Orphan Star (Adventures of Pip & Flinx)

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In fact, his birth has always been shrouded in mystery. But Flinx eventually discovers that his unknown parents have left him a curious legacy—extraordinary mental powers that are both a marvelous gift and a dreaded curse. This double-edged legacy will lead Flinx, along with his loyal protector, the mini-dragon Pip, on a harrowing journey in search of the truth. It is a daring adventure that brings him to another world—and into the clutches of one of the most evil and powerful men in the galaxy. Orphan Star is the newest addition to the Del Rey Imagine program, which offers the best in fantasy and science fiction for readers twelve and up.

From the Trade Paperback edition. Paperback , pages. Published October 26th by Del Rey first published January 1st To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. To ask other readers questions about Orphan Star , please sign up. Lists with This Book. Nov 08, Bradley rated it it was amazing Shelves: Is it just me or are these novels just getting better?

Sure, it took a few years before ADF pumped out the second published novel or third, chronologically, but the story sure as hell popped along. At first glance and in Flinx's mental flavor, it's so easy to fall into the trap of thinking this might be a YA title of '77 before we got all clunky with terms. Indeed, it feels more like a more polished and popping Heinlein juvenile, full of tough situations and some truly nasty crap going on while Is it just me or are these novels just getting better? Indeed, it feels more like a more polished and popping Heinlein juvenile, full of tough situations and some truly nasty crap going on while a basically good-hearted year-old with untested mental telepathy and a fiercely loyal mini-drag tries to discover his past.

The little things like discovering who his parents are after having been raised an orphan. Unfortunately for him, he runs headlong into child-porn rings, slavers, a corrupt universal church, murder some of it his doing , and even a slave uprising Sound too good to be true?

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Everything follows, though, and it's fun as hell. I'm becoming a fanboy. I'm not quite to the point where I'm raving or anything, but this is still a tight and fun read and it has no lossy quality compared to modern fiction at all. Indeed, it's standing the test of time and why aren't all you YA fans reading this great SF series???

It even leaves a wholesome taste in my mouth. Jul 31, Paul E. I love this one. It starts with our hero, Flinx, and his faithful minidrag companion, Pip, looking to discover more about Flinx's missing past. This is really just your standard 'adopted boy tries to locate biological parents' story You know; space battles, assassinations, first contact with a previously unknown alien race, corruption in the church, corruption in big business, a slave uprising, I'm finishing with a re-read; the next volume in Alan Dean Foster's Humanx Commonwealth series.

You know; space battles, assassinations, first contact with a previously unknown alien race, corruption in the church, corruption in big business, a slave uprising, pornography rings, telepathy, jailbreaks, people getting their faces burnt off with acid, an enormous teleporting bear The usual, run-of-the-mill stuff. Happy new year to you all. View all 3 comments. I had purchased a copy from B. Dalton, with their price sticker on it. I was in high school. At the time, I thought Foster was the best of the limited sci-fi readings I had completed.

This review is for the re-read of this book, this time on audio, roughly 36 years later. The book suffers from what I now understand is serial-itus — the author seems to have figured out how to extend the characters into a subsequent book about half way through this one, and stopped the original story arc to pursue a new one to set up the sequel. Most characters were cartoon-ey in their descriptions and their actions. Despite that, I still found his take on the Thranx, insectoid partners of the humans, to be fun to read and speculate on, and the high point of his world.

I've dropped a few stars off of what I would have given this book when I first read it. Apr 24, Robert rated it it was amazing Shelves: This is my favorite of all of Foster's Flinx books. In my opinion, it adds the most of the overal story of Flinx, while being a great chase story. Foster is great at depicting future worlds, and this novels provides glimpses of many keys worlds in the Commonwealth. While For Love of Mother-Not is chronically earlier, Foster's view of the character had changed drastically in the years since he had finished The End of the Matter, and the difference shows.

Jan 30, Tina rated it really liked it Shelves: Just like its predecessor, this is a fun, quick, exciting book that keeps expanding the Humanx universe. The characters were well-done. I liked Teleen, though her motives were a little weak view spoiler [regarding keeping Flinx alive hide spoiler ]. I really liked Syl.

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She comes into the story in the middle and despite not learning too much about her, she felt like a real person. I liked their gradual friendship despite Flinx being, well, an asshole. Related to that, I really like Syl because she was more of a window into the Thranx mentality and cultural differences.

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I liked the subtle changes to human expressions that she uses. This seem ridiculous to me, to be honest hide spoiler ] , another is very far-fetched view spoiler [really, the Baron? It was also a coming of age story, which I liked. Overall, a very fun book with a bit more depth than a typical silly sci-fi.

Mar 22, Jeff Miller rated it it was amazing. Enjoyed this a lot. It wasn't - just a solid SF adventure. Now have to find the other books. Nov 17, Michael Long rated it really liked it. I've never read this series before, but got the audiobook for the third novel about a boy named Flinx and his killer flying mini-dragon Pip. He is first kidnapped by a rather evil businessman who wants to exploit Flinx's mental powers.

He then sets off on a quest to learn more about his parents and where he comes from. I really enjoyed this novel and especially Flinx. Even though he is 17 years old, he comes off as extremely cunning, wise, and lucky. It reminds me a lot of the Artemis Fowl series I've never read this series before, but got the audiobook for the third novel about a boy named Flinx and his killer flying mini-dragon Pip. It reminds me a lot of the Artemis Fowl series.

It is just good fun to follow a character who is always one step ahead of everyone else. I also found the alien race in the last half of the book to very fascinating and unique. Even though the book is almost 40 years old now, you could hardly ever tell it which is a testament to the author's imagination.

The only thing that might perhaps date it is the church's use of microfilm for record keeping. I don't have too much negative to say except perhaps the plot could have had better pacing.

It goes kind of slow in the beginning and then near the end its just going too fast for belief. Also since I came in without reading the prior books, it did take me more time to understand what was going on. The narration was really very great.

The only time the narration was a bit off was when the narrator was doing the voice of an annoying little girl. I'm looking forward to reading future novels in this series! I received this for free in exchange for an honest review. This review was originally posted on MichaelSciFan If I had known this was the second in the series before picking it up, I would have held off until I had had a chance to read the first.

But since there was no indication otherwise on the cover or anywhere else on the book , I assumed Orphan Star marked the beginning of the series. This led to some confusion, since half of this book consists of references to the events of the previous book.

The story has promise, so I may track down the first book, reread this one, and change my rating, but ther If I had known this was the second in the series before picking it up, I would have held off until I had had a chance to read the first. The story has promise, so I may track down the first book, reread this one, and change my rating, but there are a lot of things that fall flat. The world-building is sparse and unconvincing, the pacing uneven, and there is almost no character development to speak of. I've heard that Foster is a wonderful science fiction writer, but I wasn't terribly impressed by this particular sample of his work.

That being said, I'd like to give some of his other books a chance before completely writing him off. Sep 13, Kylie rated it it was amazing. So I'm re-reading my Alan Dean Foster collection and I started with Orphan Star, which, yes, is technically Book 3 in the 'series' but I sort of consider this series like Anne McCaffrey Tower and Hive Series - it's a series I can just reach for any book, pick that book up, read it and know instantly I am at home in that universe.

I found re-reading this book very enjoyable. XD I appreciated Flinx back then, but I adore him all the more now as a character. Seriously, I miss this archetype, and it's weird that I have to read books from 41 years ago to hunt for male characters I can appreciate. However, that is the great thing about books - they last through time mostly I think, however, what I loved the most about re-reading this book was how much I missed the realisation of just who Flinx himself is from my first read through - or maybe I did, but it just never struck me as much as it did now. The illustrations on the covers always depict Flinx in a particular way but after reading this book again I now have a totally different vision in my mind now that I have grown up to be an author and illustrator of what Flinx looks like.

It was an incredible revelation to me as a reader and I am SO glad I read this book first. Alan Dead Foster wouldn't be for everyone, his style can be a bit choppy. The Pip and Flinx stories, honestly, wouldn't be for everyone either - but if you enjoy light fun, with interesting, light world-building that you can fill in the gaps with your own imagination, and if you also really love adorable flying snake dragons - then yes, I highly recommend giving Orphan Star a go.

Flinx is incredibly lovable as a character. I fell in love with him as a little girl, and I haven't stopped loving him. Foster has created an incredible multi-planet universe, and he somehow presents it to us without info-dumping!! And speaking of alien creatures, they are on par with Robert Silverberg, in that they are remarkably unique and complex.

Well written with interesting characters. The story isn't one of continuous action but it does create very interesting situations that make you wonder how Flinx will get out of this one alive. Jan 09, Blane rated it it was amazing. Another awesome addition to the tales of Flinx and Pip. ADF continues to spellbind readers with his storytelling magic. Just as enjoyable as the first time I read this in ! Mar 19, Dasha rated it really liked it Shelves: Supposedly this is 4 after Bloodhype, which is not supposed to be good but it's the first of the series that I read. Good enough to go back to read 1 and 2.

Will continue with the rest. Apr 20, Amanda Nunn rated it really liked it. The second book in this series I read, although I apparently missed something between this and For Love of Mother-Not. It wasn't too big an issue. The world building is still a lot of fun. Flinx gets off-planet this time, chasing somebody who apparently know something about his past, although what we find out in this book seems to contradict what we found out in For Love of Mother-Not.

I thought Flinx was supposed to be some sort of science experiment, but that's not referenced at all here. We do however get to meet an intriguing character who we only heard of by name and reputation in the previous book - though she doesn't get much focus. I'm interested to continue the series if only to find out more about her - and to see if Flinx's past starts to make sense. Flinx's strategy in prevailing over the villains seems a bit He takes a peaceful community and literally teaches them the concepts of fighting and killing.

He says he's helping them fight back against people who are taking advantage of them, however we're not really shown anything that suggests the Ujurrians aren't completely happy with the deal they're getting, and the worst the villains seem to do to them before they turn is to hold them in contempt.

Orphan Star (Adventures of Pip & Flinx)

I also wonder what the digging-holes game was supposed to do. An overall enjoyable read, and I shall be reading more of the series when I can get my hands on them. Jan 14, John Parvin rated it it was amazing Shelves: Aug 06, Brian Turner rated it liked it Shelves: This isn't a particularly bad book, but neither is it a particularly good book. Oct 26, Pages. Mar 26, Pages. It is a strange childhood for a kid, to be adopted by the restless Mother Mastiff and raised in the bustling marketplace of Drallar.

Orphan Star: A Pip & Flinx Adventure (Unabridged)

Flinx never knew the mom and dad who abandoned him years ago. In fact, his birth has always been shrouded in mystery. But Flinx eventually discovers that his unknown parents have left him a curious legacy—extraordinary mental powers that are both a marvelous gift and a dreaded curse. This double-edged legacy will lead Flinx, along with his loyal protector, the mini-dragon Pip, on a harrowing journey in search of the truth.

It is a daring adventure that brings him to another world—and into the clutches of one of the most evil and powerful men in the galaxy. From the Trade Paperback edition. Also by Alan Dean Foster. See all books by Alan Dean Foster.

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