Catteni Series
Encyclopedia
The Catteni Series is a tetralogy
of science fiction
novels by Anne McCaffrey
. In this universe, humans are slaves of aliens, the humanoid
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 four books:
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
). 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.
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.
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.
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 both the humans and the Catteni.
Tetralogy
A tetralogy is a compound work that is made up of four distinct works, just as a trilogy is made up of three works....
of science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
novels by Anne McCaffrey
Anne McCaffrey
Anne Inez McCaffrey was an American-born Irish writer, best known for her Dragonriders of Pern series. Over the course of her 46 year career she won a Hugo Award and a Nebula Award...
. In this universe, humans are slaves of aliens, the humanoid
Humanoid
A humanoid is something that has an appearance resembling a human being. The term first appeared in 1912 to refer to fossils which were morphologically similar to, but not identical with, those of the human skeleton. Although this usage was common in the sciences for much of the 20th century, it...
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 four books:
- Freedom's Landing (published 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
Botany Bay is a bay in Sydney, New South Wales, a few kilometres south of the Sydney central business district. The Cooks River and the Georges River are the two major tributaries that flow into the bay...
). 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.
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.
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.
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 both the humans and the Catteni.