Rating: 
Summary: Loved it! Ready for #4!
Review: I read them, my wife read them, and we both loved them. So you can release the forth in the series now, no need to wait any longer Ms. McCaffrey, just roll the presses, and send it off to Amazon so we can read it and enjoy as much as we enjoyed the first three. Thank you so very much!
Rating:
Summary: Another exciting Freedom installment
Review: I really enjoyed reading this book. The Freedom series is my favorite next to the Pern series. I think the Freedom plot is very interesting and the relationship between Kris and Zainal is an integral factor in making the series successful. The hard-working survivors of Botany have really turned their dropped planet into a home that they can be proud of. Could there possibly be more? I'd like to know how the addition(s) to Kris and Zainal's family affect their relationship. Overall, I wasn't disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent conclusion to a wonderful series
Review: I really enjoyed this book, partly because Anne McCaffrey has a wonderful way of bringing her characters to life! The book continues the story of Kris and Zainal started in Freedoms Landing, and Freedoms Choice. I recommend it to anyone interested in the Sci-Fi genre.
Rating: 
Summary: A big disappointment!
Review: I really liked the first two books in the Catteni Sequence. I really disliked this one. It just didn't make it - none of the plot or human interest attractions that made me look forward to finishing the series. It felt as though McCaffrey took what should have been a final chapter to the second volume and spun it out into another book. She should have quit while she (and we) were ahead. I was really disappointed!
Rating: 
Summary: Where's the rest?
Review: I really liked this third book for the most part, but the end left me asking the above question. The plot resolution was one of the worst I believe I have ever read from Ms. McCaffrey, who happens to be one of my favorite authors. I felt like I had been cheated. A fourth book might help make this series a little better.
Rating:
Summary: Where's the rest?
Review: I really liked this third book for the most part, but the end left me asking the above question. The plot resolution was one of the worst I believe I have ever read from Ms. McCaffrey, who happens to be one of my favorite authors. I felt like I had been cheated. A fourth book might help make this series a little better.
Rating:
Summary: Keep Reading
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this third installation of the Freedom's series. I loved the way they used a male voice and female voice to play the different characters. Listening to the story is a little like watching it play out on a stage. The Freedom series is a good tale, but it's just a little on fast-forward. The "dropped" has accomplished a lot in the time they spent on Botany. Granted they have thousands of "dropped" with highly specialized skills that enable the former-slaves to develop Botany so quickly, but I'm sure a lot of sci-fi realists (is there really such a thing) would be a little put off by what the Botanists have achieved (freeing Earth and Cattani from the dreaded Eosi) in just a short time with their wit being their main resource. Just keep your vision on fast-forward and you'll enjoy the series. I'm looking forward to the fourth in the series, Freedom's Ransom, due out June 2002. I hope it'll explain a few things and tie up some loose ends.
Rating: 
Summary: Not one of her best
Review: I was disappointed when I finished the book. Usually I can hardly put one of her books down, but I found this hard to get through, as it did not hold my attention at all.
Rating: 
Summary: A Series of Successes
Review: In this third volume of the Freedom trilogy, Anne McCaffrey closes all the loose ends she'd left open in the previous two volumes, effectively ending the series. As a whole, the series was interesting, and throughout the three books, I felt for the characters, and wanted to know what they'd do next. It was a step-by-step detailed description of how a small group of exiles built a home on a planet that was initially hostile to them. In the context of being a series ending, the book is satisfying. The colonists finally realize success after so long and hard an endeavor. But when viewed by itself, this book contained only the successes, and none of the real hardships.
The entire book passes by with very little challenge to the colonists of Botany. It was an interesting logistical inventory for setting up a successful colony, but there's no real conflict. Just about everything they attempt works out, often better than they'd expected. About halfway through the book, I was sure something would finally go wrong, but it never did. Some of the successes were ridiculously easy. Some were at the very least, improbable. The humans on Botany were able to disguise themselves as Catteni with a little makeup and prosthetic cheekbones. This disguise was somehow able to fool real Catteni even after prolonged interaction. I found this a little bit unlikely.
As an ending to the series, it was adequate. But to make it a good installment in a trilogy, the author really should have included more conflict and story. The last book could have ended "And they lived happily ever after" and no real plot points would have been lost. Still, the writing style is enjoyable, and I already liked the characters enough to see what happened next. The same favorites are back in this book, and the story such as it is moves along with good pacing. On that merit alone, the book earns three stars.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful finish to another McCaffrey trilogy!
Review: Like many other final trilogy books, this one both is disappointing and satisfying. The trilogy began with Freedom's Landing, continued with Freedom's Choice and now concludes with Freedom's Challenge. This wonderful trilogy, in which Ms. McCaffrey introduces a universe populated by both humans and various benign and malevolent aliens, is disappointing because the reader becomes so involved with the struggles to overcome the influence of the Eosi. The satisfaction is in knowing that you can start the journey again, and again! However, while the story was wonderfully told, there were many instances of editing goofs and story flaws, which make the book less readable. The story soon tucks these goofs in the back of the reader's minds as Kris Bjornsen, Zainal, Chuck Mitford, Coo, Pes, Catteni Emassi Kamiton, and the other assorted Botanists' lives unroll before the reader's eyes. I, as a reader, would have waited another month or two to have a more readable book wi! ! th fewer goofs. The third book concludes the plans that Zainal, the Emassi that was dumped on Botany along with various humans and other aliens, has for ridding the universe of the Eosian influence. It also sees a diverse and stable community on Botany as well as the beginnings of relief for the ravaged Earth. Kris and Zainal's family grows to include Zainal's two Catteni boys and another child for Kris. This part of the story line is well told, as it keeps the continuity of prejudice in humanity. But it also shows that love and compassion can build more worlds than hate can tear down. Freedom's Challenge is another sure winner from Anne McCaffrey!
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