The wait is over! At last, New York Times bestselling author Alan Dean Foster returns to his acclaimed Humanx universe, where a young human orphan called Flinx seeks to unlock the dangerous secrets of his past and the uncertain prospects of his future with the aid of the formidable minidrag known as Pip. Together, Flinx and Pip have roamed the galaxy on their quest for knowledge, finding friends and enemies along the way, and providing unforgettable memories for an ever-growing legion of delighted fans. Now, with Reunion, Alan Dean Foster gives those fans what they've been clamoring for: the most mind-bending Flinx and Pip adventure yet--a roller-coaster ride into the unknown, filled with wonder and humor . . . and a host of deadly adversaries.
It all starts innocently enough. Well, almost innocently. So what if Flinx uses his enhanced empathic abilities to finesse his way into a top secret security installation on Earth? Once there, he bamboozles a sophisticated AI program into releasing classified information about the Meliorare Society, the sect of renegade eugenicists whose experiments with human beings had horrified the civilized universe more than twenty years ago. After all, as one of the few Meliorare experiments to survive, Flinx has a right to know about his past. Especially since his telepathic powers seem to be evolving. The question is, evolving into what? The excruciating headaches afflicting Flinx with increasing frequency make him wonder if he will be alive to find out.
But headaches are the least of his problems. For the information he uncovers leads Flinx into AAnn space, and the reptilian AAnn are more likely to eat human visitors than welcome them. Awaiting Flinx is a planet brimming with hidden dangers and astonishing discoveries. But nothing so dangerous, or so astonishing, as the unexpected return of an old enemy: an enemy as evil as she is beautiful . . .
Amazon.com Review
After a long wait, fans of the adventures of Flinx of the Commonwealth finally get to rejoin the hero and his poisonous minidrag, Pip. In Reunion, Flinx travels from earth to AAnn space trying to unlock the secrets of his past.
Flinx is on earth to hunt down classified information about the Meliorare Society, the sect of renegade eugenicists responsible for his telepathic gifts. To get into a top-secret installation, he uses his powers to charm one of the key security people so he can gain access to their AI program. However, the file with the information he's looking for has been taken, and he barely escapes.
In an effort to hunt down the file, Flinx and Pip end up on a dangerous trek across the galaxy into the heart of AAnn space. When their shuttle crashes on a desert planet, Flinx and the minidrag soon find themselves up against native dangers and a nest of reptilian AAnn soldiers. But that's only the beginning for Flinx, because before it's over he will discover an ancient mystery and face an old foe who may turn out to be his most dangerous enemy yet.
Reunion is the eighth novel in the series and it is less a complete book than a continuation of the story. It's clear that Foster has bigger things in mind for Flinx and Pip. The novel is a page-turner, with lots of action to keep things moving. Fans of the series will find revelations in the book that make Reunion a must-read. However, those new to the series will wonder why they would want to read about a hero who seems, at best, morally questionable based on his first actions in Reunion. A bigger problem still is that the entire book seems to be just a teaser for the ninth novel, and if it takes another five years to arrive, that's a long tease. --Kathie Huddleston
From Publishers Weekly
Bestseller Foster has created yet another entertaining adventure story in the far-flung reaches of a far-future outer space. Featuring the Alaspinian minidrag Pip and the intellectually enhanced Phillip Lynx (Flinx), this is the seventh in an ongoing series that began with For Love of Mother Not. There are few real surprises in this nostalgic novel, as Flinx continues to pursue all sources of knowledge of his birth parents. In his quest he runs into previously introduced nemeses like the alien AAnn and another genetically enhanced person like himself, the adolescent woman Mahnahmi, who turns out to be more closely linked and more dangerous than was previously revealed. He finds he has unsuspected allies, including intelligent vegetal life and a souped-up spaceship, all the bases of plots from earlier novels. The penultimate adventure links Flinx with a huge alien artifact on the moon of a distant planet, Pyrassis, always an appealing adventure-plot element. There, after hardship and seemingly certain extinction, he communes with the alien intelligence and plants the seeds (remember the intelligent plants?) that alert us to the possibility of future exploits. Using the traditional cliff-hangers and narrow escapes of classic SF adventure page-turners, and propelling Flinx from one crisis to another, from moral dilemma to deus-ex-machina, Foster enlists multiple formulas for a surefire, if comfortably predictable, reading experience that should appeal to space-opera fans. (May 29)Star Wars, the first three Alien pictures and Alien Nation. His novel Cyber War won the Southwest Book Award for Fiction in 1990, the first science fiction work ever to do so.
Description:
The wait is over! At last, New York Times bestselling author Alan Dean Foster returns to his acclaimed Humanx universe, where a young human orphan called Flinx seeks to unlock the dangerous secrets of his past and the uncertain prospects of his future with the aid of the formidable minidrag known as Pip. Together, Flinx and Pip have roamed the galaxy on their quest for knowledge, finding friends and enemies along the way, and providing unforgettable memories for an ever-growing legion of delighted fans. Now, with Reunion, Alan Dean Foster gives those fans what they've been clamoring for: the most mind-bending Flinx and Pip adventure yet--a roller-coaster ride into the unknown, filled with wonder and humor . . . and a host of deadly adversaries.
It all starts innocently enough. Well, almost innocently. So what if Flinx uses his enhanced empathic abilities to finesse his way into a top secret security installation on Earth? Once there, he bamboozles a sophisticated AI program into releasing classified information about the Meliorare Society, the sect of renegade eugenicists whose experiments with human beings had horrified the civilized universe more than twenty years ago. After all, as one of the few Meliorare experiments to survive, Flinx has a right to know about his past. Especially since his telepathic powers seem to be evolving. The question is, evolving into what? The excruciating headaches afflicting Flinx with increasing frequency make him wonder if he will be alive to find out.
But headaches are the least of his problems. For the information he uncovers leads Flinx into AAnn space, and the reptilian AAnn are more likely to eat human visitors than welcome them. Awaiting Flinx is a planet brimming with hidden dangers and astonishing discoveries. But nothing so dangerous, or so astonishing, as the unexpected return of an old enemy: an enemy as evil as she is beautiful . . .
Amazon.com Review
After a long wait, fans of the adventures of Flinx of the Commonwealth finally get to rejoin the hero and his poisonous minidrag, Pip. In Reunion, Flinx travels from earth to AAnn space trying to unlock the secrets of his past.
Flinx is on earth to hunt down classified information about the Meliorare Society, the sect of renegade eugenicists responsible for his telepathic gifts. To get into a top-secret installation, he uses his powers to charm one of the key security people so he can gain access to their AI program. However, the file with the information he's looking for has been taken, and he barely escapes.
In an effort to hunt down the file, Flinx and Pip end up on a dangerous trek across the galaxy into the heart of AAnn space. When their shuttle crashes on a desert planet, Flinx and the minidrag soon find themselves up against native dangers and a nest of reptilian AAnn soldiers. But that's only the beginning for Flinx, because before it's over he will discover an ancient mystery and face an old foe who may turn out to be his most dangerous enemy yet.
Reunion is the eighth novel in the series and it is less a complete book than a continuation of the story. It's clear that Foster has bigger things in mind for Flinx and Pip. The novel is a page-turner, with lots of action to keep things moving. Fans of the series will find revelations in the book that make Reunion a must-read. However, those new to the series will wonder why they would want to read about a hero who seems, at best, morally questionable based on his first actions in Reunion. A bigger problem still is that the entire book seems to be just a teaser for the ninth novel, and if it takes another five years to arrive, that's a long tease. --Kathie Huddleston
From Publishers Weekly
Bestseller Foster has created yet another entertaining adventure story in the far-flung reaches of a far-future outer space. Featuring the Alaspinian minidrag Pip and the intellectually enhanced Phillip Lynx (Flinx), this is the seventh in an ongoing series that began with For Love of Mother Not. There are few real surprises in this nostalgic novel, as Flinx continues to pursue all sources of knowledge of his birth parents. In his quest he runs into previously introduced nemeses like the alien AAnn and another genetically enhanced person like himself, the adolescent woman Mahnahmi, who turns out to be more closely linked and more dangerous than was previously revealed. He finds he has unsuspected allies, including intelligent vegetal life and a souped-up spaceship, all the bases of plots from earlier novels. The penultimate adventure links Flinx with a huge alien artifact on the moon of a distant planet, Pyrassis, always an appealing adventure-plot element. There, after hardship and seemingly certain extinction, he communes with the alien intelligence and plants the seeds (remember the intelligent plants?) that alert us to the possibility of future exploits. Using the traditional cliff-hangers and narrow escapes of classic SF adventure page-turners, and propelling Flinx from one crisis to another, from moral dilemma to deus-ex-machina, Foster enlists multiple formulas for a surefire, if comfortably predictable, reading experience that should appeal to space-opera fans. (May 29)Star Wars, the first three Alien pictures and Alien Nation. His novel Cyber War won the Southwest Book Award for Fiction in 1990, the first science fiction work ever to do so.
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