Flinx’s Folly

The first two thirds are about Clarity Held\’s stupid boyfriend, Bill Arblegarble or whatever his name is, trying to get rid of Flinx. This part of the book is boring and unmemorable. Their romance is a big fat \”so what.\” The dialog is hackneyed. Foster writes dialog the same way he writes everything else, but people don\’t speak in real time as though their words were carefully written. Spoken and written English are not exactly the same. The final third is interesting. If you are reading through the Flinx series, this is worth the read. You could just skip the first two thirds, as they serve only to develop Clarity and Flinx\’s relationship, which is boring and unnecessary. They are separated at the end anyway, and unless you have knowledge from the following books, you don\’t know whether or when they might be reunited. Clarity\’s character has a messy flaw: Her stupid two-dimensional boyfriend menaces her, gripping her shoulders so tight that it hurts. Yet, she does not leave him. What???

Book number eight (in reading order) of a fifteen book space opera with psi series. I reread the well printed and well bound MMPB published by Del Rey in 2004 that I bought new since I cannot find my copy in my packed books. I will continue to read through the series. Flinx has his own FTL spaceship, the Teacher, built and given to him by the Ulru-Ujurrians. Flinx and Pip are visiting the Commonwealth planet of New Riviera, looking for Flinx\’s close friend, Clarity, whom he has not seen in six years. As usual, trouble both follows and precedes Flinx and his sidekick.

I enjoyed this book in the series very much. It was just detailed enough to be fun without being so detailed as to be tedious. I am pleased that this book had chapter demarcations, but the next book in the series does not. It\’s also a little longer, however. I\’d recommend this book to anyone who liked the others in the series. It was a great deal of fun, but with a half sad/half happy ending. I just hope Flinx gets at least a tiny break in some way soon. It seems as if the more he learns, the less he actually finds out that he knows. I know it\’s necessary for the drama to keep going, but I do wish Flinx could get at least a part of his objectives in life attained before the end of the last book that\’s been written so far. I won\’t bore you with a plot sysnopsis as there are other reviewers who have or will delight in doing just that. I wish that, for the benefit of other readers, the books in this series, if they\’re ver redone, will all be modified with chapter demarcations. I say take a chance on this series, starting with the first in the series, whether you read chronologically or in order of publishing year, because I don\’t think most people will be disappointed.

I have read every Flinx story so far, and this has to be the least useful of them all. What do I mean? Well, there is no new info given (at least none that readers could not have gleaned from the earlier stories) and the story itself has stagnated – -Flinx gets in trouble, gets out of trouble and in the process learns very little about himself and even less about what is happening to him. There is really no need to continually place him in mortal peril 2-3 times per story anymore – the character and story have moved past that point. What we are all waiting for is \”What\’s next?\” Who are the entities in Flinx\’s dreams (though some are explained in this story, there were no surprises); what part, if any, will the UU\’s play; how much longer can the Commonwealth continue to ignore that a Meliorare experiment is still running around loose? Also, the story is too darn short! There is obviously so much more to be told, why not tell it? Believe me – Flinx would be as aggravated as I am about the lack of information! So why give this 3 stars? I can\’t help myself – ADF is one of my top 2 favorite SciFi authors and he still writes as well as ever! The Commonwealth is as colorful as I remember, the human species hasn\’t advanced so far that it is unrecognizable, and we all need a little dry humor in our lives. Take it for what it\’s worth: if you have read the other stories, you don\’t have to read this one because you already know most of the answers, but you should read it because it\’s Flinx! If you haven\’t read any of these stories, go back to \”For Love of Mother-Not\” and start there.

Okay, I\’ve been reading the stories of Flinx and Pip for years now and I\’m a huge fan. I\’ll admit that Foster\’s habit of jumping around chronologically in the novels he releases gets a little old (i.e. not within each story, but you\’re never certain where each new novel will fall in Flinx\’s life). Even given that I\’ve usually enjoyed each one as it was released. The relationship between Flinx and Pip is explored in each book, Flinx learns more about his past, his powers continue to develop and Flinx matures and learns. However, there\’s little of that in this novel. The only real development in this novel is that Flinx hooks up with Clarity again (and a few other characters, but I won\’t spoil that). His powers are no more understand at the end of this book. The evil that he senses in earlier stories is about the same in this book. The powers that are influencing his powers and headaches are only developed in the smallest way. Overall, I just found it kind of boring. Not much happens. Most of the story is driven by a jealous boyfriend and Flinx\’s headaches. I\’m not saying skip this one. If you\’re a fan of Flinx and Pip, you\’ll definitely be getting it, but save yourself some money and wait for the paperback. If you\’re new to the series, do not start with this story, but read some of the earlier stories like \”For Love of Mother Not\”

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