Flinx in Flux

This one was fun, the first time Flinx gets to explore psycic abilities, this time with another race in the mix. If you have read all the other books in the series, you will love this one too.

Finx in Flux is probably the most polished Flinx book. Clearly Foster learned a little more about writing between this one and the last (The End of the Matter). This is another direct sequel in which we find Flinx rescueing a beautiful gengineer (genetic engineer) who is under assault by eco-terrorists. The character development in Flinx in Flux is much richer than the other Flinx books, but what really set this one apart (for me) was the dramatic conclusion where Flinx learns of the existence of a great malevelolence, perhaps great enough to destroy the entire universe. Sadly, that is no delved into very deeply, instead leaving that open for another novel.

I just finished re-reading the book again for the umpteenth time. As always it was a great read, I really enjoy the Flinx series in the common wealth. Flinx is such an interesting character to watch develop. Just a note as to the comments below that the author is not going to be writing any more Flinx novels, that is untrue. Another one will be out latter this year(2000), or early next (It is titled Reunion).

Flinx is 19 and about to fall in love. While on Alispan, releasing Pip's children he see's a beautiful woman washed up along a rivers edge. When she wakes up he finds out that her name is Clarity Held and a group of fanatic tree huggers are trying to distroy the business she works for. She is a gengeneer (genetic engineers) who makes plants and fungus, etc. into marketable things. Flinx decides to help Clarity, whom he has fallen in love with. Unfortuntly he tells her, as an explination of why he can't be with her, that he is an experiment from the Melioraire Society and has an unpridictable sixth sense. Clarity's boss finds out and kidnaps him and wishes to exploit his talent. Sadly enough Flinx and Clarity never truly get together. That really riled me. Finally I'd like to tell a previous reviewer that Foster is not cutting off the Pip and Flinx series, he still hasn't answered all the questions that keep his fans coming back. Eli@

It was a terrible disappointment to learn that Flinx in Flux was the last in the series. Such an abrupt-like ending! When I was a young teen, I read the Tar-Aiym Krang, then moved to For Love of Mother Not, then Flinx in Flux, then Bloodhype. I didn't follow the "chronological" order, but I loved the series anyway! There was something in me that identified with Flinx, he was a hero to me. Over the years, I read other books by Alan Dean Foster, also set in the same universe as the Flinx and Pip series: Cachalot, Voyage to the City of the Dead, etc. Each were wonderful books, but they were also my way of associating with the series even though it had ended.Yet, I guess in a way, the series HAD TO end. Foster wrote of Flinx the young child in a loving, caring way... but also knew that Flinx could not be like that forever. Very likely, with this last book in the series, he deliberately propelled Flinx into the seriousness of adulthood to bring about a sense of closure.I'll never forget that Pip loved salty snacks (she needed the NaCl to make that special corrosive poison), or that the "fish" in Oboweir could make Earth whales feel as tiny as goldfish, or that furry cuddly bearlike creatures on a cold, cold world could be such adorable prodigies...