Free Souls

Free Souls by Susan Kaye Quinn

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I enjoyed Free Souls and thought it an excellent conclusion to the Mindjack trilogy that includes only Open Minds, Closed Hearts, and Free Souls. I recommend the series. I think it is entertaining and thought provoking. The trilogy explores real life concepts with some imaginary parallels in this science fiction world where mind reading is normal and "not mind reading" is abnormal.

I found some minor things about the book where I struggled to suspend disbelief. These were related to Kira, the protagonist, primarily. To me, there were times she behaved inconsistent with what I believed about her character and the reason I did not rate it five stars. I doubt many readers would notice.


I do think some reviews of the books in this trilogy are absurd, way out of line, and unfair to the writer and potential readers.

I can understand the aversion to invasion of privacy and the idea of people knowing what you are thinking, but the story takes place in that imaginary world where those things are a fact of life. Some reviews treat the story as if the mind reading were part of their reality in today's real world. It is unfair to the story to judge it solely based on elements of the environment where the story takes place.

This is good story writing for the most part and ought not be judged because of the imaginary world of the book. Sure, mention that the setting is difficult and effects your feelings about the story, that is fair. Despite that, this is a very good story about "good vs evil" fundamentally.

Conflict is essential in story telling. Good verses evil is common and is much what this trilogy is about.

The terrific and thought provoking twist in this trilogy is the minority turn out to be massively more powerful than "just mind readers" (the majority). Free Souls is the final book in the trilogy and concludes a number of conflicts Susan Kaye Quinn sets up in her earlier books in the trilogy.

I think the book is interesting and thought provoking on multiple levels and the more you think about the overall story the more you realize how significant it is in comparison to many of today's current affairs and the affairs we've struggled with throughout history.

I didn't really address this book specifically at all. I assume if you read the first two books you will read this third book.

I was very confused regarding the "Mindjack universe" because the author released a number of "Mindjack world" stories that may or may not be related to this Kira Moore trilogy.

It reminds me of the Divergent series where Veronica Roth writes primarily about "Tris" but meanwhile writes some Divergent stories from "Four's" viewpoint. Another example is Diana Gabladon writing her Lord John Grey books that are related to the Outlander series quite separately from the Claire and Jamie story line.

My issue at this point is I have NOT read any other "Mindjack" books outside this primary trilogy. I have read all of the Divergent and Outlander books and their "side trips". So, as is common, I fear the things I do not know or understand in Susan's Mindjack world.

Fortunately, for me, I do intend to remedy my lack of knowledge and have already obtained all the Mindjack books and audiobooks where available.

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