Flinx's Folly (Hardcover)

However, most of the exhilirating adventures ("The Tar-Aiym Krang," "For Love of Mother-Not") are long behind Flinx, or, perhaps, have been put in stasis. For what we get in "Flinx's Folly" is warmed over romance coupled with a couple of the wildest deus ex machina plot twists that Alan Dean Foster has ever written.

Granted, in previous Flinx novels, Flinx often got out of trouble with what _looked_ like a deus ex machina, only to find out later that it was due to his own abilities, previous memories that had been walled off, or friends he didn't know he had (or that still lived). But in this book, Flinx gets out of trouble three times -- and all three are via deus ex machina of various types, and in only one case is the deus ex machina explained!

And although there are some humorous moments, and a bit of romance, it's not enough to leaven the mix in my opinion.

Which is why I'm giving "Flinx's Folly" 2 1/2 stars on the head. I think it's dead average; the writing is good, the pacing brisk, but really, there's nothing new here nor was there any reason to write this book except to further the series. Let's hope the next book will be the conclusion, so poor Flinx can finally find a nice woman to settle down with (whether it's Clarity Held or not) and get on with life.

Barb Caffrey

Still unsure about what to do, Flinx (Phillip Lynx) heads for the planet of New Riviera, a paradise planet where an old lover and friend, Clarity Held works as a bioengineer. At this point the plot starts moving by fits and starts, unable to make up its mind about whether it is a suspense/love story or suspense/alien menace story. What at first seems to be an interesting diversion gradually becomes the primary focus, despite having little to do directly with the initial developments of the book.

This works against the book, which becomes a story stuck inside a story, both of which are primarily related by having occurred at the same time and place. The reader keeps waiting for the connections to become clearer, but all you get is a dues ex machina transition from one to the other. This is jarring, and, in my mind, badly weakens the story, which really lacks the compelling storytelling for which Alan Dean Foster is known.

It is fairly clear that this is novel is intended as a bridge to develop both the impending doom plot as well as several interesting returns to Flinx's past. Eventually, we will solve the puzzle of who and what Flinx really is, but it won't happen in this volume. Instead, this is one of those books you have to read if you want to get to where the series is going. Hopefully, once things settle down, the future will bear more fruit. In the light of that, you may want to wait for the next volume to appear before committing to this one.

That said, this one is a fun read too, but the plot could really use some help. My problems with it include:

1: a group of fanatical assassins bent on destroying the universe. I have to say this seems pretty arbitary to me, since you'd think a group like that would have made an appearance before if they were going to be important.

2: He decides to look up Clarity Held, an old crush from Flinx in Flux. Granted, I haven't read that book yet, but it seems like Flinx has some other people who would be much more understanding and trustworthy than someone he only knew for a little while. What about Mother Mastiff, or Tse-Mallory and Truzenzuzex? This comes across as an awkward attempt to re-introduce a love interest.

3: Clarity's engaged to a nice-seeming fellow who suddenly goes on a jealous rampage, monopolizing the rest of the book. Um, Clarity seems like a sharp girl. You'd think she would have noticed a character flaw like homicidal jealousy before.

4: After everything Flinx has been through, the jealous madman finally gets the drop on him. Luckily however, old friends Tse-Mallory and Truzenzuzex happen to be in the neighborhood, and very randomly come to his rescue.

5: This one is a personal problem of mine. Tse-Mallory and Tru show up, rescue Flinx and Clarity, then promptly get shoved back offstage. Come on! I want to see more of these two!

All this amounts to a plot created out of non-sequiturs and deus ex machina. On the bright side, the characters are as much fun as ever. And we get to see a bunch of folks who haven't been around in a while, along with a promise of seeing more of them soon. For myself, I was content to borrow this from my public library, but I'd say it was worth reading once.