The novel “Flinx’s Folly” by Alan Dean Foster was published for the first time in 2003 and in its internal chronology follows “Reunion“. It’s part of the Pip and Flinx series.
When Flinx wakes up in a hospital after fainting and sees that there are several other people in the same situation, he realizes that his mental powers have manifested in a new way. After running from the hospital for fear of being recognized by the authorities who are looking for him, he is attacked by strangers.
Tried by the latest events and by the growing awareness of an approaching cosmic catastrophe, Flinx thinks he must stop to reflect on his life and what he must do. He travels to the planet New Riviera, where Clarity Held, an old flame, works. However, the woman is dating another man who immediately sees Flinx as a rival.
“Flinx’s Folly” is set in the period when Flinx perceives the great threat that looms more and more intensely. It’s a sort of evil entity that seems inspired by H.P. Lovecraft’s stories, as it’s a cosmic horror always described as malevolent when Flinx perceives it mentally.
To complicate things for Flinx also comes the Order of Null, a quasi-religious sect whose members venerate death. They impatiently await the cosmic catastrophe and want to prevent Flinx from taking any action that could stop it. Honestly, they aren’t very well made villains because they are dull fanatics who have a few simple thoughts with no nuances. Their function is to add danger to Flinx.
The future described by Alan Dean Foster shows humanity at peace but there are still psychopathic and sociopathic individuals. In the Pip and Flinx series, they are often more dangerous for the protagonist than the authorities looking for him and some unfriendly aliens. That’s true more than ever in this novel.
The novels of the Pip and Flinx series tell autonomous stories but more or less important parts are linked to larger story arcs. The easiest part to understand is related to Flinx’s mental powers, which are unreliable, as the opening part of “Flinx’s Folly” clearly shows.
“Flinx’s Folly” is more connected to the rest of the series than the average of the previous novels due to the importance that the cosmic threat is gaining. This is a story arc that is becoming more and more central to the series book after book.
In this novel, there are also new appearances of some characters who are recurring in the Pip and Flinx series. Alan Dean Foster includes some details about them to allow even the readers who don’t know them to understand who they are and their relationships with Flinx. For example, it’s explained why Clarity has a bond with Pip’s son. However, it should be kept in mind that this is a series that is very much based on the characters and the relationships that are created between them over time. The consequence is that only by reading all the books is it possible to best appreciate the strong points of this series.
In the end, “Flinx’s Folly” is a chapter in the Pip and Flinx series that seems above all functional to the development of the story arc linked to the cosmic threat. The adventure on the planet New Riviera has its conclusion but everything else remains very open to future developments. The single books in this series are not very long but this story arc includes some more of them that must be read to find out how it ends. It’s available on Amazon USA, UK, and Canada.
