Space Opera Double Feature

After bringing Philip Lynx (Flinx)'s quixotic search for his parentage and quest to save the galaxy from impending disaster to a close in 2009's Flinx Transcendent, Alan Dean Foster turned his hand to a wide variety of other books. At first Transcendent was described as the last Flinx and Pip (Flinx's reliable venomous telepathic flying snake) adventure, but Foster equivocated on that idea and the ending of the book itself left the door open to revisit our hero at a later time.

2017 proved to be that later time, as an old friend tracks down Flinx and his wife Clarity on the ocean world of Cachalot to ask a favor in Strange Music. On the technologically un-advanced planet of Largess, the daughter of a local chieftain friendly to the Commonwealth has been kidnapped. And Commonwealth technology -- specifically weapons -- has been showing up among the Largessians, who resemble the seals of Earth in appearance. Flinx's friend would like him to investigate the matter -- quietly -- so that they can learn what they need to know without being officially present. Flinx's own telepathic gifts could prove useful, but also useful will be his ability to carry a tune. The Largessians "speak" only in song and all but ignore beings who don't, even if those beings use the Largessian language to do so. After some discussion with Clarity, Flinx agrees and is off on another adventure. It's not nearly on the galaxy-threatening scale of his last outing, but the dangers involved could put an end to his own personal existence if he's not careful.

Foster is at a point in his career where he can write what he wants when he wants, and he probably waited for a really good idea to come along before shaking Flinx and Pip out of retirement. Casting all of the speech with the Largessians as song means writing that dialogue in a sort of non-rhyming couplet that probably took quite a bit of work and presented him with a new challenge. It's effective and although a little tough to follow at first, eventually the "reading ear" tunes into it. The adventure itself is almost a kind of romp given what Flinx has had to accomplish before, but he and his guide perservere (with his guide bearing more than a passing resemblance to the otter Mudge from Foster's Spellsinger books). Staying away from Flinx's personal quest for his heritage and galactic disasters gives Strange Music a lighter feel, more like one of the earlier books in the series, and the singing Largessians help make it a fun story to read.

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Former Confederation Marine Torin Kerr continues to protect and serve the galaxy as a member of a quasi-law-enforcement agency trying to keep a lid on illegal weapons technology trade. In A Peace Divided, she's also still tasked with the job of following leads to legendary ancient weapons made by a now-vanished race. But a group of mercenaries, also led by a former Confederation Marine, has learned of an archaeological dig on a planet that may lead to that technology and they're holding the scientists hostage until they find the clues they want. Torin and her group need to rescue the scientists, learn who's backing the mercenaries, and put a lid on anything else they might find. Oh, and if they find any clues about the sentient plastic-like hive life form that manipulated the galaxy into war a couple of decades ago, that would be a plus.

Tanya Huff served in the Canadian Naval Reserve and has an appreciation for the military thinking and lifestyle that animates and sometimes even drives Torin. She creates a variety of species in this Confederation and offers each one unique physical traits and gifts. She also has a knack for springing one of those differences into the story just when a reader might have forgotten that the characters are of different species. In the Confederation universe, humans and a couple of other Younger Races have been brought into spacefaring civilization because the Elder Races, attacked by a group called the Primacy, had forgotten how to fight with any effectiveness. Torin's group will actually join with some Primacy fighters as well to try to rescue the science team.

Sometimes the narrative details can get a little confusing as Huff moves her story along. Torin is anything but loquacious and her laconic manner flavors the larger story. Divided has an important storyline hinge on the idea that handgun-sized weapons were removed from society hundreds of years ago and their reappearance is a shocking development; it seems unlikely that over the course of centuries no one would look at a gun and say, "You know, I bet we could make one like this you could use with just one hand." Even so, Divided seems more focused and has more depth than the previous "Peacekeeper" book with Torin, and the introduction of the different Primacy races gives it something new to explore. The third and what is now being called the final "Peacekeeper" novel is due in the summer of 2018; what happens to Torin following that remains to be seen.