This is sci-fi equivalent of a cozy mystery; decent, but I'm not tempted to reread it. There were so many missed opportunities for drama that I very nearly got angry with the book. The issue with too many names, too many convenient coincidences, and lack of tension persists into the fourth installment of the Catteni Series. This book wraps up many of the plot threads while leaving enough open-ended to suggest the possibility of more in the series, which will probably never be written. I'm sorry to say that I don't feel any sense of loss at that prospect. Even a visit to post-invasion Earth was not particularly interesting. Things picked up a little when a group from Botany goes to the Catteni trading planet Baveri to ransom back materials stolen from Earth, but even that ends up falling flat from lack of dramatic tension. Problems get resolved way too easily and the characters are too one-dimensional to carry the story without a stronger or more compelling plot. Some folks may enjoy the Catteni series, but they just weren't interesting enough for my tastes. (I first book, "Freedom's Landing," was the best of the lot.)

So, I enjoyed the three previous books in this series. It was getting hard to keep all the characters straight so I just concentrated on Kris and Zanial. If you enjoyed the previous three, this one served as a bit of closure but it was a lot of talking...

Two stars might be a bit harsh. I actually enjoyed the book well enough for what it was... it just that it and of itself there was not much too it. The book feels like filler. Nothing much happens (summary: they sell coffee... yup thats it). What really got me is the interesting plot points that they touched on like “oh yeah I have a plan to meet the Farmers” but the the plans never materialized. I probably would have rated the book higher of there had been another book in the series that followed up on The big plots. Its not McCaffrey’s fault that she did not get to finish the series, but as the last book in the series it felt like a practical joke (here is your conclusion... haha, nope they just sell coffee).

3 WORD REVIEW: Robusta vs. Arabica

AWARD: Perhaps the only "SciFi" book showcasing

Spoiler

dentistry

--which apparently has not advanced at all in the future.

Yep, we have Faster-Than-Light (FTL) spaceships, and we have defeated superior aliens and their advanced weaponry ... but you still have to

Spoiler

brush & floss. And spit blood in a bowl when the dentist does their thing.

PROS: The main characters seem like nice people, and they mostly all get along. Even the teenagers only barely misbehave (if eye rolling counts).

NEUTRALS: Certain Earth tech really dates this 2002 book--in sometimes mildly funny ways. The writing style is okay, though the pacing is tedious.

[ The following CONS & other details may contain minor spoilers, but there's not much to spoil here] :
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Spoiler

ALSO A PRO: No dragons. Nor people riding dragons bareback, and magically not falling off.

CONS: Everything else-- or rather, the lack of anything else.

PLOT: The "good" characters use their FTL spaceship go to a market on a distant planet (apparently instantly, as no time span is mentioned), drink coffee non-stop, and search for advanced technology windshield wipers and Toyota tires -- because apparently the survival of humanity hinges on such.

Also: alien chicken wings appear to be the preferred galactic currency. And coffee, of course.

Note to SF authors & screenwriters: The whole every-species-in-the-universe-loves-coffee was worn out decades ago. Or perhaps McCaffrey was one of the pioneers of this cliche? At any rate, let's please move on to something else--preferably involving some actual science fiction.

Surprisingly, duct tape only gets a brief mention.

It's also one of those books where the main alien basically looks human (aside from minor physical things such as eye color and hand size), and speaks like a human who's known English their entire life, and instantly picks up any new idioms. Suuuuure. Also, of course, he's married to a brilliant and attractive Earth woman--and their species are genetically compatible. Suuuuure.

Big *YAWN*

Not badly written, but not exciting in any way whatsoever. Only one or two very brief moments of personal danger in the entire book--and you knew no one would actually get hurt.

NOT SO FICTIONAL? Nokia mobile phones (yes, the pre-smartphone variety) are apparently valuable, and sought after. I assume to use as bricks in rebuilding Earth.

TRULY FICTION: Hewlett Packard (not "HP", but actually spelled-out "Hewlett Packard"!) printers are also lust-worthy. As is copy paper. (So much for that paperless future we've been promised since the 1980s.)

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VERDICT/RATING: None, because I'm not sure what McCaffrey was trying to achieve here. If forced, I couldn't give it more than 2.3 stars, unless I needed a cure for insomnia.

The fourth and final novel of the Freedom series. After taking on the Eosi, Zainal, Kris and others fly to Earth, where much is in disarray. The Catteni under the Eosi looted everything they could get their hands on, including things for which the Catteni have no use (tires, windshield wipers, batteries, cell phones, satellite parts). After agreeing to fly needed medicines to Kenya for a tenth of a load of coffee beans, the Botany crew have a plan: barter for the needed materials, using coffee, a previously unknown substance that those Catteni who occupied Earth developed a taste for.

2.5 out of 5 stars

Enslaved on an uninhabited planet by the alien Eosi, Kristin Bjornsen and her fellow humans not only survived against all odds to colonize the world now known as Botany, but liberated themselves from their captors and claimed it as their home…

The colonists could not have achieved victory without the help of the exiled Catteni alien, Zainal, who helped Kris contact other races subjugated by the Eosi, and inspired the rebellion that freed them all. To ensure Botany’s future, its people must build alliances.

In the wake of alien devastation, Earth has been looted of its technology—technology Botany desperately needs. If Kris and Zainal can reclaim the stolen goods, they can assist Earth while setting a foundation for Botany’s place in the universe…

I was bored with this book. There did not seem to be a lot happening and all of it was mostly just talking. I recommend the rest of the series but I am ambivalent on this specific book.