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22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
It's another Flinx and Pip book, June 5, 2001
After an interminable wait, Alan Dean Foster gives us another Flinx and Pip novel. There are quite a lot of firsts: our first visit to an actual AAnn world (and our first meeting with AAnn who are *not* actively engaged in the attempted subjugation of the human race), our first glimpse into the complexities of the Commonwealth computer system, and the first time Flinx actively defies Commonwealth authority instead of merely being elusive. Not to mention properly immense alien artifacts and the long-fated return of a tormented girl with immense powers and even more reason than Flinx to hate the universe. For all these reasons, and more, this book easily earns a four-star rating from me. But as much as I enjoyed reading it, I can't help but think that it is just what it says it is, "another Flinx novel." I have to wonder, after all the soul-shattering revelations and grim destinies that ADF keeps subjecting his hero to, if he actually intends to resolve the series! If we have to keep waiting five years between Flinx books, it may be several decades before, as it is stated so succinctly on the author's web site, "Flinx turns fifty, the reality and ultimate threat emerging from the Great Emptiness makes itself known to the civilizations of the galaxy, and the Final Confrontation commences." To put it bluntly, the tone of Reunion falls flat for me. Maybe it's partly the fact that Flinx persists in being so obstinate about retaining his independence from authority, so adamant about being independent. In his persistent mission of self-discovery, he is so obsessed with the plain facts of his life that he completely ignores the subtler but more profound clues that the universe keeps throwing into his life. After a while, it becomes hard for me to empathize. Maybe it's perfect characterization, but in a series as long as this, I am starting to get a little bored with Flinx's stubbornness. Reunion lacks that special, undefinable *something* that was present in earlier Flinx books, leading me to wonder if Alan Dean Foster is losing enthusiasm for his work. I desperately hope not, but this is the main reason that I give the book a four, not a five. I also wonder if the long wait between books is at least partly to blame for some of the odd stutters of continuity between the various novels. For example: in Flinx in Flux, the Teacher (Flinx's marvelous ship) is filled with a garden of exotic plants and Ulru-Ujurrian artifacts. In Midworld, it suddenly becomes spare and utilitarian. In Reunion, it suddenly becomes able to shift itself to any of a variety of exotic displays. In Flinx in Flux, Flinx's ability to *project* emotions--as opposed to merely receiving--suddenly develops by several orders of magnitude. In Midworld, this ability is strangely unmentioned. In Reunion, it is suddenly back, except Flinx seems to have had it (and known about it) for most of his life. Other loose ends in the series remain agonizingly unresolved. When is Foster going to let us know whether Mother Mastiff is still alive? What have the delightful Bran Tse-Mallory and Truzenzuzex been up to, and will we ever see them again? Are the Qwarm (who put in an unexpected and somewhat understated appearance in Reunion) still trying to kill Flinx? Does Clarity come back? What about the redoubtable Maxim Malaika? Skua September? The Xunca? Will they all come together in some ridiculously improbable climax, or will they just dangle loosely for all eternity? Lastly, I cannot help but wonder how, given the immense trouble he is now in with Commonwealth authorities after the events of this novel, our dear Flinx manages to be so nondescript and unruffled eight years later, where he puts in his appearance on Repler to deal with the Vom (Bloodhype, written in 1973). Don't get me wrong - I love this book! But I really wonder how Alan Dean Foster intends to wrap up all his series' loose ends and provide us with a climax worthy of nearly thirty years of thrilling buildup... and if, at his current pace, he will be alive long enough to write it!
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Quite readable, but devoid of any real content, July 22, 2001
The first sci-fi book I read as a kid was Foster's "The End of the Matter", probably because of the facinating blue pear shaped alien on the cover. I think I could hardly have picked a better sci-fi book to start off with. The Flinx novels have been consistently creative, extremely well written, and a lot of fun to read. The alien worlds are inventive and vividly detailed, the characters are typically believable and interesting, and Foster's Commonwealth is a remarkably optimistic universe which is thankfully free of modern sci-fi literature's cliche's.. (governments that aren't entirely corrupt, religions that aren't singlemindedly dedicated to ignorance and superstition, corporations that aren't just out to rape and pillage??) Unfortunately, this particular novel seems more like a filler. It reads more like the first couple of chapters of one of the better books in the series. You are waiting for the real focus of the story to emerge, then suddenly find yourself with only twenty pages left in the book to read. Worse yet, you discover that instead of the characteristic inventiveness of other books in the series, you are treated to some particularly non-inventive (though larger in scale) elements in this storyline. At the end you are left wondering what happened to the rest of the book, and why Foster seemed to have cut short the story and constructed a rather quick ending that left it feeling unresolved. Perhaps he had another more interesting project on the line and had to wrap this one up right away. In any case, the book is fun and readable, and taken as an interim transition to a more interesting forthcoming story sometime in the future (hopefully), it's not bad. If you're a fan of the series you're sure to like it, though you'll definitely be left a little unsatisfied.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A place-holder in the series, June 5, 2001
This is the 8th Pip and Flinx novel, and my least favorite so far. Dealing with Flinx's never-ending search for his personal history, REUNION actually contains several different reunions, as Flinx runs into the AAnn, Mahnahmi, and a little something left behind by a long-vanished civilization. Flinx starts out on Earth seducing his way into a secure records facility, and from there follows the trail of a crucial file all the way into AAnn space--where he finds that the possessor of the file is the mentally talented and morally challenged young girl he last saw on Ulru-Ujurr. The setup of the book is such that the meeting with Mahnahmi is apparently supposed to be a surprise, but only to those who haven't read the editorial reviews above. Frankly, I would have preferred that Flinx come face-to-face with her much earlier in the book. As it is, the first half of the book is fairly dull. Foster seems to have found a new thesaurus, judging from the number of dubious adjectives that sprinkle the pages, but that doesn't make the action any more interesting. MID-FLINX did a much better job describing camouflaged dangers on an unknown world, and had more of a plot to boot. REUNION is surprisingly lacking in interesting characters; the few humans who appear are mere plot devices, lacking any meaningful contribution to the story. The cynical and ambitious AAnn, when they appear in the narrative, are far more plausible than the humans. The rush of action at the end of the book hints that more sequels are upcoming. Presumably this novel was intended to prepare readers for those future adventures. I would recommend that avid followers of the series read this book; first-time browsers should instead start with an earlier, worthier selection like THE TAR-AIYM KRANG.
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