Surviver - before the TV series

Title: Freedom's Landing
Author: Anne McCaffrey
 Publisher: Penguin Group (USA) Incorporated
ISBN-13: 9780441003389
Pages: 336
 
Could you or I survive when all the comforts of modern life are taken away?  Long before the reality TV shows tackled this question, Anne McCaffrey thought about it and the result is the Catteni series of books, with Freedom's Landing being the first in the set.

Humans from Earth, along with many other species, are kidnapped and enslaved by the Catteni race on a distant planet.  Kris, a woman from Denver, finds the opportunity to steal a speeder and escape to the jungle.  One day, she sees a dog fight overhead and rescues the Catteni being pursued.  Unfortunately, Kris is re-captured and dumped on a completely different planet with hundreds of others, both human and non-human. Angry and confused, the dumped group is rallied by an ex-military sergeant, who organizes supplies and purpose.  Kris again rescues the Catteni, Zainal, by making a case that his knowledge could be valuable.  The motley crew learn the dangers of the planet as they trek toward the hills for shelter and various characters are introduced.

Slowly the caves become home and Kris and Zainal are tasked to lead exploration parties around the planet.  Beyond the various species known, there seems to be a mysterious alien race, dubbed the Farmers,  who had mechanized the planet into a factory farm, leaving behind cattle, fields and robot workers.  The new colonizers take advantage of the discovered technologies and re-create many modern conveniences.   The Catteni continue to drop more colonizers and Zainal, being a high-ranking officer, demands reports and information about the planet, now named Botany. He reveals that the Catteni are only middle management for a race called the Eosi.  As Kris and Zainal develop their relationship, old-fashioned prejudice blooms among some of the disgruntled settlers and threatens the stability of the fragile colony.  As the numbers grow, the settlers continue to expand their living quarters by re-purposing the Farmer's barns.  Hoping to attract the notice of the Farmers, Kris and Zainal led a group to the central command post when a nefarious man, Aarens, sets off a homing beacon. Recalled back to the caves, the homing beacon is noticed by someone - which will be continued in the next book.

Kris, the main character, is determined, direct and self-reliant - a protagonist I tend to admire.  She quickly makes friends and is admired by or lusted after by most she meets.  There are few obstacles she can't overcome or skills she doesn't have, including martial arts and survival training.  However, things go too smoothly to be realistic.  As an escapist read, I enjoyed this book.  It was diverting and easy to read on my phone. Most of the plot points were broadcasted early in the story - no shock that Kris and Zainal got together and that some people don't like it.

Re-Reading Anne McCaffrey

I discovered Anne MacCaffrey in college and read through as many of her books as I could get from the local library.  I loved her strong female protagonists and they often inspired me to forge my own paths in difficult times.  I often thought, "How would Menolly handle this? Or, what would Lessa do?"  In the years since my first readings of the Pern series, I've finished college, worked, got my Masters degree, worked in three different countries, returned for my doctorate, and am now instructing at the college level. Returning to favorite characters and places and see how they fit in my new world view could be either disappointing or rejuvenating.  Fortunately, immersing myself in Pern was comforting and like meeting a long-lost friend.

In the past few months, I've read or re-read the following Pern books (I tried to do them in Pernese chronological order:

• Dragonsdawn 
• The Chronicles of Pern: First Fall 
• Dragonsblood 
• Dragonseye
• Dragon's Fire 
• Dragon's Kin
• Dragon Harper
•  Dragonheart
• Dragonsblood 
• Dragon's Time
• Sky Dragons 
• All the Weyrs of Pern
• The Dolphins of Pern 
• The Skies of Pern (2001)

I've been craving tubers and klah, so I looked up some Pernese recipes and some of the axillary books such as The People of Pern by Anne McCaffrey and Robin Wood (a portrait book of some of the major characters).

Klah Recipe - a cinnamon coffee
Meat Rolls - a compact meal (with pictures on this blog)
Multiple recipes from the fan forum

I've also re-read Killashandra and for the first time, read the two sequels,  Crystal Singer and Crystal Line.   In college, when I first read Killashandra, I admired the audacity and fearlessness of Killashandra.  But in this second reading, I was a bit more sympathetic to the complaints of her peers and trainers.  She was arrogant and inflexible in the first book, though she mellowed through the others.  It is interesting how a reader's perception of a book can change over time.  And, if a book is good enough, it is worth a second or third read.

As Joan Wickersham, in her blog post,  "The joy of re-reading" states, "Re-reading never gets old. The books change because we change."

“The worst loneliness is to not be comfortable with yourself.” ― Mark Twain

Title: Fire

Author: Kristin Cashore

Pages: 528

Publisher: Firebird

ISBN: 014241591X

I enjoyed Graceling, but did not enjoy Fire. It is a companion, not a sequel and takes place in a completely different kingdom with completely different characters. Fire, the main character, is half human, half monster in a world that seems to be a twisted version of a Dr. Seuss book. Fire's curse is her innate desirability that drives men (and some women) to do crazy things. Fortunately, she can read minds and anticipate most attacks. She is drawn into the politics of a neighboring kingdom and consents to use her mind-reading abilities to find the plots to overthrow the kingdom. Along the way, she accepts herself for who she is, makes friends that also accept her, and learns to use and control her powers. I have to admit that I skimmed more than read most of the book as I was not as intrigued with the politicking.

Yet another underdog, who does discovers her true purpose!

Title: Graceling

Author: Kristin Cashore

Pages: 480

Publisher: Harcourt Children's Books

ISBN: 015206396X

I don't remember why I initially put this book on my PaperBackSwap wish list, but I did. Then I missed out on getting a paper copy when I was on vacation and missed the email. But, I learned how to check out a Kindle book from my local library, so that was an unexpected bonus! Oh, and I have book 2 and figured this time, I would read a series in order!

This is classified as a young adult fantasy book. I guess that after Harry Potter and the Twilight series, the types of fantasy for children have gotten more mature. I didn't even realize this was a young adult novel until I looked it up after I read it. The writing was descriptive and clear, and the general story was engaging. In many ways it reminded me of Anne McCaffery's Harper Hall Trilogy, which I really enjoyed.

In this world, certain people are given “Graces” or in-born abilities to become an expert in something – sometimes that ability is useful, like cooking or music, but other times, it can be trivial. However, the main character, Katsa, was born with the Grace of killing. She is the niece of a king, and he uses her for his dirty work. However, she begins to question the ethics of her work, and she starts a secret society, called the Council, to protect people. During one of her missions, she runs into another person Graced with fighting ability and eventually finds that he is investigating the same thing she is, the kidnapping of an elderly member of the royal family of a neighboring kingdom. The kidnapped victim turns out to be the fighter's (named Po) grandfather. Katsa and Po work together to find the plot and realize that a king with evil and cruel ambitions has been Graced with the ability to control people's thoughts. They rescue Po's niece and struggle to kill him, which Katsa eventually does. In the process, Katsa discovers that her Grace is actually survival, and Po loses his sight, but develops his real Grace, the ability to sense the things around him. The story ends with a clear set up for the series, Po returns to his kingdom, Katsa continues to work for the Council, and the niece begins to rule her new kingdom.

I'm looking forward to picking up the next few books in the series.

Small Packages Can Fulfill Big Destinies

Title: Dragonlight

Author: Donita K. Paul

Pages: 377

Publisher: Waterbrook Press

ISBN: 1400073782

I've enjoyed McCaffrey's Dragon series for years – unfortunately, I've read all of them. No one can create a world like McCaffrey did, full of great characters and amazing creatures. But, as I was browsing through PaperBack Swap and found another series – The DragonKeeper Chronicles. It is not as well-written as McCaffrey's but still engaging. However, I was only able to find Book 5 – Dragonlight, on PaperBack Swap. So, I'm reading them out of order.

The main character, Kale is happily married to Bardon and Dragonkeeper of her castle. However, Bardon takes Kale on a quest as evil begins to invade the world. The story follows the group on the quest as they discover the destinies for each member – from the smallest, Toopka, to the blind boy and guardian, Sittiponder. Many themes pervade the book – from the importance of faith and having respect for fellow creatures on the earth. Bardon, a former knight, trained in the ways of the Tomes, continues to quote “principles” which sound like a combination of Christian proverbs and Confucian sayings. After a little surfing around, I found that The DragonKeeper Chronicles are being marketed as Christian speculative fiction. It is a bit ironic that this particular book is about a splinter cult that twists the teachings of the god Wulder to gain power in this world. As a science fiction book, it was a fun read, but as a Christian book, I would not endorse it.

Small town girl saves other world

Title: A Sorcerer's Treason

Author: Sarah Zettel

Pages: 499

Publisher: Tor

ISBN: 0765343746

My brother sent me this book because it was set in Wisconsin – the Apostle Islands specifically. Plus, it is a fantasy book, which is a genre I tend to like.

The story begins with Bridget, a scorned woman in her small town, saves a stranger from a ship wreck. Bridget lives in a lighthouse during the summer and dreads returning to the town. The stranger turns out to be from another world and offers Bridget a chance to be more than a lighthouse keeper – she has premonitions and in the stranger's world, this indicates powerful sorcerer. Bridger chooses to return to return with the stranger to Isavalta and becomes quickly involved in the political intrigue of the land. She has to navigate who to trust and how magic works in this new world. The story runs like a soap-opera with lots of double crossing and disguises, passionate characters. It was an interesting diversion during a plane ride and I admired the main character as the underdog in the story.