Time Turner Tuesday ~ Freedom's Landing

Title ~ Freedom's Landing

Series ~ Catteni, #1

Author ~ Anne McCaffrey

Publisher ~ Ace/Putnam

Published ~ 24 May 1995

Genre ~ Sci-Fi

*Book source ~ My home library.

My Rating ~ 5 bites out of 5

Kris Bjornsen was going about her day at Denver University when the Catteni attacked Earth. Scooping up citizens by the thousands from 50 cities around the world the Catteni ships took their new slaves to Barevi, a planet used by the Catteni for R&R and a depot for their purloined goods from around the galaxy. Kris manages to escape her new ‘master’ and is hiding out in the wilds of Barevi when a chance encounter with Zainal, an Emassi (or high ranking Catteni), changes her life yet again. Gassed during a riot she and Zainal are dumped onto an empty world the Catteni have chosen for the aliens to colonize. Terrans make up the largest group, but there are also Deski, Rugarians, Turs and Ilginish. Fortunately for them, they have Zainal who knows a little bit about the initial survey of the planet. Unfortunately for Zainal, no one likes Catteni and there’s a large consensus to kill him. Chuck Mitford, a retired Marine, takes charge of the motley crew and makes a command decision to keep Zainal alive. For now. With only knives, hatchets, blankets and ration bars, they have to work together to survive on an alien planet.

I love, love, love this book. There’s something about survival books I really like and I think it’s because I put myself into that situation and wonder how well I’d do. But this isn’t just any old survival situation on Earth where you can hope to eventually find civilization. Cell phones, a grocery store, a bed, hot water, a toothbrush. Forget it. This is an alien planet. Completely unknown. What is safe to eat? What will kill me? Are there dangerous animals? Is there shelter? What kind of weather is to be expected and how long are the days? Or nights? Back to basics in a way that’s hard to do on Earth anymore.  

I’ve read this book (and the whole series) several times over the years and I’ve enjoyed it each and every time. So much to do and so much to explore with people and aliens who are strangers. The book mostly follows Kris as she survives on the planet they name Bounty and once again it kept me enthralled the whole time. The world is unique, the writing is wonderful and I love the characters. There is action, mystery, humor and even romance. All-in-all an excellent sci-fi adventure.