From Publishers Weekly
With a tale of human and other slaves abandoned by harsh masters on an ostensibly deserted planet, McCaffrey begins another highly readable series about successful survival in difficult circumstances. Kristin Bjornsen, an escaped human slave on the planet Barevi, saves one of the Catteni masters, Zainal, from being killed in a blood feud. When she tries to return him to the capital city, she is caught in a roundup of troublemakers designated for colonization duty. Among those dropped with few supplies on the unexplored new planet, later named Freedom, is Zainal, who turns out to be an aristocrat of his species. After Zainal is again saved from death, this time at the hands of vengeful former slaves, he casts his lot with the castaways, who have turned to former Marine sergeant Chuck Mitford for leadership. In sturdy Robinson Crusoe fashion, the survivors overcome the odds against them, rescue other castaways and find signs of a mysterious civilization that is using Freedom as a giant mechanized farm. They also deal with the few bad apples in their midst. Meanwhile love blossoms between Zainal and Kristin, to the displeasure of some of the other humans. McCaffrey has created another set of winning protagonists and a carefully detailed, exotic background on which to develop a new series. Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From School Library Journal
YA?McCaffrey begins a new chronicle of human resilience and survival. Earth has been invaded by the Catteni, a race of soldiers who have come to quell opposition and to relocate troublesome cases (both human and alien) to inhospitable worlds. Kristen Bjornsen, a human, and a ragtag group must learn to communicate and begin to build a new life. Further, they must discover what is behind a completely different civilization that is using their planet (nicknamed Botany) as a farm for animal and vegetable produce. Underlying this cooperation is the resentment that some of the colonists feel for Zanial, a member of the race of slavers, and the romantic feelings that Zanial and Kristen begin to feel for one another. With two possible antagonistic alien cultures and their own internal problems, there can only be more interesting scenarios for the settlers of Botany. The characters are especially well developed: teens will be able to identify with their spirit, creativeness, and tenacity to survive despite all odds. A delightful novel for more than just McCaffrey's "old" fans.?Brian Martin, W.T. Woodson High School, Fairfax, VACopyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
When the Catteni conquerers of Earth discover a potentially habitable new planet, a group of human slaves, accompanied by an exiled Catteni lord, become involuntary colonists forced to live or die by their own resources. McCaffrey's latest novel inaugurates a new series set in a universe where humans are pawns in a war between galactic powers. With her customary talent for imaginative storytelling, the author skillfully portrays the environmental and personal challenges faced by the new colonists. Most libraries should consider this a priority purchase.Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From AudioFile
How would humans respond to an aggressive, alien domination of the universe? Through the experiences of Kris Bjornsen, the listener enters this new world to discover its ferocity and the undaunted strength of the human spirit. Susie Breck's reading fully captures the adventure as her portrayal of the heroine is charming and deliberate. J.L.R. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine


From Booklist
With this book, McCaffrey opens an exciting and totally convincing new universe far removed from the worlds of the dragonriders, the Rowan, the crystal singer, and the ship-brawn partnerships with which her readers are happily familiar. The Catteni, an alien race of slavers, are settling a habitable but dangerous planet with recalcitrant slaves from a variety of races, including the human; all must learn to cooperate with one another to survive. Among the conscripted colonists is an exiled Catteni noble, Zainal, who is resented by some other colonists because he is a member of the overlord race, and Kristin Bjornsen, a spirited young human who finds herself not only working closely with Zainal but drawn to him romantically. What with the "mechos" that already farm the planet's land, the advanced society that must have created them, the Catteni themselves, and the formidable race that apparently controls the Catteni as just some of the challenges facing the colonists, there can only be more action in the sequels McCaffrey presumably plans. Sally Estes

ANNOTATION

At last--an all new epic Anne McCaffrey novel set in a brave new world. Kristin Bjorsen is a human slave to the overlords called Catteni, who have made the races of many planets bend to their will. But now Kristin has become part of a tremendous alien experiment--one that gives her back her freedom, though not in a way she might have chosen.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publisher's Weekly

In Freedom's Landing (1995), a group of plucky slaves, both human and alien, were abandoned by their Catteni masters on the planet Botany. With the help of the Catteni rebel Zainal, the colonists survived their early days, and now they're making plans to get even with the Catteni as well as to learn the truth about the mysterious Farmers, or Mech Makers, who seem to be cultivating Botany by means of robots. Told mostly from the point of view of Zainal's human lover, Kris Bjornsen, the plot focuses on the colonists' struggle to survive independent of their Catteni overlords. Though a few settlers want to return to Earth to fight the Catteni, most of the women seem bent on having children and making a real go of the colony. While this wholesale enthusiasm to procreate stretches credulity, McCaffrey's characters are otherwise her usual well-tempered mix of heroes, rogues and out-and-out villains. The setting is crisp and expertly detailed and the plot spins out smoothly, with more than enough hints of future developments to keep readers eager for the next installment in the series. (June)

BookList - Sally Estes