 Paperback cover | |
| Author | Alan Dean Foster |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Robert Hunt |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Science fiction |
| Publisher | Del Rey Books |
Publication date | 2004 |
| Media type | Print (Paperback) |
| Pages | 288 |
| ISBN | 0-345-46158-4 |
| OCLC | 62119520 |
| Preceded by | Flinx's Folly |
| Followed by | Running from the Deity |
Sliding Scales (2004) is a science fiction novel by American writer Alan Dean Foster. The book is the ninth chronologically in the Pip and Flinx series.
In Sliding Scales Flinx is confounded by how to proceed with his life. He abandoned his injured girlfriend, Clarity Held, on the planet New Riviera under the protection of his friends Truzenzuzex and Bran Tse-Mallory (see events in Flinx's Folly ) with the understanding he would search the galaxy for the Tar-Aiym weapons platform that has once been in the system Pyrassis. Not knowing where to go to start the search, Flinx first visits his homeworld of Moth, then broods as his ship, Teacher takes him aimlessly through the galaxy. Teacher’s AI suggests something unusual to take him out of his funk: a vacation. This is followed another surprising suggestion: that he take the vacation in an isolated world that lies within an area of space that is claimed by both the AAnn Empire and The Humanx Commonwealth; a near-desert planet named Jast.
The native sentient species of Jast is the Vssey, a single-sex species that resembles and acts much like a giant mobile mushroom. The Vssey are loosely allied with the AAnn, though not yet a part of their empire. Some members of the Vssey are strongly opposed to a closer alliance, though the ruling government seeks to bring the two worlds closer together. Flinx enters this unsettled atmosphere and is immediately suspected of being a spy for the Humanx Commonwealth. Taken by Secondary Administrator Takuuna VBXLLW on what is to be a sightseeing tour of a canyon. Either through accident or fortune Takunna’s tail knocks Flinx over the edge of the canyon and to his death.
Flinx manages to survive the fall, but with a head injury causing amnesia. He wanders the Jast desert for several days before being rescued by a Chraluuc, a member of a most unusual organization: an AAnn artist colony known as the Tier of Ssaiinn. Considered outcasts by AAnn society, Flinx is safe among these aliens, so safe that he is actually adopted by the Tier under the name Flinx LLVVRXX once he proves to them he has the soul of an artist.
Meanwhile, back in the cities of Jast, an insurrection is ongoing as a faction of Vssey start a bombing campaign against the AAnn. Based on his success in getting rid of the supposed Commonwealth spy Flinx, Takuuna is given the assignment of tracking down this disruptive element. Although he uses the best of AAnn intimidation and hunting techniques, his mission is a failure until a bit of luck and a low-level functionary delivers the name of the one and only terrorist. Fortune also provides him with the location of Flinx, the human he thought he had killed.
Takuuna travels to the Tier to arrest Flinx, but finds his efforts thwarted by the Tier’s unusual Imperial charter. Nevertheless, he manages to get special authorization to arrest one of their members and forces Flinx into hiding in canyon where the artist group is creating a group project. Cornered, Flinx and Chraluuc seek safety in a Tier built shelter, but circumstances arise allowing one of Takuuna’s soldiers to kill Chraluuc. The shock of seeing his friend killed allows Flinx to respond, instinctively, with his empathic Talent, knocking out Takuuna and driving the soldier permanently insane.
His memory restored, Flinx is able to contact Teacher and leave the troubled world of Jast. Takuuna is airlifted from the Tier, but his transport is sabotaged by the singular Vssey terrorist killing him and destroying the AAnn Authority’s transportation annex. Flinx decides he has had enough of a vacation—from the Commonwealth and himself—and heads back to his home territory.
Nor Crystal Tears is a science fiction novel by American writer Alan Dean Foster, first published on 12 August 1982. Foster's ninth book set in the Humanx Commonwealth, it is a first-contact story about the meeting of the insectoid Thranx and Man. This sets in motion the creation of the Humanx Commonwealth; the political body that is the union of human and thranx society which forms the foundation for many of Foster's science-fiction novels.
The Tar-Aiym Krang (1972) is a science fiction novel by American writer Alan Dean Foster. It is Foster’s first published novel and started both his Humanx Commonwealth universe and his two most popular recurring characters, Pip and Philip Lynx ("Flinx"). The book is second chronologically in the Pip and Flinx series.
Bloodhype (1973) is a science fiction novel by American writer Alan Dean Foster. The book is eleventh chronologically in the Pip and Flinx series, though it was written second; the main characters only appear in the last third of the book. Foster originally started the novel as a stand-alone work, but was encouraged by his publishers to include the characters from his previous novel. In the series, it falls after Orphan Star, where Flinx meets the aliens who build him his ship, the Teacher. The novel takes its title from a deadly and addictive drug, for which there is no known antidote, and which causes instant addiction followed by a long, slow, painful death unless the user continues to take increasingly greater doses.
Orphan Star (1977) is a science fiction novel by American writer Alan Dean Foster. The book is Foster's eighteenth published book, his fifth original novel, and is chronologically the third entry in the Pip and Flinx series. Bloodhype (1973) was the second novel to include Pip and Flinx, but it is eleventh chronologically in the series and the two characters had a relatively small part in that novel's plot.
The End of the Matter (1977) is a science fiction novel by American writer Alan Dean Foster. The book is fourth chronologically in the Pip and Flinx series.
Flinx in Flux (1988) is a science fiction novel by American writer Alan Dean Foster. The book is fifth chronologically in the Pip and Flinx series.
Mid-Flinx (1995) is a science fiction novel by American writer Alan Dean Foster. The book is the sixth chronologically in the Pip and Flinx series.
Reunion (2001) is a science fiction novel by American writer Alan Dean Foster. The book is the seventh chronologically in the Pip and Flinx series.
Flinx's Folly (2003) is a science fiction novel by American writer Alan Dean Foster. The book is the eighth chronologically in the Pip and Flinx series.
Running from the Deity (2005) is a science fiction novel by American writer Alan Dean Foster. The book is the tenth chronologically in the Pip and Flinx series.
Patrimony (2007) is a science fiction novel by American writer Alan Dean Foster. The book is the thirteenth chronologically in the Pip and Flinx series.
Midworld (1975) is a science fiction novel by American writer Alan Dean Foster. It is set in his primary science fiction universe, the Humanx Commonwealth.
Sentenced to Prism (1985) is a science fiction novel by American writer Alan Dean Foster, a stand-alone entry in his Humanx Commonwealth series of books. Like many of his books, Foster creates an extraordinary world that he tries to make unlike anything ever seen by his readers by creating a primarily silicon-based planet with almost everything seeming to be made from crystals, glass, and reflective surfaces.
Phylogenesis (1999) is a science fiction novel by American writer Alan Dean Foster. It is the first novel in Foster's Founding of the Commonwealth Trilogy.
Diuturnity's Dawn (2002) is a science fiction novel by American writer Alan Dean Foster. The full title is sometimes shown as Diuturnity's Dawn: Book Three of The Founding of the Commonwealth.
Planet Terry was an American science fiction comic book aimed at young children. Published by Star Comics, an imprint of Marvel Comics, the title lasted 12 issues, from April 1985 to March 1986. The title was authored by Lennie Herman, the writer of Star Comics books Top Dog and Royal Roy, and illustrated by artist Warren Kremer, who had previously worked for Harvey Comics.
Be An Interplanetary Spy is a series of twelve interactive children's science fiction books designed by Byron Preiss Visual Publications and first published by Bantam Books from 1983 to 1985.
The Deluge Drivers (1987) is a science fiction novel by American writer Alan Dean Foster. It is the final entry in Foster's Icerigger Trilogy of books taking place in the Humanx Commonwealth book series. The two earlier books in the series are Icerigger and Mission to Moulokin.
Flinx Transcendent is a science fiction novel by American writer Alan Dean Foster. The book is the fourteenth in the chronology of the Pip and Flinx series. It was published in April 2009. The novel is the final volume in the "Great Evil" story arc, but not the final Humanx Commonwealth novel, or even the final Flinx novel.
Quofum (2008) is a science fiction novel by American writer Alan Dean Foster.