Trouble Magnet

Alan Dean Foster

Book 12 of Adventures of Pip & Flinx

Language: English

Publisher: Del Rey

Published: Nov 28, 2006

Description:

From science fiction icon Alan Dean Foster comes a blazing Pip & Flinx adventure for fans of the green-eyed redhead with awesome mental powers and his miniature flying dragon. In this dazzling novel, Flinx confirms his status as the galaxy’s greatest magnet for big trouble.

Wandering out there in some remote region of the galaxy is a gargantuan sentient Tar-Aiym weapons’ system. All Flinx has to do–while his pals look after his injured love Clarity Held–is find the hefty object and persuade it to knock out the monstrous evil that is hurtling through space to waste the entire Commonwealth.

A no-brainer, really, especially for Flinx, who is never without his loyal entourage of official snoops, crazed zealots, assorted goons, and the occasional assassin. Indeed, the boy wonder and his mini-drag, Pip, are eager to commence their heroic task . . . just as soon as Flinx visits Visaria–a dangerously depraved planet–to convince himself that humans are indeed worth saving.

The chances of stumbling across high moral values and utopian ideals don’t look promising–what with Flinx playing a lawless Pied Piper to a gang of lying, thieving juvenile delinquents. But prospects really go south when Flinx runs afoul of the corrupt planet’s ruthless crime king.

Still, life is full of surprises, and Flinx is about to get smacked by a passel of them–by turns devastating, heartening, and positively jaw-dropping. For although Flinx came to Visaria to plumb the enigma of humankind, there’s another mystery waiting here, a shocking clue about his own shadowy past.

From the Hardcover edition.

**

From Publishers Weekly

Plagued by doubts about his quest to find the ancient alien weapon that will one day save civilization from the destruction of the Great Emptiness, adventurer Flinx—along with his empathic mini-dragon Pip—take a detour to the criminal-run planet of Visaria in the 12th fast-paced novel (after 2005's Running from the Deity) of Foster's space opera series. There, Flinx rescues Subar, a teenage gang member, who makes the mistake of trying to mug some insectoid aliens. Not much wiser, Subar and his cohorts later rob a valuable Terran antique shipment from a warehouse. This puts local crime lords on Subar's trail—and once more brings Flinx and Pip to the rescue. Over the course of their adventures, Subar nearly loses his life to save his girlfriend, Ashile, and Flinx only survives thanks to last-minute intervention by some old comrades, aliens from another dimension. This deus ex machina resolution renews Flinx's conviction about his greater role as civilization's savior and reassures the fans that the series will go on. (Nov.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Flinx's new mission seems simple enough: find a weapon that will destroy the evil threatening the Commonwealth. En route, however, he starts doubting the value of sacrificing his happiness to save the universe. He detours to ill-reputed Visaria, where he plans only to observe the populace and decide whether to complete the mission instead of just returning to the woman he loves. He becomes entangled with a thief who reminds him of a younger him, and he receives another tantalizing clue to his past. Regina Schroeder
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

From science fiction icon Alan Dean Foster comes a blazing new Pip & Flinx adventure for fans of the green-eyed redhead with awesome mental powers and his miniature flying dragon. In this dazzling new novel, Flinx confirms his status as the galaxy’s greatest magnet for big trouble.

Wandering out there in some remote region of the galaxy is a gargantuan sentient Tar-Aiym weapons’ system. All Flinx has to do–while his pals look after his injured love Clarity Held–is find the hefty object and persuade it to knock out the monstrous evil that is hurtling through space to waste the entire Commonwealth.

A no-brainer, really, especially for Flinx, who is never without his loyal entourage of official snoops, crazed zealots, assorted goons, and the occasional assassin. Indeed, the boy wonder and his mini-drag, Pip, are eager to commence their heroic task . . . just as soon as Flinx visits Visaria–a dangerously depraved planet–to convince himself that humans are indeed worth saving.

The chances of stumbling across high moral values and utopian ideals don’t look promising–what with Flinx playing a lawless Pied Piper to a gang of lying, thieving juvenile delinquents. But prospects really go south when Flinx runs afoul of the corrupt planet’s ruthless crime king.

Still, life is full of surprises, and Flinx is about to get smacked by a passel of them–by turns devastating, heartening, and positively jaw-dropping. For although Flinx came to Visaria to plumb the enigma of humankind, there’s another mystery waiting here, a shocking clue about his own shadowy past.

From the Hardcover edition.

From Publishers Weekly

Plagued by doubts about his quest to find the ancient alien weapon that will one day save civilization from the destruction of the Great Emptiness, adventurer Flinx—along with his empathic mini-dragon Pip—take a detour to the criminal-run planet of Visaria in the 12th fast-paced novel (after 2005's Running from the Deity) of Foster's space opera series. There, Flinx rescues Subar, a teenage gang member, who makes the mistake of trying to mug some insectoid aliens. Not much wiser, Subar and his cohorts later rob a valuable Terran antique shipment from a warehouse. This puts local crime lords on Subar's trail—and once more brings Flinx and Pip to the rescue. Over the course of their adventures, Subar nearly loses his life to save his girlfriend, Ashile, and Flinx only survives thanks to last-minute intervention by some old comrades, aliens from another dimension. This deus ex machina resolution renews Flinx's conviction about his greater role as civilization's savior and reassures the fans that the series will go on. (Nov.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Flinx's new mission seems simple enough: find a weapon that will destroy the evil threatening the Commonwealth. En route, however, he starts doubting the value of sacrificing his happiness to save the universe. He detours to ill-reputed Visaria, where he plans only to observe the populace and decide whether to complete the mission instead of just returning to the woman he loves. He becomes entangled with a thief who reminds him of a younger him, and he receives another tantalizing clue to his past. Regina Schroeder
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved