Sliding Scales: A Pip & Flinx Adventure [Hardcover]

Alan Dean Foster (Author)

Book Description

Series: Adventures of Pip and Flinx | Publication Date: October 26, 2004

From New York Times bestselling author Alan Dean Foster comes a fantastic new Pip and Flinx adventure starring a certain twenty-four-year-old redhead with emerald eyes and uncanny abilities and his devoted mini-dragon protector. Time and again, the daring pair have braved countless dangers to emerge victorious. But now Flinx attempts something that may be impossible for the heretofore undefeated hero. His mission: to take a vacation.

Never have the cares of the universe lain so heavily on Flinx’s shoulders, nor the forces arrayed against him seemed so invincible. Pursued by a newly revealed sect of doomsday fanatics, hunted by factions inside and outside the Commonwealth for transgressions real and imagined, expected to single-handedly avert a looming galactic crisis (or bear responsibility for the consequences), Flinx can be forgiven for feeling a slight touch of melancholy.

There’s only one solution for what ails Flinx, according to his ship’s AI. But taking time off is tricky business. With an increasing number of enemies chasing him with ever-greater enthusiasm, Flinx must find a getaway shrouded in obscurity. Jast, a planet smack in the middle of nowhere, is the perfect locale.

Yet even in a place where hardly anyone’s ever seen a human, Flinx and trouble can’t stay separated for long. Unfortunately, Flinx hasn’t a clue that his vacation paradise is in reality a danger zone of the highest magnitude. And by the time he learns the truth, it may be too late.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Flinx and Pip, that daring duo of man and "minidrag" (a flying snake), take a break—or try to—from fighting the forces of evil in Foster's surprisingly dark ninth entry (after 2003's Flinx's Folly) in an SF series usually considered light on substance but heavy on fun. Philip "Flinx" Lynx, the young Commonwealth hero, is exhausted. He may hold the key to saving the universe, but he doesn't care. He broods over Clarity Held, the injured girlfriend he left behind in Flinx's Folly. Teacher, his ever-helpful ship-mind, suggests a vacation. Unfortunately, Flinx travels to Jast, a planet caught in a rising conflict between two sentient species, the mushroom-like Vssey and the reptilian AAnns. An ambitious AAnn secondary administrator, Takuuna, wants Jast allied with the Empire at any cost, including subterfuge, terrorism and murder. His mistrust of "softskinned" humans leads to an attempt on Flinx's life, but Chraluuc, an AAnn artisan, finds Flinx and nurses him back to health as the outcast artists of Tier courageously welcome him into their family. Foster exhibits a keen eye for depicting alien art forms and injects a cohesion lacking in some earlier installments, giving the series a much-needed energy boost.
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From School Library Journal

Adult/High School–On the run, the young human Flinx and his companion, Pip, an Alaspasian flying snake, arrive on the planet Jast for a "vacation," but find it under the influence of the AAn Empire, enemy of the Humanx Commonwealth. Inspector Taruuna, assigned to Flinx as guide (and watchdog), attacks him and leaves the "spy" for dead. Rescued and given shelter by the Tier, an AAn artists' colony, Flinx recovers but has lost his memory. The situation is further complicated by the beginning of local resistance to AAn control. Foster does a wonderful job of creating an alien world: the varied life-forms on Jast use air-filled bladders for locomotion. The sentient Vssey, tubular and tentacled, make decisions by consensus reached after lengthy discussion, infuriating the reptilian AAn; they believe in hierarchy and survival of the fittest. Flinx and the Tier find common ground despite major cultural differences; he and Craluuc, a female artist, form a particularly strong bond. When Taruuna learns that Flinx is alive, the Tier must decide whether to defy the order to turn him in. Familiarity with previous Pip and Flinx books is assumed. Flinx's final defense against Taruuna may seem a bit out-of-the-blue, but it is in line with the character's evolving abilities throughout the series. An entertaining, imaginative adventure with a likable protagonist.–Sandy Freund, Richard Byrd Library, Fairfax County, VA

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Del Rey; First Edition edition (October 26, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345461568
• ISBN-13: 978-0345461568
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,407,970 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

28 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A real letdown to the series, November 15, 2004

By 

G. Tenison (MI ,USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Sliding Scales: A Pip & Flinx Adventure (Hardcover)

Wow - I have loved this series but this book stunk. I really had to force myself to read through it. What a letdown to a really great series. Absolutely NOTHING moved forward in this story. No movement in Flinx's mental powers, no movement in his relationship with Clarity (in fact she wasnt even in the book), no movement towards finding or using the weapon platform. You can skip this book and MISS NOTHING in this series. What a piece of CR*P.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Flinx Takes A Book Off, June 21, 2005

By 

Marc Ruby™ "The Noh Hare™" (Warren, MI USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Sliding Scales: A Pip & Flinx Adventure (Hardcover)

To be honest, I had some doubts about this new Pip & Flinx series after Flinx's Folly. Somehow, Foster's effort to write a combination love story and suspense tale gets completely lost amidst the threats of the Order of Null and the impending doom that is reaching across space. The end result was a nervous tale that never seemed to settle with Flinx falling steadily out of character. More for old time's sake than anything else I decided to try the next in this particular adventure, Sliding Scales.

This, however, is a completely different animal. When Teacher, is AI driven ship suggests that he might need a vacation, Flinx actually heeds its advice and instructs it to find an interesting world where he will be free of the influences of everyone who is trying to make him ultimately responsible for the survival of the universe. The computer selects Jast, a lonely planet in the middle of a region of space where both Humanx and Aan interests intersect. The the biosphere is entirely composed of species, intelligent and otherwise, who have either one or no feet. This slows things down considerably and the Vssey are intelligent, and technically adept, but they decide everything by committee, and take as much time as it takes. Which drives the Aan presence on the planet insane.

Flinx lands, and is promptly the subject of a murder attempt by an Aan who is hungry for status. Flinx survives with no memory, and nearly dies on the desert when he is rescued by other Aan, from the Tier of Ssaiinn, an artists colony which is entirely unlike everything we know of the Aan. In the meantime, a Vssey rebellion is fomenting (ever so slowly) and suddenly the Aan back at the capital find themselves the object of terrorist attacks. Flinx has jumped into the midst of trouble again, but this adventure has many unusual twists.

What really makes the story is all of the details of the Aan. They have been the stereotypical villains for so long that actually discovering they have personalities is a surprise. While some are painted as the ultra-aggressive, status-conscious types we've seen before, even the more militant Aan have some shred of 'humanity.' And the artists of the Tier of Ssaiinn are a delightful change as we discover that Aan can actually be both admirable and likeable.

I'm not sure if this book is intended to advance the story arc about the evil from beyond the Great Emptiness or give the reader's a well deserved break before the story picks up again, but Sliding Scales works much better than its predecessor. It's hardly the great American science fiction novel, but it is decent entertainment. Whether you buy the hardback or decide to wait for the paperback, I think you'll find this an acceptible effort.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Wow, major letdown, March 10, 2005

By 

Karen K. Franklin "Bheancoran ap Eric" (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Sliding Scales: A Pip & Flinx Adventure (Hardcover)

I absolutely love Alan Dean Fosters work and I have followed the Flink/Pip story line with delight. Which makes this weak, thin story even more of a let down than if I had picked it up as a unknown author. I expected the usual "on the edge of your seat" writing and emotional angst that I enjoyed in the other stories and this one was nothing but one big ramble about balloon creatures and long names. The characters were thin and one dimensional, I learned more than I ever needed or wanted to know about AAnn mating strategies. The only reason this rates a space on my bookshelf is that I hate to be one book short of a complete collection of Mr. Fosters work. You can safely skip this book and not miss a thing.