Rating: 
Summary: Sci Fi- the Bland way.
Review: 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.
Rating: 
Summary: A Pleasant Discovery
Review: Unaware that this was a series, I picked this audio book up from the public library and was pleasantly surprised by the richness of the characters and plot. The audio version puts the listener right into the action and really brought out each of the character's personalities. I loved it! I immediately purchased the other installments (in unabridged audio format of course). Now I understand there's a fourth installment, Freedoms Ransom, due out in June...can't wait.
Rating: 
Summary: Yawn
Review: This has to be one of the worst SF novels I've ever read, and that's saying something. Bland characters, boring descriptions, ridiculous plot. I've never read anything else by McCaffrey, and after this, I certainly don't intend to. The story is that an alien species named the Catteni sends some gigantic spaceships to attack the major cities on Earth, where they kill many people and abduct millions of others. They then dump some of their human prisoners on a planet called Botany in order to see whether they will survive. The story then follows one woman named Kris as she joins a group of humans and other aliens and they set up a city in a cave. After that, there is a lot of walking around, exploring the landscape, bumping into other people, etc... There's very little action or suspense. The author sets up some mysteries but concerning the planet's original inhabitants, but never bothers to answer them. Anyway, the problems with this novel are too numerous to mention all of them, but here are a few: Humans work side by side with several other species, and there's barely any animosity or mistrust. Why bother creating other species if they're all going to act, talk, and think exactly like humans do? And the idea that members of another species could learn to speak English in just a couple weeks is ridiculous. Life on this new world is simply to easy for the settlers. Everywhere they go, they find abundant food and water. They're able to defeat an army of machines just by removing their solar panels in the middle of the night (good thing their creators never though of that). In short, there's never really any threat to the people's survival, and thus no suspense. When people get abducted by aliens, they react like it's a walk in the park. They don't suffer any psychological trauma, they barely think about home or their former lives at all, and they barely have any concerns or worries about their future. While I can't personally claim to have been abducted by aliens, this doesn't seem to be like a realistic depiction of the way that humans would respond if they were suddenly torn from their homeland and deposited millions of light-years away.
Rating:
Summary: One of my all time faves.
Review: I LOVED this book immensely!! Great characters, realistic situations. I really identified with the main heroine, saw a lot of "me" in her, and also a lot of my fiance in Zainal. This was a love story that really got to me for personal reasons, and was set in a fascinating world. Would move to Botany ANY DAY!!
Rating:
Summary: I like a good McCaffrey book. This ain't good McCaffrey.
Review: 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.
Rating: 
Summary: an enjoyable story
Review: This series is typical of Anne McCaffrey's science fiction: the heroes face a tough situation and the cards are stacked against them, but through their own ingenuity they find a way to happiness. It's the climb back to good times that takes up the majority of the plot of this series. The formula makes for an enjoyable and uplifting, if uncomplicated read. McCaffrey's writing is a little self-indulgent at times as she makes obvious references to her own favorite authors, gives her main characters the same tastes she has, etc. But I'm inclined to forgive that, because her story and her heroine are likeable enough for a second read.
Rating:
Summary: WOW...Anne has done it again..more riveting than the Dragons
Review: I am amazed at the talent of this lady. First she gave us a whole new world in the DragonRiders of Pern series.. but now, she has surpassed her self.. Not only a new world, but an interspecies love affair that is soooo convincing.. Action,suspense, drama, this book has it all..Her characters are well developed and you get the feeling that you really know these people.. and can sympathize with them!! Any Anne Mc Caffrey fan will be delighted with this new series.. thought provoking and at times, heart=warming.
Rating:
Summary: A ride into Fantasy like never before
Review: This story is about a girl and a guy. The struggles of life, war, and how to deal with each other being an alien. Kris and Zaniel are dumped on planet with other "revoltists" and are expected to survive. They however give the Catteni a surprise and give them a run for their money. It is a great series. You can't just read one in the series ya gotta read them all!
Rating:
Summary: One of McCaffrey's worst..
Review: I didn't expect any serious work from Anne McCaffrey, but even for light reading this was really too much. The book is on the level for teenagers, and what additionally annoyed me was "lets build a colony, everybody should have at least two babies, misterious aliens (tha farmers) don't matter, and stupid Catteni and Eosi overlords don't matter either, brave, intelligent, tolerant and compassionate humans will win". Yuck!
Rating:
Summary: great book!
Review: I absolutely LOVED this book! I checked it out at my local library and liked it so much I went out and got my own copy! Can't wait to read the other two!
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