Trouble Magnet

September 4, 2006
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.

November 15, 2006
In their 12th adventure (after "Running from the Deity"), the empathic Flinx and his minidragon, Pip, travel through the galaxy in search of a massively large sentient weapons system in order to convince it to join in the fight against a monstrous evil force that threatens to destroy the Commonwealth. Instead, Flinx finds himself caught up in a series of unplanned occurrences that involve him in a great deal of trouble and lead to an unexpected discovery about his own mysterious past. This latest entry provides more of the nonstop action series fans have come to expect. Libraries should purchase where the series is popular.

Copyright 2006 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 15, 2006
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.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2006, American Library Association.)