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4.0 out of 5 stars
"Third Eye" takes a different look at Punktown, May 19 2004
Welcome back to Punktown, the incredible and diverse slum city of Paxton on the world Oasis. Punktown is a diverse colony of outcasts from many different worlds, including the race native to Oasis called the Choom. "Third Eye" a collection of short stories that take place in Punktown, just like the first book by Thomas. What is different is that Thomas wrote only one story in this collection, with the rest contributed by other authors.Unfortunately, that is what makes "Third Eye" a four star compared to the five I gave "Punktown". Thomas seems to be the only author that had a firm grip on the ideal of the city. Not to say that the rest of the stories were bad in anyway, they just didn't fit his mold as well, and seemed to be more of a general Sci-Fi connection. The best story in the book is the one Thomas himself wrote, "The Color Shrain", which isn't really about this particular color that only one alien race can see, but about Specola's unique way of making things disappear and reappear. Unique and disturbing. Eight more stories follow, featuring tales of sentient robots, a singer who makes the bigtime by leaving her body behind, a Choom detective chasing down a telekinetic alien, a lesson on getting to know your friends better before making a pass at them, and others. I somehow got the feeling that some of the efforts by the other authors were "early career works", often just a tad disjointed in the flow of the tale; not well cemented and lacking a stylish flow to them. However, over all, the collection is worthwhile; just pick up Punktown first to catch a firm grip of the city before taking this "Third Eye" view of one of my favorite places. Enjoy!
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