Must have Books - The Catteni Sequence

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	Freedom's Landing by Anne McCaffrey With this book, McCaffrey opens an exciting and totally convincing new universe. 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.
	Freedom's Choice by Anne McCaffrey The adventure continues in this immediate sequel to McCaffrey's Freedom's Landing (1995), in which a variety of races, alien and human, were dumped on a remote planet, which they dubbed Freedom, by the alien Catteni, who, attempting to conquer the universe, are ridding sundry planets of resisters among their native inhabitants. As the recalcitrant resettled persevere in their efforts to survive, they learn more about the mysterious, advanced society that, in absentia, is mechanically farming the planet, and they manage to get a message off to it in the hope that it will help them battle the Catteni and their overseers. Stay and create a new society on Freedom, where many of the colonists have begun to feel at home, or return to Earth to rejoin the opposition to the Catteni? That question divides the colony, particularly as it manages to make inroads in its struggles against the Catteni. McCaffrey compellingly limns the interrelationships among the settlers, their efforts to become a cohesive group, and their concerted and successful attempts to outwit their captors. All in all, this episode of the Freedom saga is as exciting and convincing as the first. It will leave readers gladly anticipating the next.
	Freedom's Challenge by Anne McCaffrey Another rousing episode in McCaffrey's saga, 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.
	Freedom's Ransom by Anne McCaffrey Coffee, not oil, becomes black gold in this eagerly awaited fourth volume in McCaffrey's intriguing Catteni/Freedom series which focuses on the business side of revolution. On Earth and the planets Barevi and Botany in the not-so-distant future, the traditional gold standard has fallen and coffee, fresh bread and meat become more valuable than diamonds when trading for the technological parts stolen by greedy Catteni mercenaries for the evil Eosi. These vital aerospace supplies will aid Terrans and Botany colonists seeking independence from the Eosi, whose barbaric routine of loot, pillage and destroy includes removing entire urban populations and selling them to other Catteni worlds as slaves. "I dropped. I stay," is the rallying cry of Zainal, a rebel Catteni who's taken from a prison on Barevi, a trading center for the Catteni Empire, and "dropped" with other slaves of assorted species on Botany, owned by the mysterious Farmers. Zainal becomes a reluctant leader of the other slaves and becomes mate to Terran Kris Bjornsen. Zainal and his team ultimately undertake two missions one to Earth, to acquire coffee beans and dental equipment for Dr. Eric Sachs, Botany colonist and former Manhattanite, and one to Barevi, to barter the beans and dentistry, turning this installment into an entertaining lesson on supply and demand. The visit to a bleak Manhattan after the Eosian looting is as disturbing, touching and humorous as the trading in the Barevian market.