From Library Journal
Abandoned on the planet Botany by their Catteni masters, a group of humans and other enslaved races now seeks to reclaim their worlds for themselves. This third installment of a series that includes Freedom's Landing (LJ 4/15/95) and Freedom's Choice (LJ 5/15/97) chronicles the stages of the war for liberation, from the theft of Catteni ships to the liberation of cargoes of slave laborers to a bold strike at the heart of the oppressor. McCaffrey excels as a storyteller and as a creator of worlds. Despite an occasional lapse in suspense, her latest novel provides a satisfying culmination to a saga of desperate courage and the desire for freedom. Most libraries should add this to their sf collections. Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From AudioFile
Science-fiction and fantasy writer Anne McCaffrey is as prolific and skilled as they come. This series, on the science fiction side, involves a race of evil symbiotes who enslave or destroy the inhabited planets they encounter. Several of the enslaved races are beginning to rebel, including humans. Two readers are employed here, one for female characters and one for male. Dick Hill handles the men fairly well, with sharp distinctions of accent and tone. Susie Breck does less well with the women; she is also the overall reader, and her "Chuck said" and "Zainal replied" make the reading sound choppy. D.R.W. (c) AudioFile, Portland, Maine


From Booklist
Another rousing episode, perhaps the last, in McCaffrey's saga, begun in Freedom's Landing (1995) and continued in Freedom's Choice , about the colonists on the planet Botany. Botany is now under attack by the Eosi, who are unable to penetrate the planet-surrounding Bubble constructed by the advanced race that had given permission for the colony to remain on the planet. Kris Bjornson, who was with the first group dumped on the planet by the Eosi-dominated Cattani forces, is one of the settlement's leaders, as is her lover, the insurgent Cattani, Zainal. Having built a new home for themselves, the settlers decide it is time to contact dissidents on the various Eosi-controlled worlds and wage a war of liberation. Since the Botany settlers possess stolen technology, including Cattani warships, they are able to rescue other victims of the Eosi and bring them to Botany. Kris and Zainal lead a small band, all disguised as Cattani, to the Cattani home world on the first sortie to enlist Cattani rebels in the battle. The action is fast paced and riveting, and the characters, human and of other species, are well limned and exhibit great individuality. McCaffrey continues to amaze with her ability to create disparate, well-realized worlds and to portray believable humans, convincing aliens of varied sorts, and credible interactions between them all. A very satisfying tale. Sally Estes


From Kirkus Reviews
Third in McCaffrey's series (Freedom's Landing, 1995; Freedom's Choice, 1997) about planet Botany and its diverse population of humans and aliens, including ex-Earth Girl Kris Bjornsen and her aristocratic, renegade Cattani lover, Zainal. The Earth, you see, has been conquered by the catlike Cattani, but the Cattani are themselves dominated by the parasitic alien Eosi. Intended as a do-or-die prison colony, the Botanists have freed themselves from Cattani domination, aided in part by the planet's alien landlords, the Farmers, powerful but benevolent beings who've screened the planet from Cattani spacecraft. Now, Kris, Zainal and the others have ambitions to liberate Earth from the Cattani and the Cattani from the Eosi. McCaffrey provides a useful plot recap, and this entry--somewhat more conclusive than its predecessors--offers proven allures for series fans. -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.


Book Description
In Freedom's Landing, a galactic invasion forced thousands of humans to colonize a new planet. In Freedom's Choice, human Kris Bjornsen and her comrades found new hope for rebellion.

Now, in Freedom's Challenge, Kris and her Catteni lover Zainal prepare to face danger and pain, in the final fight...for liberty.

"Interesting characters...space opera action!"--Locus

"A satisfying culmination to a saga of desperate courage and the desire for freedom."--Library Journal

"Rip-roaring adventure no science fiction fan could possibly resist."--Romantic Times

* The thrilling follow-up to McCaffrey's national bestsellers, Freedom's Landing and Freedom's Choice

"Rousing, fast paced and riveting. McCaffrey continues to amaze..." --Booklist

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 PUBLISHER

Behold Acorna, the Unicorn Girl. Discovered as an infant and adopted by three gruff asteroid miners, she has now grown into a beautiful young woman with delicate ivory fur and silken skin, the tiny horn on her forehead all but hidden by her silvery locks. Acorna is known as Lukia of the Light by the grateful children she rescued from brutal slavery in the mines of Kezdet. She is helping them recover, and enjoying life with her guardian "uncles," when she receives a mysterious and disturbing message: There are yet more children enslaved on Kezdet, overlooked by the Child Labor League - children suffering a cruel, almost unimaginable fate. Only Acorna, with her healing powers, can rescue them from the enigmatic figure known as "The Dodger." But to save the children, she must deceive Pal Kendorno, the man she is beginning to love in spite of herself.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers 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)

Library Journal

Continuing the storyline from Freedom's Landing (LJ 4/15/95), this second book in the series finds the human and aliens on the penal planet Botany planning a rebellion against their slavemasters. After the Catteni subdue and transport to penal colony planets people from Earth and other civilizations for their Eosi masters, one Catteni, Zainal, chooses to remain on Botany. His plan? To join his fellow slaves in convincing the absentee owners of the planet to turn against the Eosi and free the colonists. McCaffrey is at her best with interspecies interactions and uniting for a goal against a common enemy. Highly recommended for sf collections.

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, VA

BookList - Sally Estes

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.

AudioFile - Don Wismer