Lost and Found : The Taken Trilogy Book 1

Rating:
Summary: space opera at its finest
Review: Chicago commodities traders Marcus Walker camps in an isolated part of the California Sierra Nevadas when he sees a bright light fall into the nearby woods. When he goes into the nearest town for food and drunk, he discusses what he saw with the patrons; they convince him that a meteorite landed nearby. He goes to sleep at his campsite, but wakes up to the same scenery except that he is on a spaceship taking him away from earth.

He meets George, who like him has a universal translator in his brain. George's intelligence was also boosted so he could talk with the Vilenjii, purple pointy-headed giants who want to sell the various species to collectors for a profit. Marcus and Roger join forces with an octopus-like sentient species and the snake-like Tuuq'alian to escape from their holding pens. Since they don't know where they are, they depend on the escape pod to flee the ship and the kindness of another sentient race to help them out of their predicament.

LOST AND FOUND, the first book in THE TAKEN TRILOGY, is space opera at its finest. People who believe in alien abductions will read what happens to the abductees and hope that it is science fiction not science fact. The four sentient beings take their situation very seriously and constantly find ways of outwitting their captors. When interacting with each other, their conversations range from the ridiculous to the sublime. It will be hard to wait for the next installment in this exciting series to see what happens next to these homesick wanderers.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: space opera at its finest
Review: Chicago commodities traders Marcus Walker camps in an isolated part of the California Sierra Nevadas when he sees a bright light fall into the nearby woods. When he goes into the nearest town for food and drunk, he discusses what he saw with the patrons; they convince him that a meteorite landed nearby. He goes to sleep at his campsite, but wakes up to the same scenery except that he is on a spaceship taking him away from earth.

He meets George, who like him has a universal translator in his brain. George's intelligence was also boosted so he could talk with the Vilenjii, purple pointy-headed giants who want to sell the various species to collectors for a profit. Marcus and Roger join forces with an octopus-like sentient species and the snake-like Tuuq'alian to escape from their holding pens. Since they don't know where they are, they depend on the escape pod to flee the ship and the kindness of another sentient race to help them out of their predicament.

LOST AND FOUND, the first book in THE TAKEN TRILOGY, is space opera at its finest. People who believe in alien abductions will read what happens to the abductees and hope that it is science fiction not science fact. The four sentient beings take their situation very seriously and constantly find ways of outwitting their captors. When interacting with each other, their conversations range from the ridiculous to the sublime. It will be hard to wait for the next installment in this exciting series to see what happens next to these homesick wanderers.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: Pure escapist fun
Review: Chicago commodity trader Marc Walker is planning to win a bet by spending a week camping by a beautiful California lake. The strange object in the sky is less initially less interesting than the attractive woman at the bar but when Marc wakes up to discover that his bit of California lakefront has been transported into an alien spaceship, he realizes that he's misplaced his priorities. With the assistance of a talking dog and a group of also-abducted aliens--intended for some sort of alien zoo or perversion--Marc battles despair. Still, what can one human, even if assisted by an overly smart dog, do against an entire spaceship full of alien-tamers?

Some of the captive aliens are smarter than Marc. Some are much stronger. But Marc's drive for success made him a top commodity trader back in Chicago and it eggs him on--to do something rather than wait to be sold into slavery. Unfortunately, he must also deal with the reality that not all of the prisoners want to escape--and there are always some willing to betray him in exchange for food or simply out of cruelty. And even if he did escape, where, exactly would he go on a huge spaceship located billions of miles from the planet he once called home?

Author Alan Dean Foster writes a charming story of alien abduction and human survival. The characters of George the dog, Braouk, the monster, and Sque the vain octopus-creature are amusing and well thought out. LOST AND FOUND is a bit of a throwback to the science fiction of the 1960s, with pure escapism at its heart.

If you're looking to take a break from 'serious' SF and seeking for some pure escapist fun, LOST AND FOUND may be just the ticket.


Rating:
Summary: Worst of Alan Dean Foster
Review: I was a huge fan of the Flinx series and most of ADF's other books but lately, the quality of his writing seems to be variable and mostly going downhill. Well, this book was a long landslide downhill. The Taken Trilogy is easily and definitively the worst Alan Dean Foster book ever written. The plot: Alien slavers kidnap human. He joins-up with several other kidnapped aliens and they escape from their pens on alien ship. Upon finding an escape pod, a nearby good alien ship finds them but they cannot communicate where earth is in the galaxy so they remain as guests with the good aliens. I have disbelief that a plot akin to what a 4th grader may come up with was written by ADF. My suspicion is that someone else is writing under his name as what happens with so many successful writers (Alistair McLean, Robert Ludlum, etc.). From now on, I am going to only buy ADF books after I read the reviews carefully because this was the biggest waste of money I spent in innumerable years of book-buying. Do not waste your time and money on this book - reread the Flinx books and his other works. I only hope that his earlier genius returns...


Rating:
Summary: Can't wait for the rest!
Review: I'd just like to thank the malcontent above who put just about every spoiler in his review that he could and then proceeded to ruin the ending for those of us who hadn't read the book yet. I tried to report it as inappropriate but nobody took it off.

Despite that...I thought this book was hilarious and funny and I couldn't put it down (and didn't until I was done). I can't wait for the rest of the books in the series. If they're as good as "The Damned" or the "Icerigger" trilogies I'm chomping at the bit for the next installment!

I hope Foster keeps writing for a good long time!

Rating:
Summary: A Noble Savage Among the Decadent Aliens?
Review: Lost and Found is the first novel in The Taken trilogy. Marcus Walker was a commodities broker from Chicago. Somehow, he found himself camping near the miniature metropolis of Bug Jump, California, to win a bet that he could actually survive outside civilization. Aside from a close encounter with the relatives of a possibly pregnant maiden, Marcus was looking good going in to the home stretch. Then he heard some strange noises around his tent and opened the flap to shine his flashlight directly into the eyes of a very alien countenance.

In this novel, Marcus wakes up the next day in a fairly convincing simulation of his campsite, but not in California. Instead, he is on a starship many lightyears away from home and putting even more distance from Chicago with each second. After some days of solitary confinement in his little diorama, one wall opens up to reveal the neighboring cell, an urban alley scene, and its inhabitant, a now talking dog of unknown ancestry.

After some discussion, the dog lets Marcus address him as George. Strangely enough, he is also a native of Chicago and was taken directly from that city. George has not been as belligerent as Marcus, so he has had the run of the common area for several days and has met many of their fellow captives. Thinks to his universal translator implant, George has discovered much about their captors. Among other info, George has discovered that they were captured for the curiosities market by a mercantile company of Vilenjii.

With some coaching by George, Marcus begins to mingle with the other captives and soon starts working on a plan to gain their freedom. He meets two other captives with exceptional mental and physical powers and brings them into the conspiracy. Despite their blatant disbelief in his goals, Marcus is determined at the least to strike back at their captors and, if remotely possible, to escape from the ship.

In this story, Marcus learns that he is not very special. Only his ability to learn humility keeps him alive. However, he perseveres in his goals, despite all objections; some would say that he is just too dumb to understand his situation, but he doesn't agree ... most of the time (those midnight doubts are hell).

The storyline combines the tale of the ignorant savage introduced to high society with that of the powerless slave escaping from the chains of a hellship. Of course, the author includes a clean, disease-free environment maintained by advanced automata, so the outward forms of this captivity are not as visible, but the psychological environment is just as miserable.

Highly recommended for Foster fans and for anyone else who enjoys light tales of humans among advanced technological societies and sophisticated sapients.

-Arthur W. Jordin

Rating:
Summary: A Noble Savage Among the Decadent Aliens?
Review: Lost and Found is the first novel in The Taken trilogy. Marcus Walker was a commodities broker from Chicago. Somehow, he found himself camping near the miniature metropolis of Bug Jump, California, to win a bet that he could actually survive outside civilization. Aside from a close encounter with the relatives of a possibly pregnant maiden, Marcus was looking good going in to the home stretch. Then he heard some strange noises around his tent and opened the flap to shine his flashlight directly into the eyes of a very alien countenance.

In this novel, Marcus wakes up the next day in a fairly convincing simulation of his campsite, but not in California. Instead, he is on a starship many lightyears away from home and putting even more distance from Chicago with each second. After some days of solitary confinement in his little diorama, one wall opens up to reveal the neighboring cell, an urban alley scene, and its inhabitant, a now talking dog of unknown ancestry.

After some discussion, the dog lets Marcus address him as George. Strangely enough, he is also a native of Chicago and was taken directly from that city. George has not been as belligerent as Marcus, so he has had the run of the common area for several days and has met many of their fellow captives. Thinks to his universal translator implant, George has discovered much about their captors. Among other info, George has discovered that they were captured for the curiosities market by a mercantile company of Vilenjii.

With some coaching by George, Marcus begins to mingle with the other captives and soon starts working on a plan to gain their freedom. He meets two other captives with exceptional mental and physical powers and brings them into the conspiracy. Despite their blatant disbelief in his goals, Marcus is determined at the least to strike back at their captors and, if remotely possible, to escape from the ship.

In this story, Marcus learns that he is not very special. Only his ability to learn humility keeps him alive. However, he perseveres in his goals, despite all objections; some would say that he is just too dumb to understand his situation, but he doesn't agree ... most of the time (those midnight doubts are hell).

The storyline combines the tale of the ignorant savage introduced to high society with that of the powerless slave escaping from the chains of a hellship. Of course, the author includes a clean, disease-free environment maintained by advanced automata, so the outward forms of this captivity are not as visible, but the psychological environment is just as miserable.

Highly recommended for Foster fans and for anyone else who enjoys light tales of humans among advanced technological societies and sophisticated sapients.

-Arthur W. Jordin

Rating:
Summary: Take a book if you get abducted to pass the time
Review: Marcus Walker is abducted by aliens while trying to win a bet that he can't live in isolation by camping in the wilderness. Isolation is now a major factor being confined to his holding pen on board a giant spacecraft where the Velenjii (aliens who abducted him) barely communicate with him. After a while he is aloud out into the grand enclosure, a sort of prison yard which links the cells, where he meets a dog from earth who he names George and many other aliens from different planets. He quickly learns that himself and the other cargo will be sold as slaves and are being psychologically experimented on around the clock before they reach their destinations. Just like in an earth prison there are captives who are friendly and those that are not, as well as those who will squeal on him to the Velenjii if he does anything against the rules. There are also of course visions of escape. The only thing is where can you escape to when there is nothing beyond the ship but outer space?

This is an interesting book which tackles alien abduction and slavery. The major thing I thought was overlooked was why the Velenjii only abduct one or two species from each planet. Surely it would make better economic sense to abduct multiple numbers of the higher value creatures. I also would have liked a more satisfactory ending and would have liked the Velenjii's point of view chapters to have continued throughout the book then just ending where they did. There are better books out there but this is a satisfactory read.

The first I have heard that this is book 1 of something called The Taken Trilogy according to the title in Amazon. It does not say this on the actual book anywhere.