While this is a Sci-Fi book, don’t let that put you off if you aren’t into that genre. It isn’t all “Dr. Who” and “Star Wars” kind of stuff, though there are a few references made to Dr. Who and one of the machines they encounter is given the name “dalek” because of its resemblance to the fictional “exterminate” proclaiming machine on the show.

More than anything, Freedom’s Landing is a story of survival and the banding together of peoples from differing backgrounds (not only different human groups, but also other alien species -Deskis, Rugarians, and others) to form a new society. If you like Survivor-type shows and books, you’d like Freedom’s Landing.

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This is the first book in McCaffrey's Freedom series. It starts off on the alien world of Barevi with the main character Kristin Bjornsen, a Denver native taken as a slave when earth was invaded. She is taken captive again along with other humans, aliens, and one of the Catteni (the solders of the alien invasion); and dropped onto an un-inhabited alien world. This series is a fight for survival, and the re-taking of earth. ( )

Entertaining to be sure and interesting concepts, but not stellar and not quite believable for me. ( )

The aliens, came, they saw and they conquered. Earthlings however still put up a fight even when they've been transported to another world. As we seem so tough the aliens (catteni) use the protagonists as terraformers on a supposedly empty world. The inclusion of a catteni seems like an opportunity for revenge, but he quickly proves his worth.

2D characters but a firm grasp of the world, scenary and way of life make this an intreguing read.
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After re-read.
Fundamentally trite. Enjoyable, fast moving, likable characters, but still trite.

The biggest flaw really is the ease at which the new colonists discover all sorts of useful things just lying around - bicarbonate of soda for example. Very handy if you want to make soda bread. It also dissolves in water (eg rain) again a useful property for making bread, but a bit of an inconienience if you want to just find it lying around on a planet. Likewise iron and copper don't just readily lie about on the surface and even if they did you can't build a wood fire hot enough to smelt them. Sulphur also isn't readily findable without volcanic features, and again doesn't just convert itself into matches. etc etc etc. People skillsa re also remarkably unrealistic, having been there and done it I can say that a 'survival skills' course at uni doesn't actually prepare you for living off the wild, it takes ages, days and days to chip out a rock 'pot' for making stew with heated rocks - which also is incredibly impractical. Modern humans don't just pick up these skill that our ancestors spent their entire lives developing. Neither do they get along nicely even if it's a sergent shouting at them. People in strange circumstances become rebelious, argumentative, frightened and just emotive - all of which Mccaffery forgets or ignores.

If you really suspend your belief for a while than it's fun ride. The world has been well thought out, with novel problems for the colonists to overcome and plenty of opportunities for them to explot. The tension between the characters is well developed, even if all the of them bar our hero Kris bjornson - an american - are somewhat thinly developed. As Kris and co start to cope with life on their new world, and develop their elationships with their co-dropped aliens they begin pondering on why the world is as they find it, and so the sequel is nicely set up.

It's all very gung-ho and jingoistic survival stuff, but in a light hearted way and it's still fun to read. ( )