Trouble Magnet

This was a pickup to complete the series to date. It provides the necessary continuity for a fan to fulfill the flow of events.

Go to alandeanfoster dot com. If you haven't read everything he's written, at least give it a try..... I have them all (I think?)

I found this to be a very good addition to the Pip and Flinx story. It follows the story line quite well. Hopefully this won't be the last we hear of Pip And Flinx!

Alan Dean Foster has written so many books that you kind of have to wonder if there's really a Mr. Alan, a Mr. Dean and a Mr. Foster, all cranking out words. But I'm assured that there's not, and here he's presented us with the 11th, or is is the 12th Pip and Flinx adventure. As usual, they are on their way to some far away place in the Galazy to find a huge Tar-Aiym weapos system to ... well you know. On the way he gets side tracked into an adventure on the crime ridden planet of Visaria. Here the story develops in typical Foster tradition with a lot of description of the planet, its people, its society and of course of the desparate situation in which the heros find themselves. This book can be read as a free standing book and it will make sense. More fun will be had though by those of us who have ridden into adventure with Pip and Flinx before. Is this the best of the novels - No. Is it the worst - No. Is it great fiction - No. Is it a fun way to spend some cold winter evenings or an airplane ride, it sure is.

The assignment is simple after all things he has gone through since his origin as a eugenics experiment gone bad. All Philip "Flinx" Lynx has to do is search the humongous uninhabited Sagittarius sector to find a planet sized ancient weapons platform built by the alleged extinct Tar-Ayim and then persuade it to help save the galaxy from the Great Emptiness. In exchange for finding and convincing the needle in this haystack, Flinx's injured beloved Clarity Held will remain on New Riviera healing amidst friends Bran Tse-Mallory and Eint Truzenzuzex. Accompanied by Pip the mini dragon, Flinx begins his mission even as he wonders with friends like he has sending him on a fool's errand whether he should be wasting his time. He decides a detour is in order so that he can decide whether to to do the quest or not. He and Pip stop in the hoodlum controlled city of Malandere on Visaria. There he intervenes when a gang of thugs mug an insect looking alien. One of the young punks Subar sort of reminds Flinx of himself so he tries to help the lad until the gang robs mob leader Piegal Shaeb. Undecided whether to help the kid as this means battling with Shaeb's lethal lizard mercenaries, Flinx instead is sidetracked as he finds some information on himself. This is a terrific stand alone Flinx adventure however, the prime theme of the series, is the battle against the evil Emptiness remains at the status quo. Flinx is at his best as he dishes out his brand of ethical justice inside a fine story line. However, once again, his fans will be disappointed that he took another R & R side trip. Harriet Klausner