Freedom's Choice

Anne McCaffrey

Kris Bjornson and her fellow prisoners have started to make the planet Botany their new home. The Cattani, under the rule of the Eosi, have abandoned dissidents on this penal planet. The refugees have been able to reclaim unknown alien machinery left on Botany. They've been able to begin colonization and exploration.

The new emigrants begin to look on Botany as a home rather than a prison. They are able to build shelters, even permanent ones. They begin to join into family groups. Kris finds herself in an unexpected, thrilling relationship. These people learn to cooperate, how to build, how to separate different life forms that do not get along, how to survive and expand. They even discover a potential escape route from Botany.

This is a story of indominance. As more prisoners are dropped on Botany, more people learn to live together. More skills are combined. It is not paradise. The work is hard. Not everyone agrees or gets along. Yet the refugees on Botany may be the chance for the galaxy to get from under Eosi control. Or...they may be the key for the Eosi to expand to further galaxies and systems.

Here is a building story. It is a linking novel between Freedom's Landing and Freedom's Challenge, yet stands on its own. Kris' new relationship is best explained in the first novel. Yet this novel can stand on its own with only a few minor holes that are explained as the book continues. Their ingenuity is admirable.

Dragonflight by Anne McCaffrey