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utahmomreads's review against another edition
3.0
Lund writes of an interesting alternate history that would take place if the U.S. Constitution had failed to be ratified by the states. It was an easy, fun read with plenty of action. His alternate history seemed flawed in a few places but overall I enjoyed it.
color_girl's review against another edition
4.0
I loved the adventure, the feelings, the romance, the hardship and the learning. I think its time to re-read this book.
papidoc's review against another edition
4.0
Another good one from Gerald Lund, and appealing to me in particular because of my long-time interest in the historical period around the American War for Independence and the philosophies and thoughts that formed the foundation of this country. Lund takes us on a journey through time, moving into the realm of time-travel fantasy but grounded in enduring principles for which our forefathers fought and suffered. Light reading, but thought provoking nonetheless.
sdmomof5boys's review against another edition
4.0
This story was different than I expected with a "ghost" visiting from the past and an alternate timeline. Once I got past that though, I though it was a good story and definitely reminds us not to take our freedoms for granted.
bethgiven's review against another edition
2.0
So I like Gerald Lund's stuff. I've read Fire of the Covenant a couple of times. I've read The Kingdom of the Crown series. I've read all nine volumes of The Work and the Glory ... twice. I've always found his books to be well-researched and educational while still being readable.
But The Freedom Factor was written before all of these others, and, well, it shows. I expected a deep exploration of what the Constitution means to America -- instead I feel like I got a watered-down, half-done idea of what freedom means to America. Not a bad concept, and I certainly came to appreciate that I don't live in some kind of totalitarian state, but it wasn't nearly as deep as I'd hoped for.
Admittedly, the concept of an alternate dimension is tough to pull off -- you start to think about it a little, and inevitably you're left with a bunch of unanswerable paradoxes. There are just too many details to try to iron out in only a few hundred pages. For instance (and this is minor, but represents one of the many questions I had in the back of my head that were never addressed): if this is the "America" without a Constitution, one that was divided into small alliances of states and not united together, would there have been a Civil War? And if not (which was my assumption), why would there be a West Virginia??
The other problem with sending someone off to another dimension is the question of how to bring him back to reality -- without it feeling hokey, anyway. And this ending was ... hokey.
This was a quick read and did help me appreciate the freedoms we take for granted today ... though there's plenty of other books that will do that, too. And in the meantime, Lund's written a few thousand pages of really good stuff -- read that instead. ;-)
But The Freedom Factor was written before all of these others, and, well, it shows. I expected a deep exploration of what the Constitution means to America -- instead I feel like I got a watered-down, half-done idea of what freedom means to America. Not a bad concept, and I certainly came to appreciate that I don't live in some kind of totalitarian state, but it wasn't nearly as deep as I'd hoped for.
Admittedly, the concept of an alternate dimension is tough to pull off -- you start to think about it a little, and inevitably you're left with a bunch of unanswerable paradoxes. There are just too many details to try to iron out in only a few hundred pages. For instance (and this is minor, but represents one of the many questions I had in the back of my head that were never addressed): if this is the "America" without a Constitution, one that was divided into small alliances of states and not united together, would there have been a Civil War? And if not (which was my assumption), why would there be a West Virginia??
The other problem with sending someone off to another dimension is the question of how to bring him back to reality -- without it feeling hokey, anyway. And this ending was ... hokey.
This was a quick read and did help me appreciate the freedoms we take for granted today ... though there's plenty of other books that will do that, too. And in the meantime, Lund's written a few thousand pages of really good stuff -- read that instead. ;-)
gmvader's review against another edition
3.0
Before Gerald N. Lund wrote his Work and the Glory series and established himself as the Robert Jordan of the LDS fiction market he made his authorial way by writing short, entertaining and often silly political themed adventure novels.
Freedom Factor is one of these. The problem with reading these early Lund books is that his formula starts to wear thin. This one is a political book about the importance of the United States Constitution. The point it’s trying to make is a good one but I’m not sure that it goes about it in the best way.
The story involves a rather convoluted fantasy conceit that serves as this books piece of hand-waveium. The problem is that the preaching is not hidden well enough to not sound like preaching and the characters lack a significant believable reaction to unbelievable events. There are a number of other things that smack of author convenience such as people being in the right place at the right time, a Constitution-signing ghost who has magical abilities to change things dramatically at convenient time and to refuse to do so when more tension is required.
Lund is talented enough that these shortcomings become minor. The characters are mostly relatable with motivations that make sense. His writing is smooth enough to make you forget that you’re reading a book with an eminently silly premise to begin with. Until the ending it is a fun story that happens to have an easily overlooked message.
The ending proves to have no lasting consequences on the people involved, however, which renders the entire caper inexcusably pointless in so many ways that the rest of the book falls flat.
It’s like the book exists as a quantum particle that can either be good or… not bad, maybe annoying. Upon observation of the final, unfortunate and disappointing conclusion the entire book collapses into a quantum state of disappointment.
Gerald Lund has written a plethora of these short books that are really only LDS fiction because the characters act with LDS morals — they are rarely explicitly LDS — but this is the most banal of them all. Read it only if you are a completist.
Freedom Factor is one of these. The problem with reading these early Lund books is that his formula starts to wear thin. This one is a political book about the importance of the United States Constitution. The point it’s trying to make is a good one but I’m not sure that it goes about it in the best way.
The story involves a rather convoluted fantasy conceit that serves as this books piece of hand-waveium. The problem is that the preaching is not hidden well enough to not sound like preaching and the characters lack a significant believable reaction to unbelievable events. There are a number of other things that smack of author convenience such as people being in the right place at the right time, a Constitution-signing ghost who has magical abilities to change things dramatically at convenient time and to refuse to do so when more tension is required.
Lund is talented enough that these shortcomings become minor. The characters are mostly relatable with motivations that make sense. His writing is smooth enough to make you forget that you’re reading a book with an eminently silly premise to begin with. Until the ending it is a fun story that happens to have an easily overlooked message.
The ending proves to have no lasting consequences on the people involved, however, which renders the entire caper inexcusably pointless in so many ways that the rest of the book falls flat.
It’s like the book exists as a quantum particle that can either be good or… not bad, maybe annoying. Upon observation of the final, unfortunate and disappointing conclusion the entire book collapses into a quantum state of disappointment.
Gerald Lund has written a plethora of these short books that are really only LDS fiction because the characters act with LDS morals — they are rarely explicitly LDS — but this is the most banal of them all. Read it only if you are a completist.
hillarya's review against another edition
3.0
I really enjoyed the story, but it didn't have a great flow to it. It was fun to read about cassette tapes again though. :)
faithharsh's review against another edition
5.0
A Christmas carol meets the American Constitution. Considering it was published in 1987 yet is super relevant today is scary, just reading this makes me so grateful for The Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. Reading the pledge of allegiance part at the very end filled me with so much patriotism I was emotional
karinaleonard's review against another edition
1.0
I have to admit it: I didn't like this book. The idea of it is good, but the author didn't support it very well. I hate his writing. It was a struggle for me to read the whole book, but I had to finish it for a class.
readerturnedwriter's review against another edition
4.0
This is not my favorite novel by Lund, but it was still well done. It definitely makes you stop and think about our country and the things we can do to support and protect our freedoms. It's a quick read, but still thought provoking.