of this star-spanning science fiction series, but others will find the book slow-paced, talky, and lacking in action. Freedom's Ransom ends conclusively, with no major unresolved plot lines, yet leaves space for at least one sequel.
The planet Botany was settled by a mixed group of humans and aliens, slaves of the alien Catteni and their alien masters, the Eosi. But one Catteni was dropped on Botany with the slaves: Zainal, who helped them win their independence. Now Botany must establish trade with other planets in order to survive. But the other worlds have been ravaged by the Catteni, and once-proud Earth has been reduced to primitive poverty, its technology stolen by corrupt Barevi merchants. To save Botany, Zainal and Kris Bjornsen, his human lover, must find a way to help all the worlds.
While the preface of Freedom's Ransom crisply summarizes the preceding books, this series has so many characters, races, and planets that newcomers should start with the first book, Freedom's Landing. Sophisticated SF readers aren't likely to enjoy the series, but it should hook young adults; if you're looking to broaden a child's reading beyond Harry Potter, try Anne McCaffrey's Freedom series and Dragonriders of Pern series. --Cynthia Ward
General Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Audiobooks on Cassette
- Audiobooks on CD
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- e-Books
- Engineering
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Medicine
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in General Books
From Dead to Worse (Southern Vampire Mysteries, Book 8)by Charlaine Harris
Ace Hardcover; Published: 2008-05-06; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $14.47
Price in other shops:
World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie Warby Max Brooks
Three Rivers Press; Published: 2007-10-16; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.65
Price in other shops:
The Time Traveler's Wifeby Audrey Niffenegger
Harvest Books; Published: 2004-05-27; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.14
Price in other shops:
Jhegaala (Vlad)by Steven Brust
Tor Books; Published: 2008-07-08; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $12.47
Price in other shops:
Cry Wolf (Alpha and Omega, Book 1)by Patricia Briggs
Ace; Published: 2008-07-29; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.99
Blood Noir (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, Book 16)by Laurell K. Hamilton
Berkley Hardcover; Published: 2008-05-27; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $12.49
Price in other shops:
Victory of Eagles (Temeraire, Book 5)by Naomi Novik
Del Rey; Published: 2008-07-08; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $9.00
Price in other shops:
Sunshineby Robin McKinley
Jove; Published: 2004-11-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.50
Price in other shops:
A Dance with Dragons (Song of Ice and Fire)by George R.R. Martin
Spectra; Published: 2008-09-30; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $19.80
Price in other shops:
Replayby Ken Grimwood
Harper Paperbacks; Published: 1998-08-05; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.67
Price in other shops:
Similar Books and other products
Dragonsblood (Dragonriders of Pern)by Todd McCaffrey, Dick Hill
Published: 2005-01-25; Audio Cassette; Book
Best price: $12.89
Price in other shops:
Dragon's Fire (The Dragonriders of Pern)by Anne Mccaffrey, Todd J. Mccaffrey
Del Rey; Published: 2007-11-27; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.95
Price in other shops:
Damia (Rowan/ Damia)by Anne McCaffrey, Jean Reed-Bahle
Published: 2003-02-10; Audio Cassette; Book
Best price: $24.88
Price in other shops:
Changelings (The Twins of Petaybee, Book 1)by Anne McCaffrey, Elizabeth Ann Scarborough
Del Rey; Published: 2005-12-27; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $8.90
Price in other shops:
Lyon's Pride (Rowan)by Anne McCaffrey
Ace; Published: 1995-02-01; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.20
Price in other shops:
The Rowanby Anne McCaffrey
Ace; Published: 1991-09-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.25
Price in other shops:
The Tower and the Hive (Rowan)by Anne McCaffrey
Ace; Published: 2000-05-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.94
Price in other shops:
Freedom's Landingby Anne McCaffrey
Ace; Published: 1996-06-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $0.70
Price in other shops:
Freedom's Choice (Freedom)by Anne McCaffrey
Ace; Published: 1998-06-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.45
Price in other shops:
Freedom's Challenge (Freedom)by Anne McCaffrey
Ace; Published: 1999-06-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.49
Price in other shops: