Customer Reviews

The Third Lynx

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Here we are treated to a Zahn sequel which, amazingly enough, has nothing to do with Star Wars.

I was a bit surprised to find that Zahn chose to write a sequel for the book Night train to Rigel. Surprised simply because when compared to other amazing works (Icarus Hunt for one) I can imagine much more deserving stories which need another book.

The first book of this series worked well in the same way that Icarus Hunt did. It dropped you in the middle of a story and left you curious, interested and confused for the rest of the book. Sadly, this book lacks a large amount of the mystery which made Rigel so interesting. Knowing the enemy, the setting and all of the background before the book started actually destroyed the fun.

It is told in the same quirky, fast paced, first person view that many of Zahn's stories are told. Although, I have to admit, the constant self-assured and cocky attitude of the main character did get old after a while. It did keep me interested through the whole book and it comes off as a short read since most of the scenes blend so seamlessly into each other.

If you have actually read Night Train to Rigel and liked it, then pick up this book and you will still find some enjoyment out of it. If you are new to the works of Timothy Zahn, well then I would recommend you pick up Icarus Hunt or the Conquer's Trilogy long before you set sites on this.

Zahn is generally an excellent author, but I feel that The Third Lynx is a bit sub-par compared to his Star Wars novels. I didn't get the impression that Morse was British until the 2nd half of the book, where he began to use "bloody" in almost every other dialogue. The use of the Quad-rail space trains and the ports started to get boring after the first quarter of the book, and it resembled an old-fashioned "whodunnit" on the Orient express. The description of the characters is rather dry, and all of the different aliens did not quite add to the story as much as a Sci-Fi enthusiast would have wanted. Overall it was not a bad story, but it would have flowed better with less talk about first class seating in the quad-rail and if the entire war between the Chahwyn and Mohdrids was compressed into one larger story rather than split the novels into multiple parts. Compton makes way too many assumptions and the author writes this off as Compton's "Westali" training and military experience.

It's not perfect, but it is a very good read. The first book in this series, Night Train to Rigel, is better, but I really enjoyed this sequel too. This book follows the continued battle of wits between the main character, Frank Compton, former intelligence agent, and the Modhri, the alien group mind that is trying to take over the universe. Compton has been hired by the Chahwyn, an alien race that few know exist, to battle the Modhri and prevent its secret takeover of every race linked by the Quadrail, the only known means of intergalactic travel available. The Modhri infects humans and aliens alike and can telepathically take control of them at any time. Therefore, the protagonists never know who might be an enemy until the Modhri reveals itself.

This book starts off with a murder on the intergalactic train and continues with the search for a stolen sculpture. The Modhri will stop at nothing to obtain the sculpture for reasons that you will discover later in the novel.

I've been reading and enjoying Mr. Zahn's novels since I started high school over 2o years ago. I think his Blackcollar and Cobra series were the first SF books I ever read. This is not hard SF (insofar as I understand the different SF distinctions). Rather, Mr. Zahn writes accessible and briskly-paced SF stories filled with action, interesting characters, alien technology, and fun plots with surprising twists. I highly recommend this book, but definitely start with Night Train to Rigel.

I enjoyed this book, not quite as much as Night Train to Rigel but still enjoyed it. It does drag a bit but it's definitely worth buying if you enjoyed the first book. I'd rather not spoil the plot so that's about that, enjoy.

Perhaps Zahn caught a Hitchcock marathon on late night TV? Night Train To Rigel worked OK, although the plot felt a little too disjointed because the misdirection was oversold. In this sequel, the problem goes the other way ... the misdirection is not convincing enough.

It features a classic noir setup, in which a man is found standing over a body and now has to solve the crime because he has become the prime suspect. But after toying with that a bit, the plot device is abandoned.

Instead, a different kind of device becomes the focus of the book. The rest of the story is an extended hunt for what is obviously a McGuffin. With a nod to Hammett's Maltese Falcon, everyone is looking for a piece of black sculpture called "the third lynx". The bad guys want it so the good guys want to get it instead of them, even though they don't know why the bad guys want it in the first place.

While Night Train could have been left to stand alone, the publication of Lynx indicates this is now officially a series. And sure enough, the third book is called Odd Girl Out.

I would recommend that fans of these books try some Hitchcock movies, but I'm afraid that they would be disappointed when they discover that Hitchcock did it better.

This book was a fun and easy read, and was better than I remember the first book in the series (NIGHT TRAIN TO RIGEL) being.

This book is a "SciFi Mystery", and most of the happenstances are interesting, and at least somewhat believable. But things totally come undone in the last chapter - with a string of unbelievable and far out occurrences... it appears the author is setting the stage for a third book, but he actually does a good job of discouraging me to pursue this series any longer.

Former spy Frank Compton is fighting a lonely battle against a life form (the Modhri) who can create a colony of himself in virtually any living thing, either influencing or taking over the entire life form. Fortunately, he's got Bayta, an assistant who is not only capable, but who can telepathically commuicate to the spiders who run the train system that communicates the multiple space-traveling civilizations--and who can make sure he travels first class. It's when he's traveling first class that another human approaches him with a strange (not to say suspicious) story about an art object. When the man is murdered shortly later, Compton becomes a suspect. But Compton learns that the Modhri is interested in the art objects--and anything the Modhri wants, Compton intends to make sure they don't get.

Being suspected of murder puts a bit of a cramp on Compton's normal abilities--especially when his alien bosses decide he's more of a liability than an asset and fire him. Still, through a combination of fast talking, judicious blackmail, and rash promises, he manages to stay alive and put himself on track of the last of the artworks. He even comes up with a theory of why the Modhri is interested, and it isn't because the Modhri has decided art collecting is more worthwhile than galactic conquest.

Author Timothy Zahn combines a space-opera style with the hard-boiled detective story in an intriguing adventure. Compton, with his conflicted feelings about Earth and Bayta, makes an interesting character--maybe too smart and sure of himself to be really likable, but interesting. Bayta is a great side-kick, her talents exactly matching what Compton needs.

As with any good detective story, Zahn throws one danger after another, and mixes them up with plenty of twists. As he travels the galaxy in search of rare artworks, Compton needs to outsmart, outfight, and ultimately outmaneuver the Modhri. Early in the novel, there were a few moments where I wanted Zahn to get on with the story, but once he started cranking, he turned out a fully enjoyable read.

Timothy Zahn is an entertaining writer. However, this book, and the next in the series both feel like one long train ride. Galactic empires are being crossed. Mind controlling alien enemies are involved, but it still feels like a detective on a train ride. I enjoyed them but the stories lacked a feeling of truly visiting another reality that left me disappointed.

After being introduced to Zahn with Heir to the Empire, being immersed in the Conquerer's Saga and thoroughly entertained by The Icarus Hunt, I expected quite a bit more out of one of the current masters of SF. The second book in the "Quadrail SF Thriller", The Third Lynx, picks up shortly after the end of the first book, which this and subsequent books rely upon heavily.

The setup is as unimaginative as the start of most role playing adventures which start in a tavern. This tavern happens to be in the first class car of a train system that runs through inter-dimensional space connecting various parts of the galaxy with a map as confusing as the London Underground. Sadly, the book's plot is no where near as complex as the underground.

One of the interesting things about the series is that it blends a film noir mystery with sci-fi concepts. But if you move the train system back onto Earth, change the aliens to humans, and swap the mind controlling Modhri with brainwashed cultists... well there are dozens of examples to choose from and the noir-SF blend becomes the ONLY interesting aspect. The book shows nothing new, exciting or original, the characters are wooden, and the plot is as transparent as air.

For fans of Timothy Zahn, and I'm still one of them, I'd give this whole series a miss. Pick up a John Scalzi novel, you'd be pleasantly surprised and entertained. These are very easy reads. One of the other reviewers compared them to young adult fiction, but I don't think they're even as 'complicated' as a Hardy Boy Adventure story.

"the Night Train To Rigel" is a book that I will always hold up as a crowning achievement of strangeness in the annals of science fiction. Its just a a weird book concept wise and its stylized after a 1940's MGM film noir. However I dont think Zahn left too much room for sequels or continued meaningful exploration as a series. However, Zahn instead is now taking a stand and is churning out one sequel after another in this timeline universe.

Zahn wrote one of my favorite sci fi books of the last couple decades 'icarus hunt' and I picked up 'night train' hoping to find more of the same. Happily, I found this to be the case and upon conclusion jumped right into 'third lynx'. Big Mistake

This is a very uninspired book. You can feel it as the plot moves along very slowly. I would stay away from this even if you enjoyed 'the night train' as I did