Quofum [Mass Market Paperback]

Alan Dean Foster (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 25, 2009

The mission to planet Quofum to investigate unknown flora and fauna is supposed to be a quickie for Captain Boylan and his crew. The first surprise is that Quofum, which seems to regularly slip in and out of existence, is actually there when they arrive. The second surprise is Quofum’s wild biodiversity: The planet is not logical, ordered, or rational. But the real shock comes when the crew members not only find a killer in their midst but discover that their spaceship is missing–along with all means of communication. Of course, the marooned teammates know nothing about the Great Evil racing toward the galaxy, or about Flinx, the only person with half a chance to stop it. Nor do they know that Quofum could play a crucial role in defeating the all-devouring monster from beyond.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Setting the stage for the final book in the popular Pip and Flinx series, this intriguing first contact mystery ends on a cliffhanger without resolving a thing. In an otherwise unremarkable star system outside Commonwealth space, the planet Quofum seems to appear and disappear at will. A crew of xenologists sent to study the life forms that enjoy Quofum's earthlike atmosphere and alcohol-laced water oceans are shocked to discover four primitive intelligent species so unlike one another that they couldn't possibly have evolved on the same world, as well as a vast underground complex full of mysterious technology. While this novel may fill in background details for Flinx Transcendent, expected next year, it's hard to see why one needs an entire book of what is, essentially, backstory. (Oct.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

The lead-in to the end of the Pip and Flinx saga tracks a scientific expedition to Quofum, which doesn’t always exist. It moves, and its astonishing riot of life-forms—everything from predatory plants to many intelligent species—with it. While the science crew studies the natives, the maintenance tech, who’s actually a debt collector, leaves the planet, marooning everybody else. They keep collecting data, anyway, and discover why the planet sporadically disappears and the promise of a terrible threat to come. Foster clearly enjoys imagining Quofum’s profuse biota, so much that the book is tantamount to a stand-alone, though certainly significant in the greater epic. --Regina Schroeder --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Del Rey (August 25, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 034549606X
• ISBN-13: 978-0345496065
• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 0.8 x 6.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #538,839 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Alan Dean Foster's work to date includes excursions into hard science-fiction, fantasy, horror, detective, western, historical, and contemporary fiction. He has also written numerous non-fiction articles on film, science, and scuba diving, as well as having produced the novel versions of many films, including such well-known productions as "Star Wars", the first three "Alien" films, "Alien Nation", and "The Chronicles of Riddick". Other works include scripts for talking records, radio, computer games, and the story for the first "Star Trek" movie. His novel "Shadowkeep" was the first ever book adapation of an original computer game. In addition to publication in English his work has been translated into more than fifty languages and has won awards in Spain and Russia. His novel "Cyber Way" won the Southwest Book Award for Fiction in 1990, the first work of science-fiction ever to do so.

Foster's sometimes humorous, occasionally poignant, but always entertaining short fiction has appeared in all the major SF magazines as well as in original anthologies and several "Best of the Year" compendiums. His published oeuvre includes more than 100 books.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Sub-par, Mr. Foster..., March 15, 2009

By 

Joshua Barr (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Quofum (Hardcover)

This is sub-par for Foster (a great author in my book). He's one of my favorite authors, but the last few books don't even sound like they were written by him. The same elements are there but all the magic is gone. There's no suspense, the characters are flat, and the whole book reeks of deus ex machina intervention.
This book was below the bar even as a random read from the bookstore shelf, much less from an author with the ability to produce truly excellent work. I bought the book without even looking further than the by-line, and it was an incredible disappointment.
Skip this one.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars well written set up tale, November 1, 2008

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Quofum (Hardcover)

The Humanx Commonwealth is intrigued with the unique planet Quofum, which is outside their sector, because the orb appears to vanish and reappear off their monitors. Captain Boylen is assigned to escort four xenologists to study the planet especially the life forms since the oceans contain alcohol.

Thus he and his crew bring two men, one woman and a Thanx to the mysterious planet. Upon arrival they find three shockers. First there are several primitive but intelligent species that are so dissimilar they could never evolve on the same orb. Second they encounter thousands of other various life-forms never seen anywhere else. Finally as mysterious as the diversity findings prove, the visitors have no idea who made a gigantic underground compound containing technology and gadgetry none of the scientists recognize.

This is a well written tale crucial to the expected final Pip and Flinx novel though the two stars never appear in QUOFUM. The story line is fast-paced and exciting, but disappointingly never finishes any key thread; instead it sets the background for that Pip and Flinx finale. Consequently fans of the saga will have mixed feelings about the trip to QUOFUM.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Somewhere in the Middle, April 19, 2009

By 

Gary Shea (Wisconsin) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Quofum (Hardcover)

At two key points I was slapped into recognizing that Alan Dean Foster writes book series. I know I know it says A BOOK OF THE COMMONWEALTH on the dust jacket. What was to me a Greek middle (i.e. coming from out of nowhere) might not have been if I had been familiar with Foster's universe. I find that I prefer a novel that can stand on its own especially in terms of plot and resolution. I think I can handle a trilogy - especially if I know a book is part of one. The ending of QUOFUM is deferment, which is definitely not fulfilling. A book should be able to be both - part of a grand series and a rich work in and of itself.