Catteni Series

Last updated

The Catteni series (also called the Freedom series) is a tetralogy of science fiction novels by American writer 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.

Contents

The Catteni series consists of the following books:

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). [1] 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). 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. [2]

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. [3]

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 and every other planet and colony controlled by the Eosi. [4]

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. [5]

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:

"The Thorns of Barevi" was an attempt to cash in on the lucrative market for soft- and hard-core pornography in the 60's. The market paid well for such stories and many science fiction writers earned their monthly rent from such submissions. I thought I'd give it a try. I didn't really succeed there. But there were seeds in the short story that could eventually germinate a full novel about the modus operandi of the Catteni in subjugating a planet and its inhabitants. But I haven't written that one yet, either. [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mars in fiction</span> Depictions of the planet

Mars, the fourth planet from the Sun, has appeared as a setting in works of fiction since at least the mid-1600s. Trends in the planet's portrayal have largely been influenced by advances in planetary science. It became the most popular celestial object in fiction in the late 1800s, when it became clear that there was no life on the Moon. The predominant genre depicting Mars at the time was utopian fiction. Around the same time, the mistaken belief that there are canals on Mars emerged and made its way into fiction, popularized by Percival Lowell's speculations of an ancient civilization having constructed them. The War of the Worlds, H. G. Wells's novel about an alien invasion of Earth by sinister Martians, was published in 1897 and went on to have a major influence on the science fiction genre.

<i>Dragonflight</i> (novel) 1968 novel by Anne McCaffrey

Dragonflight is a science fiction novel by the American-Irish author Anne McCaffrey. It is the first book in the Dragonriders of Pern series. First published by Ballantine Books in July 1968, it was a fix-up of two novellas which between them had made McCaffrey the first woman writer to win a Hugo and a Nebula Award.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anne McCaffrey</span> Irish science fiction writer (1926–2011)

Anne Inez McCaffrey was an American writer known for the Dragonriders of Pern science fiction series. She was the first woman to win a Hugo Award for fiction and the first to win a Nebula Award. Her 1978 novel The White Dragon became one of the first science-fiction books to appear on the New York Times Best Seller list.

<i>Restoree</i> 1967 science fiction novel by Anne McCaffrey

Restoree (1967) is a science fiction novel by American-Irish writer Anne McCaffrey, her first book published. It is the story of a young woman who survives being abducted by aliens and finds a new life on another planet.

Dragonriders of Pern is a science fantasy series written primarily by American-Irish author Anne McCaffrey, who initiated it in 1967. Beginning in 2003, her middle child Todd McCaffrey has written Pern novels, both solo and jointly with Anne. The series comprises 24 novels and two collections of short stories. The two novellas included in the first novel, Dragonflight, made McCaffrey the first woman to win a Hugo Award for writing fiction as well as the first to win a Nebula Award.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Planetary romance</span> Subgenre of science fiction focussing on adventures on alien planets

Planetary romance is a subgenre of science fiction in which the bulk of the action consists of adventures on one or more exotic alien planets, characterized by distinctive physical and cultural backgrounds. Some planetary romances take place against the background of a future culture where travel between worlds by spaceship is commonplace; others, particularly the earliest examples of the genre, do not, and invoke flying carpets, astral projection, or other methods of getting between planets. In either case, it is the planetside adventures which are the focus of the story, not the mode of travel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moon in science fiction</span>

The Moon has appeared in fiction as a setting since at least classical antiquity. Throughout most of literary history, a significant portion of works depicting lunar voyages has been satirical in nature. From the late 1800s onwards, science fiction has successively focused largely on the themes of life on the Moon, first Moon landings, and lunar colonization.

<i>All the Weyrs of Pern</i> 1991 novel by Anne McCaffrey

All the Weyrs of Pern is a science fiction novel by the American-Irish author Anne McCaffrey. Published in 1991, it is the eleventh book in the Dragonriders of Pern series.

Acorna is a "Unicorn Girl", a fantasy fiction character created by Anne McCaffrey and Margaret Ball in their novel Acorna: The Unicorn Girl (1997).

<i>Dragons Kin</i> 2003 novel by Anne McCaffrey

Dragon's Kin is a science fiction novel by the American-Irish author Anne McCaffrey and her son Todd McCaffrey. Published by Del Rey Books in 2003, it is the eighteenth book in the Dragonriders of Pern series and the first with Todd as co-author.

<i>The Colony of Lies</i> 2003 novel by Colin Brake

The Colony of Lies is a BBC Books original novel written by Colin Brake and based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It features the Second Doctor, Zoe and Jamie. It also features appearances by the Seventh Doctor and Ace, with the Seventh Doctor meeting the Second in a virtual interface to pass on a vital message that will allow him to resolve the current crisis.

<i>The Ship Who Sang</i> 1969 novel by Anne McCaffrey

The Ship Who Sang (1969) is a science fiction novel by American writer Anne McCaffrey, a fix-up of five stories published 1961 to 1969. It is also the title of the 1961 novelette which is the first of these stories. The series started by the book, the "Brain & Brawn Ship series", is sometimes called the "Ship Who Sang series".

<i>Foreigner</i> series Fictional universe created by C. J. Cherryh

The Foreigner series is a science fiction book series set in a fictional universe created by American writer C. J. Cherryh. The series centers on the descendants of a ship lost in transit from Earth en route to found a new space station. It consists of a series of semi-encapsulated trilogy arcs that focus on the life of Bren Cameron, the human paidhi, a translator-diplomat to the court of the ruling atevi species. Currently twenty-two novels have been published between 1994 and 2023. Cherryh has also self-published two ebook short story prequels to the series, "Deliberations" and "Invitations".

<i>The Dolphins of Pern</i> 1994 novel by Anne McCaffrey

The Dolphins of Pern is a science fiction novel by the American-Irish author Anne McCaffrey. It is the thirteenth book published in the Dragonriders of Pern series by Anne or her son Todd McCaffrey.

Pantropy is a hypothetical process of space habitation or space colonization in which, rather than terraforming other planets or building space habitats suitable for human habitation, humans are modified to be able to thrive in the existing environment. The term was coined by science fiction author James Blish, who wrote a series of short stories based on the idea.

<i>Dragonsdawn</i> 1988 novel by Anne McCaffrey

Dragonsdawn is a science fiction novel by the American-Irish author Anne McCaffrey. It is ninth book in the Dragonriders of Pern series, but chronologically it takes place before any of the other books. It was published in 1988, by Del Rey in the United States and Bantam in the United Kingdom. UK editions have had various subtitles: Dragonsdawn: The First Chronicles of the Colony of Pern, Dragonsdawn: The earliest legend of Pern.

<i>The Chronicles of Pern: First Fall</i>

The Chronicles of Pern: First Fall is a 1993 collection of short fiction by the American-Irish author Anne McCaffrey. All five stories are set on the fictional planet Pern; First Fall is one of two collections in the science fiction series Dragonriders of Pern.

<i>Get Off the Unicorn</i> Collection of science fiction short stories by Anne McCaffrey

Get Off the Unicorn is a collection of science fiction short stories by American writer Anne McCaffrey, first published in paperback by Del Rey Books in June 1977. Eleven of the fourteen stories were previously published in various magazines and anthologies. Initial sales were brisk; two additional printings were required by year's end. Del Rey reprinted Get off the Unicorn regularly throughout the 1970s and 1980s, and its edition remains in print as of 2015. Corgi issued a British edition in 1979 and an Australian edition in 1980. An audiobook based on the Corgi edition was released in 1985. Severn House issued a hardcover edition in 1982.

This is a list of works by American science fiction and fantasy author Anne McCaffrey, including some cowritten with others or written by close collaborators.

References

  1. 1 2 McCaffrey, Anne (1977). Get Off the Unicorn. New York: Ballantine. ISBN   0-345-30577-9.
  2. "Freedom's Landing". The Worlds of Anne McCaffrey. Archived from the original on 22 March 2009. Retrieved 16 October 2009.
  3. "Freedom's Choice, aka Catteni's Choice". The Worlds of Anne McCaffrey. Archived from the original on 22 March 2009. Retrieved 16 October 2009.
  4. "Freedom's Challenge". The Worlds of Anne McCaffrey. Archived from the original on 22 March 2009. Retrieved 16 October 2009.
  5. "Freedom's Ransom". The Worlds of Anne McCaffrey. Archived from the original on 23 March 2009. Retrieved 16 October 2009.