The Tar-Aiym Krang (Series: Flinx 2.) [Paperback]

Alan Dean (Cover illustration by Dean Ellis.) Foster (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: 1975

The last vestige of the last culture of TAR-AIYM, the long-dead planet, was Krang. It magnetized the adventurous, the curious, and the greedy. And killed them all. Or turned them into its living-dead slaves. Until a boy named Flinx and his pet snake stole its awesome power. Then Flinx had to decide what to do with it. The answer astonished him.

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Ballantine Books; Third printing edition (1975)
• ASIN: B000OV6T4Q
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,062,759 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 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Alien Device, May 16, 2008

By 

Arthur W. Jordin (Smyrna, GA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Tar-Aiym Krang (Mass Market Paperback)

The Tar-Aiym Krang (1972) is the first SF novel in the Flinx series. It is also the first novel about the Humanx Commonwealth and Church founded by the Amalgamation of humans and the insectoid thranx. And it introduces their adversaries, the reptilian AAnn.

In this novel, Philip Lynx is an orphan in Drallar on Moth. He was fairly normal as a poor street kid, but he was also highly intelligent and avidly curious about many things. Flinx has developed some unusual powers as he grows older. He seems to be aware of things that he shouldn't know and he can often sense the emotions of most people.

Pip is an Alaspin minidragon, a flying reptile with a deadly toxic venom. A much younger Flinx found her scavenging for food in the garbage and they have been inseparable ever since. Although she is carnivorous, Pip also eats plant foods such as bread, raisins and pretzels.

Pip has a highly developed telempathic sense and generally knows whether a person is friendly or hostile. If anyone acts out his hostility, she is likely to spit in their eyes. They usually die within a minute.

Mother Mastiff is very old and definitely not getting any younger. She had bought Flinx from the slave coops and raised him to be independent. She had hired various performers to teach him a trade, but they were understandably nervous around Pip and tended to spend little time with him. Fortunately, he has grown into his own unusual trade.

In this story, Flinx is performing outside Mother Mastiff's shop, answering questions asked by his audience. After correctly answering the question of how much change is within the pocket of somebody in the crowd, two tough looking characters ask the location of a red-headed man with a treasure map. As Flinx is searching for an answer, a red-headed man suddenly leaves the crowd and the two toughs chase after him.

After the performance, Flinx heads toward Small Symm's bar for liquid refreshment and food for Pip and himself. On the way, they hear sounds of a fight in an alley. Flinx is ready to ignore the clash, but Pip flies off to investigate.

When Flinx enters the alley, he finds the two toughs hovering over the red-headed man. The toughs are swatting at Pip and then attack Flinx. Defending themselves, Pip and Flinx kill the toughs, but they discover that the red-headed man is already dead. Still, the red-headed dead man is clutching a treasure map in his hand.

Sticking the map in his pouch, Flinx continues on to Small Symm's bar. There he takes a job as a guide for Bran Tse-Mallory and Truzenzuzex. He shows the human and thranx around the city and then they enter the inburb where the very rich live. To his surprise, Eint Truzenzuzex shows the guard a card and they are readily admitted. Then they are admitted within the House of Malaika by identifying themselves as highly ranked scholars.

Flinx has performed in the tower, but never in the private section where they meet with Maxim Malaika. Bran and Tru speak to Malaika about an excursion that might be very profitable to him. After a while, Malaika encourages Flinx to retire to the pantry and have some refreshments.

While eating and feeding Pip, Flinx discovers a partially open door into a bar area and an eavesdropper listening to the conversation in the next room. He kicks the eavesdropper through a vent into that next room. Atha is very angry at Flinx and tries to damage him, but he successfully avoids her blows until Malaika stops the fight.

Malaika reminds Atha that she has been told many times before not to eavesdrop on his conversations. Then he sends her to prep his shuttle. When Malaika continues his conversation with Bran and Tru, Flinx is now included. The human and thranx mention a contact who hasn't shown up with data on the target planet and Flinx produces the star map.

This tale takes Flinx and the others into the Blight looking for a Tar-Aiym relic. The device is either a musical instrument or a weapon. They don't even know how big it is. Nonetheless, they are on their way, but somebody else is following them.

This book is the initial offering by the author. He has gone on to write many other books in other series, but he still comes back to the Humanx Commonwealth (see Quofum). And he still writes novels about Pip and Flinx, the latest being Patrimony.

Highly recommended for Foster fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of psionic talents, alien technology and high adventure.

-Arthur W. Jordin

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The begining of a great series, March 18, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Tar-Aiym Krang (Mass Market Paperback)

Meet Phillip Linx known to his friends as Flix,an orphan sold at the Drallar slave markets, taken in by a kind local Mother Mastive. Thus starts one of the most memorable sagas that I have read, Fosters charecterization brings to vibrant life the players in the marveously evolving galaxy of the Commonwealth. I would thoroughly recommend this book as a spring board into the wonderously convoluted world of Flix of the Commonwealth.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Space Opera at its best!, May 27, 2001

By 

Dawn Smoker (Mechanicsburg, PA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Tar-Aiym Krang (Mass Market Paperback)

This one's an old favorite of mine, but I must say I like this new cover much better than mine! Flinx is an orphan living in the slums of the planet Drallar with his venomous, flying minidrag, Pip. Flinx yearns to find out his heritage and the orgin of his strange mental powers. He stumbles across a map leading to a strange alien artifact on an abandoned world and is swept up in a grand adventure. Foster's Humanx Commonwealth and Flinx and all his companions are fascinating creations. If you like this one, try and find all Flinx's adventures, as well as the Icerigger Series. (Icerigger, Mission to Moulokin, & The Deluge Drivers)