Phylogenesis, Book One of the Founding of the Commonwealth | ||||||||
Alan Dean Foster | ||||||||
Del Rey Books, 327 pages | ||||||||
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A review by Peter D. Tillman
Cheelo Montoya is a ninloco, a small-time Tico hood on the lam from a mugging that went sour. He's hiding out in the
Peruvian Reserva Amazonia, waiting for the heat to die down. He falls out of his stolen boat, which chugs on out-of-sight,
on autopilot. Now he's hiding in a tree, after an unfortunate encounter with a column of army ants, when this giant bug walks by.
Des and Cheelo make a wary acquaintance, and then an uncertain partnership against the hazards of the jungle: jaguars,
anacondas, poachers, etc., and unwittingly advance the budding Human-Thranx alliance. But the wily reptilian AAnn have
an idea of how to throw a spanner in the works. Tune in next time for -- Book Two, Dirge --
which should be out "real soon now" as it has been turned in to the publisher.
This is a very entertaining book -- light, fun, and action-packed, with clever twists and likeable characters. It is a
lot like the good old stuff we read and loved when we were 14. And, for that matter, like earlier Alan Dean Foster books I've
liked -- I'd gotten out of the habit of reading Foster, after several so-so books (and the appropriately-titled
The Damned trilogy), so I'm very pleased to see him back at the top of his form. Familiarity with earlier
Humanx Commonwealth books is helpful but certainly not required -- if you happen to be new to Foster, or were disappointed
before, Phylogenesis is a good chance to see him at his best. Fluff, but good fluff.
Pete Tillman has been reading SF for better than 40 years now. He reviews SF -- and other books -- for Usenet, "Under the Covers", Infinity-Plus, Dark Planet, and SF Site. He's a mineral exploration geologist based in Arizona. More of his reviews are posted at www.silcom.com/~manatee/reviewer.html#tillman . |
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