Particularize Regarding Books Freehold (Freehold #1)
| Title | : | Freehold (Freehold #1) |
| Author | : | Michael Z. Williamson |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | Deluxe Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 688 pages |
| Published | : | January 1st 2004 by Baen (first published December 30th 2003) |
| Categories | : | Science Fiction. Fiction. War. Military Fiction |
Michael Z. Williamson
Paperback | Pages: 688 pages Rating: 4.04 | 3941 Users | 182 Reviews
Rendition In Favor Of Books Freehold (Freehold #1)
As others have said: this book was deeply cliched, lazily written, and inexpertly welded to a political manifesto; at best, it's "bubblegum" sci-fi. I read it for the explosions and space battles, and even then it disappointed several times. For one thing, there aren't any space battles till well into the second half of the novel. The first half is entirely consumed with the main character (a tall, leggy, gorgeous blonde who doesn't know she's attractive) escaping from Earth; most of this, however, takes the form of a political tract against The Evilz Of Big Guvvermint and The Awesomeness Of Freehold, the Libertarian nudity-tolerant utopia she runs to. There follow endless pages of Kendra marveling at everyone's firearms, sampling freely-sold hallucinogenic drinks, and learning to "relax" in the nude around her new boyfriend (the strong, manly military officer and ace pilot who lives next door) and girlfriend (a petite Asian courtesan with a nonstop libido) -- yep, she randomly becomes bisexual, presumably so the author could write a bunch of cheesy, gratuitous threesome-scenes. I'm not opposed to threesome setups, but the writing for this was as lazy and clueless as the rest of the book, resulting in Kris spending about ten seconds contemplating her new interest in women, and lines like "your body is so sexy"... Seriously. For another, all of this is frequently interrupted by pages-long explanations of how Freehold's system works and how wonderful it is. (Personally, I spent it racking up a count of how many branches the "small" government of Freehold had. There's an awful lot of them.) This includes one gem about how their military cuts its costs in half by selling off used equipment to the highest bidder, no questions asked. Yes, they know they're quite likely supplying terrorists on other planets, but those terrorists are probably going to attack Earth, not Freehold, and the *really important* thing is that their military budget is reduced! This book could have been an entertaining, but not memorable, hour's read if only some wise editor had cut out 200 pages of political harangue, and perhaps required some more effort expended on the war with Earth and the fallout on the characters. As it stands, the traumas they suffer play out as mere afterthoughts -- particularly egregious in the case of Marta, who is viciously gang-raped. The rushed and superficial handling made it feel over-the-top, done for shock value rather than a necessary part of the plot... Especially after suffering through Williamson's weak and irrational handwaving over why rape is a nearly unheard-of crime on Freehold. (As another review noted, this came down to "there's a taboo against it for some reason," yet -- given all we're told of how Freehold works, including a legal system that relies almost entirely on provable monetary loss -- by its own logic only a prostitute can be raped.)Details Books To Freehold (Freehold #1)
| Original Title: | Freehold |
| ISBN: | 0743471792 (ISBN13: 9780743471794) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Series: | Freehold #1, Freehold: Grainne War #1 |
Rating Regarding Books Freehold (Freehold #1)
Ratings: 4.04 From 3941 Users | 182 ReviewsAssess Regarding Books Freehold (Freehold #1)
Williamson himself said (not verbatim) that he thought this was one of his most poorly written novels. After reading most of his catalogue, however, I find it to be second only to his next book "Better to Beg Forgiveness". Yes, the writing is clunky at times but the action is well paced and the so called "gratuitous" sex pales in comparison to some of the other military scifi novels I have read. If you are of a libertarian leaning mind I think you will thoroughly enjoy this book as I did. ItKendra emigrates from a restrictive, politically correct society to a very libertarian one. The 1st half of the book is devoted to expounding these libertarian ideals. The 2nd part of the book is of the war between the two societies and Kendra's part in it.I enjoyed the book, but not enough to keep it and read it again.
I got the ebook free from the Baen free library, which offers hundreds of books to download. Anyway, this book wasn't quite what I was expecting based off of the description. It bills itself almost as a thriller with a woman who works in the logistics department of the United Nations Armed Forces on Earth being wrongfully accused of moving goods illegally. Being advised of this by a friend who works as an MP and being told in no uncertain terms that she would be arrested, she flees from the base
This book seems to be written with the intent of getting the reader to see the value of a libertarian viewpoint. It is also preachy and overly descriptive about every detail. Readers are asked to forget about logic: People on the planet are selfless enough to need next to no government, which includes education, infrastructure, healthcare, it is so safe that doors stay unlocked - yet everyone is armed, with one reason being rape, the other reason being dangerous animals straying into the city
If you love space battles, intense science fiction action, and interplanetary intrigue, stay away from this book! The first 50% of this book is a boring attempt to get the reader interested in the libertarian principles of Freehold. This is so poorly done that the first part of the book seems like a ridiculous parody of Ayn Rand's brilliant works. There are hundreds of heavy-handed comparisons between Earth and Freehold that will have you groaning inwardly with each successive one. I am a
I've debated for hours how to approach this review, including simply not writing one. I'm still not certain, so I'm going to let it flow and we'll see where we end up. The only thing I know at this point is that I'm going to tag sections by rough topic and try to make it so you can skip if you aren't interested in that aspect of the book.So it looks like I'm addressing politics first. Skip down to the book analysis if you don't care.This book isn't as political as people think, but it is
Freehold is really a fantasy book with some science fiction elements. I don't mean fantasy as in "here are elves and wizards," but as in "these are the things that Michael Z. Williamson likes to imagine to be true about the world." The idea of the United Nations being a tyrannical global powerhouse? Pure paranoid fantasy. We're talking about an entity whose main power is sending strongly worded letters. The idea that guns are so much of an equalizer that their presence is all it takes to make
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