The ''Catteni'' series (also called the ''Freedom'' series) is a

tetralogy A tetralogy (from Greek τετρα- ''tetra-'', "four" and -λογία ''-logia'', "discourse") is a compound work that is made up of four distinct works. The name comes from the Attic theater, in which a tetralogy was a group of three tragedies ...

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

novels by American writer

Anne McCaffrey Anne Inez McCaffrey (1 April 1926 – 21 November 2011) was an American-Irish writer known for the ''Dragonriders of Pern'' science fiction series. She was the first woman to win a Hugo Award for fiction (Best Novella, ''Weyr Search'', 19 ...

. In this universe, humans are slaves of aliens, the

humanoid A humanoid (; from English ''human'' and ''-oid'' "resembling") is a non-human entity with human form or characteristics. The earliest recorded use of the term, in 1870, referred to indigenous peoples in areas colonized by Europeans. By the 20t ...

Catteni. Woven through all four of the books are details of the relationship between Kristin Bjornsen, a former slave, and Zainal, a renegade Catteni. The ''Catteni'' series consists of the following books: * ''Freedom's Landing'' (1995) * ''Freedom's Choice'' (1996) * ''Freedom's Challenge'' (1998) * ''Freedom's Ransom'' (2002)

Story

The initial story about the Catteni preceded the books by many years. ''The Thorns of Barevi'' first appeared in 1970 (and is included in the collection ''Get Off the Unicorn'', 1977). A human female, Kristin Bjornsen, escapes slavery, but unlike others before her, she resourcefully evades capture for months. However, a Catteni gets injured nearby, and helping him betrays her fugitive existence. This story was modified and included as the beginning of the ''Freedom's Landing'' novel. In ''Freedom's Landing'', the Catteni routinely round up human troublemakers and drop them on empty planets – if they survive, the world is suitable for their own people. Kristin is included in such a group, which is dropped on a world they name ''Botany'' (after the Australian destination for transportees,

Botany Bay Botany Bay (Dharawal: ''Kamay''), an open oceanic embayment, is located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, south of the Sydney central business district. Its source is the confluence of the Georges River at Taren Point and the Cook ...

). Surprisingly, a Catteni noble, Zainal, is among their group - the same one Kristin helped earlier. While trying to cope with their new situation, they discover the existence of another alien race that is using the planet as a gigantic farm. Kristin is at first the only one to vouch for Zainal but he soon proves his usefulness to the rest of the improvised colony. They steal technology from the mechanisms that are used to farm the planet Botany. She and Zainal fall in love. In ''Freedom's Choice'', the humans begin to create a real colony, a community that can support itself. They also attempt to contact the aliens farming the planet, hoping to receive information about them, their origins, and possible help against the Catteni. The colonists also learn that the Catteni are not the real enemies: they are being dominated and controlled by another race, the Eosi. In ''Freedom's Challenge'', having discovered that the Catteni are dominated by another alien species, the Eosi, the colonists lead an effort to rescue the families of some of the dissident Catteni from the Eosi-controlled world Catten and create a rebellion against the Eosi to free not only Catten, but also

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...

and every other planet and colony controlled by the Eosi. ''Freedom's Ransom'' deals with the aftermath of the rebellion. Starting on Botany, then to Earth, then to Barevi, Zainal conceives of a complex trade relationship that will benefit the humans, the Catteni, and their other alien allies. Among the things they trade are coffee and dentistry. They need the vast amount of supplies looted from Terra.

Comments

The original short story, "The Thorns of Barevi" (1970), had a rape-fantasy component that was removed when it was reworked into the first novel, ''Freedom's Landing''. McCaffrey wrote:

References

External links

* {{Anne McCaffrey Science fiction book series Fictional universes