Customer Reviews

Reunion (Pip and Flinx)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

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!

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.

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.

Another Pip and Flinx novel. In Reunion Flinx is essentially grown up and is still searching for the reason for his existence (and understanding of his powers). He returns to Earth a using his powers befriends and tricks a woman so he can gain access to information about the Meliorare society who genetically enhanced him. Just as he is about to get the information he is looking for, it is stolen and he is forced to chase the thief across the galaxy. In the very surprising conclusion, a Tar Aim artifact is found as is Flinx's sister. Overall, I am getting pretty bored with Pip and Flinx. Come on Foster, throw us a bone here and let something actually happen. These books are turning into the X-Files, all hints at big things with no substance.

Ok, I am a great Flinx and Commonwealth fan. I own all of the series, but I was disappointed with this book. I thought there was little character development, almost no expansion of our understanding of the commonwealth and a lot of contradictions from previous books, noteably the Tar-Aiym Krang. Without providing spoilers, I think this is a regertable effort in the commonwealth/Flinx universe.

I agree with most of the other reviews. This book while it does start true to the original Flix/Pip forumla nothing of real content is divalged. It is good for what it is but nothing comes of it.

My impression-I liked this book, but like I said nothing really happened. You should read it if you are a big fan of this serise however.

After reading the reviews I decided to borrow the book from the library and buy it if it were a "keeper". It is not. Usually after reading a book there are several secions I reread because they are so good. There were NO sections in Reunion I wanted to reread.

I wondered why I was so disappointed and decided it was because:

1. Flinx, in this book, is NOT a likable character. At the end, the book compares Flinx to his sister, Mahnahmi, with the intention of showing how much better Flinx is. However, at the beginning of the book he willingly destroys the career and psyche of an innocent, to get his own way. I'm fairly hard on people who cross their OWN moral boundaries but think it's OK so long as they feel bad about it momentarily. The only difference between Flinx and Mahnahmi is a matter of degree, she acknowledges what she is. He, feels bad, momentarily, but is willing to ruin people anyway. She is psychotic, he's obsessive and a hypocrite. Not a very appealing hero.

2. About 20 - 22% of the book was excess verbiage, usually of 4 or 5 syllables. I think Mr. Foster has forgotten succinct, description creates a much better story. Especially in the desert I scanned 3 & 4 paragraphs at a time, they added nothing to the book except length, and succeeded in making his near death boring enough for me to put the book down for several hours, before I went back to see how he lived through it.

3. The premise that he is after information on the Meliorare Society to get rid of his headaches is pretty thin. They quote, created a lot of monsters who needed to be destroyed, so the members of the society obviously didn't know what they were going to get out of their slicing and dicing. Looking for a way to solve the headache problem would be a more logical premise.

The book was at least good enough to finish reading, but had NO areas interesting enough to go back and read a second time. I'm glad I only borrowed it, otherwise I would have had to get rid of it.

As big a fan of Alan Dean Foster that I am, I have yet to read any of the Pip (a mini-dragon) and Flinx books. I think I actually have at least one more of the series in a box somewhere, but have yet to read it because I wanted to get the whole series before I started. I would have been better off starting at the beginning.

The story is quite good. I found myself zipping through the story from the beginning to the end. However, without the background of the previous books, I know I was missing a lot. Why was Flinx digging through computers on Earth? Why was his background unknown to him? I know, it was a big mistake to start a series with the last book, but many authors try to make their series books stand on their own enough that you lose little by not having read the previous books. Forget about that premise here. You need to read the previous books in the series to know what is going on. I did appreciate the references to stories I have read, such as "Cachalot" and "Midworld." I enjoyed both novels and would recommend them.

I did enjoy the ending of this novel (which was awesome and excellent, and made me want to read about the alien ship - which is one of the best features of this book), but it left a lot of questions unanswered. I also realized that the ending of the story is but a prelude to the next Pip and Flinx story because the chase is still on at the end of the book.

For now my rating is three stars, but only because of the hanging ending. The story is well-written and fast-paced, but leaving the story for two years without a sequel seems like bad planning. I should point out that the next Pip and Flinx book, "Sliding Scales," is expected to be out later this year. A well-written follow up to this book could easily change my rating to at least four stars and possibly five.

The Flinx-novels are fun but the latest is very uninspired.There is nothing new to be learned about our hero.the whole action seems very coincidental.it reads like a first draft for a book.the ideas are not worked out and the writing is rather poor.

This glimpse through a foggy window into the life of Flinx is classic Foster. In his inimitable fashion, Flinx gets into and out of trouble, using both his frustratingly uncooperative talent, and his trusty wits. Pip (a girl? Who knew?) is there with her characteristic desire for food and companionship. This novel wonderfully suplements the prior Flinx of the Commonwealth sequence, bringing back elements of earlier stories in a nice bit of a visit to memory lane. This would, however, present a bit of difficulty to those who are picking this up as their first Flinx selection: too many gaps in the overall epic are filled in from the reader's memory. The book stands alone wonderfully, but is much more satisfying as a continuation of a story that we've loved for years. Thanks, Mr. Foster. I'm waiting for the next one.