Rating: 
Summary: Very Disappointing
Review: I've been reading Foster's books for many years, and enjoy following the adventures of Flinx and Pip. But I almost didn't finish "Reunion". I was very disappointed with the novel. It seemed like a short story padded with a bunch of ten-dollar words. Foster totally lost me when he used the word "yclept". It was so out of place in the context. Lyrical word-pictures when the hero is trying to save his rear gave me mental whiplash. I did finish it, but was left feeling that the story really hadn't advanced much. This was just a way-stop at a motel from hell when I was expecting a nice hotel, ...Hope the next one is better!
Rating: 
Summary: Not the best in the series
Review: I've read all the books in this series, I'm used to Flinx loseing all of his abilities at the start of the next book. This book has plot holes and inconsistancies big enough to fly the Teacher through. It just seems thrown together quickly and not very well thought out. If your die hard Flinx fan like me you'll try to ignore the gapping holes and enjoy the story, if your not I wouldn't bother with it.
Rating: 
Summary: Flinx and Pip Return
Review: It has been a very long time since there has been a Flinx novel. Mid-Flinx was published in 1995. Since that time, Alan Dean Foster has produced a steady stream of work, including several set in the same universe, but references to Flinx and his deadly Alaspinian Mini-Dragon have been non-existent. Some of this probably has to with the rapidity with which the earlier volumes came out. Foster is a good enough author to stop before he has overused a theme.
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Some things never change. Flinx, now 21, has matured a bit, and his empathic powers have grown as well. Pip is still in the best of health as well. But Flinx is still roaming the universe in Teacher, his starship, and he is still on a quest to discover his true identity and purpose. This time, Flinx has returned to Earth to seek for more information on his origins as an experiment of the banned Meliorare Society. Using his empathic power Flinx convinces a young security staffer to allow him access to the AI of a major data center. From there he is able to penetrate the Earth's data shell and investigate files still under Church ban.
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Even as Flinx attempts to grasp the last 'sybfile' of information it disappears. He manages to trace the sybfile to a ship leaving the Earth and comes under a deadly 'information attack' aimed at the AI he is using. Flinx is barely able to escape the Data Center in the chaos and it is only luck that gets him safely off planet and on board the Teacher. He is determined to find the sybfile, but the ship Flinx is chasing is headed in the worst direction. Its destination is the planet of Pyrassis, well into the territory of the AAnn Empire, where humans are considered a delicacy.
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Rapid-fire, the plot gets more and more complicated, as Flinx finds himself crossing the Pyrassian desert on step ahead of death, a near captive of the AAnn, and then thrust back into space for a confrontation of inconceivable magnitude. Although there are moments where the narrative bogs down while Foster takes the time to explain something, the overall impact is of a long and finely detailed chase story. For most readers, the detail about the reptilian Aann will be new territory. Foster has made them quasi-comical, speaking in hissing sibilants with a delicate sarcasm and a very serious understanding of the politics of success in the military.
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For a couple of reasons, this is a 4-1/2 star novel; not really the five I'm giving it. First is the tendency to go ponderous that I've already mentioned. This happens at moments of scientific explanation, and are over quickly. My other criticism, is that rather than take the time to tie up some of the many loose ends already built into the series, Foster adds even more. Without some cleanup and, perhaps, a slightly more robust publication schedule there is danger that details will begin to conflict more conspicuously than they already do. These flaws are minor, and should not interfere with the reader's enjoyment of the book. "Reunion" stands very well on it's own, but a trip to some of its predecessors is recommended, purely for the pleasure of reading.
Rating:
Summary: It's been a long time since we had a glimpse of Flinx and Pi
Review: It's been a long time since we had a glimpse of Flinx and Pip, And ADF does not disappoint! This novel picks up quite nicely from where Mid-Flinx left off and aims towards closure. If you have been reading these stories since 1972, you won't be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: Yet Another Pip & Flinx Book
Review: It's long-awaited, and it brings the agendas of the wide question of "what is Flinx here for?" another step forward. Unfortunately, it feels like something of a place-holder. It resolves very little, as far as the characters are concerned. Flinx figures out a _little_ more about his family, but that hardly seems to justify a whole novel. He explores an interesting planet, but it seems unlikely that the planet will be of continuing interest. The plants of Midworld apparently get in touch with some other aliens, but none of the characters in the book are aware of this in the slightest; in effect, the _real_ story in the story mostly takes place off-stage. It would have been nice to have some tension added in involving Flinx being reacquainted with some of the Church characters that we actually _liked_, as opposed to just the dysfunctional family members that are rather unlikable. Hopefully the next episode will come along sooner, and be a bit more satisfying.
Rating:
Summary: Yet Another Pip & Flinx Book
Review: It's long-awaited, and it brings the agendas of the wide question of "what is Flinx here for?" another step forward. Unfortunately, it feels like something of a place-holder. It resolves very little, as far as the characters are concerned. Flinx figures out a _little_ more about his family, but that hardly seems to justify a whole novel. He explores an interesting planet, but it seems unlikely that the planet will be of continuing interest. The plants of Midworld apparently get in touch with some other aliens, but none of the characters in the book are aware of this in the slightest; in effect, the _real_ story in the story mostly takes place off-stage. It would have been nice to have some tension added in involving Flinx being reacquainted with some of the Church characters that we actually _liked_, as opposed to just the dysfunctional family members that are rather unlikable. Hopefully the next episode will come along sooner, and be a bit more satisfying.
Rating: 
Summary: Not as good as it should be.
Review: Ok, I am a great Flinx and Commonwealth fan. I own all of the series, but I was disappointed with this book. I thought there was little character development, almost no expansion of our understanding of the commonwealth and a lot of contradictions from previous books, noteably the Tar-Aiym Krang. Without providing spoilers, I think this is a regertable effort in the commonwealth/Flinx universe.
Rating: 
Summary: Flinx is Back
Review: One of the first Sci-Fi books I ever read was Flinx in Flux. Well the character is back and just as I remembered him. A little confused, intelligent and lucky enough to get caught in adeventure while trying to find himself. Slow at some points, but true to the series.
Rating:
Summary: Waiting for his next to satisfy...
Review: Pip and Flinx lovers,like me, have been waiting for this book a long time, and perhaps they, like me, hope that the next book will return to the series tradition of adventure, mischief, and fast-paced fun. This novel followed Flinx on his usual quest to discover who he is, who his parents were, and what was done to him in utero to make him what he is. This is usually very interesting, but then it is also usually told along with a separate story, something fun and juicy. This book reads like an excerpt of a bigger novel. It doesn't really end in a way so that you feel you've finished the book. Hard to say since I know the back story, but I'm not sure it really stands alone. I did enjoy reading this book; it gave a lot of insight into Flinx's background and that's always fascinating. But I hope Foster's next Flinx novel has a little more meat.
Rating:
Summary: For fans only
Review: Reunion is certainly the weakest of the Pip and Flinx novels I've read. It starts well, with Flinx finding out that he's capable of being not-so-nice when necessary, but tends to fall into a one-thing-after-another novel as it progresses. This novel feels rather like a short story with filler. Pip and Flinx fans should certainly read it, as it develops Flinx's understanding of the Meliorare society and himself (although, as is traditional, it raises more questions). Besides, after such a long wait, anything will be a nice read. If you have never read a Pip and Flinx novel, however, *please* don't start with this one - you'll get entirely the wrong idea about this charming series.
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