Customer Reviews

Odd Girl Out (Quadrail SF Thrillers)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

There is some truth to the complaints from other reviewers that there is a lot of backstory thrown into this one. To some degree, this is necessary as the nature of the conflict between the Modhri and Compton's employers changes in this story.
Harriet's review says nothing of the Modhri's fear/anger over what it calls "The abomination". That fear leads the Modhri to try to persuade Compton to help the Modhri get rid of the abomination. Of course, Compton is too cagey for that. The Modhri shows increasing cleverness in its use of "walkers" and some interesting new capabilities. It is also good at using the legal process to try to slow Compton down. Fortunately, he has Bayta, and McMicking to help. The latter is especially useful. It also appears that Compton is warming up to Bayta.

A lot of action happens here. It is clear though that this war needs several main actors. Compton inflicts damage, but it takes time to get to different places on the quadrail, giving the Modhri time to create new situations and countermeasures. McMicking helps significantly, but it's still too limited a force.

A good read with lots of twists and turns and new developments.

The first two books of this series were clearly film noir homages. Not only did they follow many of the noir conventions, but for good measure it was established that many of the main characters were fans of classic noir films.

But Odd Girl Out seems to have shifted gears a bit. It starts with another one of the noir tropes, where the pretty girl asks a detective for help, he turns her down, and then she gets murdered. So now he's on the case, needing to redeem his hardheartedness. Plus, she's murdered with his weapon, so that makes him the prime suspect.

But somewhere along the line, the background story of the Modhri and the Spiders starts taking over the tale. By the end of the book, much of the noir feeling is gone, or at least subsumed. Instead, we are set up to expect that the next book will be more of a straightforward battle. Noir is all about atmosphere and style and misdirection, but now it seems this may be replaced with something more direct. The detente between the Modhri and his foes (including Compton and Bayta) appears to be over.

In a sense, that's too bad. I was enjoying Zahn's flirtation with the noir conventions. But it couldn't have gone on forever, for the same reason noir films generally didn't have sequels. You can only carry a noir story just so far -- after that the suspension of disbelief snaps.

I felt that Odd Girl Out started to lose its way as the story progressed. Zahn started caring more about the greater war than about the little skirmish that Compton once more found himself fighting. And the book suffered a bit because of this. Neither fish nor foul, it ended up feeling more like a transition than anything else. Perhaps you could call it "middle of the trilogy" syndrome. It's not as fresh as the earlier books, but it still doesn't conclude anything.

I think I'd like to read more books about Compton and Bayta. The problem is, however, that I'm getting tired of the Modhri.

While not Zahn's best work in my opinion, it's a great follow-up to the series that started out with such a bang. Zahn knows how to hook and entertain, and Odd Girl Out is no exception. I recommend this read to anyone with a fancy for fiction, sci-fi or not!

I found Odd Girl Out to be an attention getter and an attention retainer--typical of Timothy Zahn's novels. There is an excellent balance of character development and suspense and just plain adventure, even when this book is third in a series.

If I have a complaint, it's that the series wasn't concluded--it's exciting to anticipate another book, but now I'm left hanging!

Keep up the good work, Timothy Zahn!

The first two books in the series, while a bit juvenile and hard to believe, kept up a decent enough pace to hold my interest. I suppose I also was ready for a break from my usual reading habits, which usually involve either Military SciFi, or "epic" (read long) intergalactic Space Adventure novels.

I was able to get 2/3rds the way through this third entry in the series, and found I just didn't care any more about the main characters, nor the never-ending intergalactic chase and intrigue, which has grown repetitive at this point.

Having said that, I think this would be a good series for Jr. High School kids just getting interested in SciFi, and who don't want to get bogged down in 750 page "serious" novels.

Gad ! What an awful book. I am a fan of Timothy Zahn, and I stuck with it, but after 80% into the book, I still did not give a damn about the characters or the outcome.
I found myself flipping pages ahead, just to see if he would commit the ultimate sin of leaving you hanging, with the `answer' in the next book.
To his credit he did not, but the whole story was so plastic (hero resuces resucee without knowing why, except that the bad guy wants her), plastic characters (the hero's `right hand girl' was so paper thin a character, take her out of the story entirely and in my opinion an improvement, the second character cohort, although more interesting, appears a number of times, showing up to help rescue the hero, and then after the scene is ended, disappers from the story (until the next time), plastic villians (one person, taking over the known universe via coral, yes coral, implanted in innocent aliens and humans, in order to take control of them as needed to control their actions, without their ever knowing), plastic universe (aliens including, spiders who run trains, yes trains, to different planets, the only way for interplaentary travel, horse headed aliens, and stinky, from what I gather `chickens'!), and a plastic boring ending (I will not give away the ending, but suffice to say the hero resuces the poor resucee so that the bad guy, may, or may not, find her again).
It was like a short story outline, the hero is..., the cohorts are..., the rescuee is..., the bad guy is...., the universe is..., and the book was given to some student to write... badly.
Sorry, I like Zahn, but the `universe' and premise, was beyond weird, I just could not get into it. The characters were thin plastic, and read like a big awful chase scene.
BryanM

I had a hard time getting through this one. I had a hard time keeping track of who's who and who did what and who was doing what. In fact I decided to quit the series after muddling through this story. (however if you read my review on his next one "The Domino Pattern" you'll see I didn't and am glad). You don't necessarily need to read this one to go on to TDP, but if you're like me you'll want to complete the set.

I absolutely love this series and it's characters and although I wouldn't skip this one it does feel a bit tacked on. Unlike the other two I came away with more questions than answers, don't get me wrong there are usually a couple things that Zahn leaves hanging, I'm sure on purpose, but this just felt like it was full of holes and not the usual, yeah here's the big surprise at the end and no I'm not going to explain anymore, we get from the other two books but more like here's a half an explanation of what this entire book has been about.

But I'd pick it up again because of the characters, even the new ones and seeing more of McMicking is nice, although I did miss everyone's favorite chipmunk. I'm really hoping he decides to flesh the rest of this story out, there's plenty more here, I think anyway, and The Domino Pattern isn't heading that way, but I'm only on the second chapter.

Here's hoping for a fifth, sixth, etc. book soon.

I have always been a fan of Timothy Zahn's writing when I was first exposed to his Star Wars novels. I did read The Third Lynx and gave it mixed reviews based on the extended descriptions and excursions on the Quadrail making it seem reminiscent of an old western involving a who-dunnit on the Orient Express. I can't speak for other Sci-Fi fans, but a story that takes place on what seems like a futuristic version of the Orient Express is not my idea of great science fiction. Back to The Odd Girl Out, Zahn improved on this with limited forays into the Quadrails although he does utilize their design as a plot device. Compton learns something new about the Chahwyn towards the rather anti-climatic end, leaving the series wide open for another book. This was an extremely quick read since I was able to finish it in less than a days worth of reading and the biggest gripe I have is with the rather boring end. Perhaps I had to read the story prior to The Third Lynx, but I didn't really feel the same emotion Compton felt about the Chahwyn's new plans. It also seemed like Compton was some omniscient super spy that is able to defeat Halkas (which I pictured to be brutish bulldogs) using pipes and parts taken off a Harley Davidson motorcycle (yes, there was one being shipped on the Quadrail) when he didn't have access to his HK or Glock pistols loaded with "snoozers" (tranq darts?) or thudwumpers (ballistic ammo). Overall, Zahn's writing is excellent as always and I'll be eagerly awaiting the next book!

Odd Girl Out (2009) is the third mystery SF novel in the Quadrail series, following The Third Lynx. In the previous volume, Compton and his associates drove away Modhri walkers digging in a buried Shonkla-raa equipment dump. Special Agent Morse had been suspected of being a Modhri walker, but subsequent actions mollified this suspicion. After all left except Bayta and himself, Compton confided his beliefs that the dump might contain other weapons.

In this novel, Frank Compton is a former agent of Western Alliance Intelligence. Now he works for the Chahwyn, who created the Spiders and the whole Quadrail system. Compton is their operative against the Modhri.

Bayta is a hybrid between humans and the Chahwyn. She is telepathic on the spider wavelength and can communicate with them undetectably. So she is Compton's liaison with the Spiders.

Bruce McMicking is head of security for Hardin Enterprises. He learned about the Modhri during the first adventure and almost became a walker himself. His boss hates Compton, but McMicking helps him anyway he can.

In this story, Lorelei Beach greets Compton with a gun in her hand. She wants him to help her sister Rebekah to escape from Imani on New Tigris. Compton is dead tired and tells her to call the police. He sends her out the door, but she carries off one of his guns.

Compton goes to bed, but is awakened a couple of hours later by the police. He is escorted to a crime scene. There he finds out that his missing gun was used in a double murder and one victim was Lorelei.

Compton believes that the other victim was probably a Modhri walker. The police arrest Compton on murder charges. The arraignment judge is aware of how flimsy the evidence is, but sets bail at a half million dollars. Fortunately, Compton knows someone with that kind of money.

After McMicking bails him out, Compton explains what has happened and what he plans to do. McMicking provides tickets to reach the Quadrail and documents, including a Hardin ID with a carry permit. Then Compton catches the first shuttle toward the Quadrail station.

Compton talks with the Modhri through several of his walkers. For some reason, the Modhri makes a deal to let Compton search for the Abomination. Compton is not sure what is meant by the term, but he agrees and continues his search for Rebekah.

On New Tigris, Compton and Bayta find the missing girl, but get into more trouble. Modhri walkers frame Compton for three deaths and even try to storm the bar where the girl is located. The whole scenario is rather confused. Compton feels certain that he is missing some facts.

This tale leads Compton, Bayta and McMicking into one risky situation after another. Gunshots -- both snoozers and thudwhumpers -- are fired by both sides. McMicking even steals a torchship.

The story is a typical tangle of lies and false leads. The threesome get trapped on a Quadrail train by a group of walkers. Compton is arrested several times. Yet Bayta and Rebekah get along very well with each other.

Obviously this novel will have a sequel. The next installment is The Domino Pattern. Read and enjoy!

Highly recommended for Zahn fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of high tech, alien cultures, and risky ventures. For anyone who is not familiar with this series, the initial volume is Night Train to Rigel.

-Arthur W. Jordin