Customer Reviews

Orphan Star (Pip & Flinx Series)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Orhan Star is the sequel to The Tar-Aiym Krang. We find Flinx, no longer a poor orphan, chasing a merchant to Hivehom and Terra in search of information about his parentage. His chase leads him to Ulru-Ujurr, a planet under Edict from the United Church, ostentisbly because it contains a highly intelligent telepathic race. There, with some typical Foster excitement, a battle is fought and won. Orphan Star is a little slow in the middle, but the exciting and illuminating ending makes up for it. Foster's new aliens are very interesting and would make a good study for a novel on their own.

1) Alan Dean Foster is the author. 2) Flinx and Pip, need I say more? anyway, this is another great book in the Flinx and Pip series. I recommend this book to all. I can't really give a synapsis, it's been too long since I've read it (I'm gonna buy a copy because I borrowed it from the library, and want my own copy). This entire series is probably one of my favorite series. Read it in order though... (For Love of Mother Not, The Tar-Aiym Krang, Orphan Star, The End of the Matter, Flinx in Flux, Bloodhype (flinx only plays a small part in this story), Mid-Flinx

I can't agree with the other reviewers. This series started with For Love of Mother - Not. Mother Not was filed with adventure and interesting characters. Then came The Tar-Aiym Krang. It was a big step down. I reviewed is as hopefully a transitional book in Flinx's discovery of his past, but as a stand alone book it was pretty bad. Now with Orphan Star we have a little more adventure and the return of some old characters. We also know the answer to half of Flinx's question, but clearly not the important half. While I think it's better than The Tar-Aiym Krang, the series is still far from living up to the promise of Mother Not.

This was yet another good book in the series. I have read them in publication order to this point, not the Amazon prescribed order, but that won't matter anymore after reading "For Love of Mother Not" next. Anyway, I loved this bit of the story, except for one thing, which isn't technically part of the story. As I have said on many other books I've read on the Kindle, I don't like the fact that his book has no chapter demarcation at the bottom of the screen. It's much easier to read by chapter demarcation for finding a stopping point than it is to have to wait for a chapter's end to finally be reached when you don't know how long that will be at all. For anyone who loved the previous books, whether read in publishing order or not, this is a good one and I recommend it highly. You won't be disappointed if you liked the others.

The book "Orphan Star" focuses on Flinx's quest to find out who his parents are. Flinx is back in Drallar, after the events in the book, "The Tar-Aiym Krang". He is soon kidnapped my a powerful merchant, Conda Challis and his mysterious daughter, Mahnahmi. Flinx and Pip escape from the clutches of Challis, but not before Challis drops a huge hint of Flinx's parents. Thus starts a chase throughout the book, of Flinx attempting to find Challis and confront him with the knowledge of who his parents are. The chase leads to Terra (Earth), where we find out is Flinx's birthplace. He makes it to the United Church Headquarters where he meets a female Thranx, Sylzenzuzex.. We find out she is the niece of Truzenzuzex, who was in the book "The Tar-Aiym Krang". Eventually, the chase leads to an outlying world, Ulra-Ujurr, which is under Church Edict for no one to enter. Does Flinx find out who his parents are, and how he received his "talents"?

Alan Dean Foster once again does an excellent job of describing the many characters and locations in detail. He also furthers the story of Flinx and Pip, and leaves you wanting to learn more about his lineage, and what adventures he will be on next.

Flinx is on the move again when he risks all to chase his past to a forbidden planet! He finds more clues to his past, and at the same time when things are at their darkest, finds friends who can appreciate his special talents! Of all this Flinx tales, I liked this one for its high-risk adventure! It was a lot of fun!

I'm not impressed with cover art cranked out of a digital media program. I'm even less impressed with the cover art in this particular case because the image portrayed fits the yuppy-ized characterization of a middle-teenager in California--not a rough and tumble almost-man raised on the streets of a dirt water frontier planet. But this doesn't portray the mentality of the author, rather it portrays the mentality of the corporate world of publishing: patently juvenile. However, on the upside, the story between the cheesy art covers was the same, fine work that A.D. Foster pounded out on his typewriter years ago. Back when there were REAL artists, and they ACTUALLY read the books they made cover art for. Alean Dean Foster must have been less than pleased that the "artist" made his character look like a very girlish thirteen year old raised on Rodeo Dr., who might have been some street-hood's 'pump', instead of a young man looking for his past.

People is going crazy and destroying important and strategic places. Flinx lives a simple life until he's chased to operate with his mental powers the toy of a powerful man and, after scaping, goes to the border of the galaxy just to find a plot who would change history, a lie of the church, and his own past...
Jaime Moraga (jim@moai.usach.cl)