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Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
In the better than average 11th installment of Foster's popular Pip and Flinx series (after 2004's Sliding Scales), the empathetically gifted Flinx and his mini-dragon companion, Pip, go in search of a weapon to use against a powerful enemy. When Flinx's sentient spaceship, Teacher, needs to repair itself, they land on the lovely world of Arrawd, which has the necessary raw materials. There Flinx meets the fisherman Ebbanai and his shrewd wife, Storra, who soon discover that Flinx not only shares their empathic powers but can also miraculously heal the sick residents of Arrawd. Soon enough, Ebbanai and Storra, as well as the local rulers, are exploiting Flinx's gifts for their own monetary gain. By now, the detour on Arrawd has already forced Flinx to defy his mission and his principles. Flinx will have to fight back with Teacher's weaponry and survive a suicide bombing by religious fanatics before the sadder but wiser people of Arrawd will let him go. Meticulous, if sometimes tedious, descriptions render the strange landscapes and characters of Foster's world with believable clarity. A classic alien-contact novel, this recalls the work of the late Hal Clement.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Booklist
In his latest adventure, Flinx has landed on a world in the Blight so that his ship can make necessary repairs. Unfortunately, the native Dwarra, whom he is supposed to leave be, spot him, and for the first time he can associate with other sentients without having horrible migraines from the pressure of other minds. When they discover he has nearly magical technology, though, his newfound friends insist he stay and heal the afflicted in their village. Word spreads, and he is swamped by the would-be-healed. The Dwarra begin to view him as a deity, which governments and the religious establishment notice, not entirely with pleasure. The local balance of power is affected, because if one government can get him to work for them, they would have an edge over the others. Trying to leave, Flinx discovers just how much the competing governments want to keep him--under one or another's thumb. As usual, Flinx is well-meaning but prone to not thinking things through. Another entertaining addition to the world of Pip and Flinx. Regina Schroeder
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most helpful customer reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
Enjoyable,
By
This review is from: Running from the Deity: A Pip & Flinx Adventure (Mass Market Paperback)
I found the idea of a man who accidentally stumbles into a people willing to worship him as a god, regardless of his intentions or desires, something really interesting to explore. Flinx is a very sympathetic hero, as well. It's easy to understand the decisions he makes, even when you know it'll end in disaster. His wry observations and tendancy to self-effacement make him very human.In the very beginning, I actually wasn't sure if I'd make it all the way through the book. I'm really not big on hardcore science fiction, simply because I have a hard time following it. I don't understand how my computer works, let alone some imaginary super machine in a book. If I have to understand the mechanics to follow the story, it's just not going to happen. The beginning of the book looks like it's going to get pretty mechanically specific, with plenty of invented and "alienese" words, but that's really all they are. That being said, a lot of the alien or technological terms were hard to pronounce, even in my head. Note to fantasy and science fiction writers: if I can't say it, I can't really remember it, either. And if you're going to be coming up with a whole load of names, whether it be for characters, places, races, or whatever, please please keep it simple. If not, I'll be forever doomed to confusing Pyrrpallinda with Pakktrine and Peryoladam. The writing style in general was uneven. The tone was very light and modern, with big words randomly thrown in on occasion, as if for good measure. A number of the metaphors made me pause, too. Unfortunately, these were not good pauses, relishing the beauty of the phrase or the succinctness of the thought, they were generally me being confused as to what exactly the author was trying to say. At 280 pages, this was not a long book, although I felt it should have been one chapter shorter. Chapter 16 had nothing to do with the rest of the story, and just felt like it was tacked on to sell more books in the series. This seriously annoys me. The packaging and the enclosed excerpt of the next book at the end was more than enough to tell me the story continues. So overall, I'll have to give Running From the Deity a middle-of-the-road rating. Some really interesting ideas with a thoroughly likeable protagonist, but so many of the little mechanical things bugged me, I wasn't able to enjoy it the way I should have. Which is a shame, really, because it has some great potential.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
3.6 out of 5 stars (16 customer reviews) 14 of 15 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Gods Must Be Crazy in outer space,
By Harriet Klausner - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Running from the Deity: A Pip & Flinx Adventure (Hardcover)
Philip "Flinx" Lynx is the result of illegal eugenic experiments that simply proved science needs boundaries as he contains enhanced skills to propel and collect emotions from others. Currently Flinx searches for a missing super-weapon left behind by an extinct race that may prove the only tool to stop a species that threatens mankind from behind the Great Emptiness. However, though the weapon is planet sized Flinx has failed to find it and is forced to land on an uncharted orb when his intelligent spaceship, Teacher, needs emergency repairs.Flinx meets a backwater race of aliens who like him can emit and receive emotions. He breaks the prime directive of the Commonwealth not to interfere with primitive species especially using technology as Flinx heals the sick and injured. That backfires when the natives begin worshipping Flinx the God which infuriates religious and political leaders. His reputation as the deity crosses national boundaries; other countries prepare to invade to bring God home. While Teacher makes self-repairs, Flinx realizes why the prime directive exists while RUNNING FROM THE DEITY, which happens to be him. RUNNING FROM THE DEITY, the latest FLINX'S FOLLY is a terrific tale that satirizes classic Star Trek by displaying what happens when a much more advances civilization brings impossible to grasp technology to more primitive societies. Flinx is in rare form trying to do good until he realizes what he has wrought while local leaders do what they always do; manipulate others including the "Deity". Though some readers will be upset that the original mission turns inert, this is an interesting tale as fans will think of The Gods Must Be Crazy in outer space. Harriet Klausner 6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars
Another lackluster entry to a once gripping series.,
By J. Muehe "Old time SF rules" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Running from the Deity: A Pip & Flinx Adventure (Hardcover)
Another lackluster entry to a once gripping series - that pretty much says it all. This book and the last book I read in this series has pretty much ruined the series for me. Foster used to be one of my must read authors - meaning, if I saw a book by him I bought it no questions asked. I hate it when a good author goes bad.
11 of 13 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
Off track for the series,
By John E. Pombrio - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Running from the Deity: A Pip & Flinx Adventure (Hardcover)
Pip and Flinx books by Alan Dean Foster are always entertaining. This book follows a couple of others from the series where the main story is really just a "stopover on another world" with a little of the series continuation tacked onto the end. The story is entertaining but does not have really anything to do with the commonwealth. It is a "well meaning man from an advanced civilization lands on a primative world and how he affects the aliens" story. Flinx brings off of the world nothing to help with the galactic threat or answers to his search. Mr Foster may want to concentrate on the series and skip the errant layovers. Good only.
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