Alan Dean Foster

I got started on Foster's writing with Flinx. From there, I kept on going. The only book I ever tried to read by Foster that I didn't like was Spellsinger, and I've been tempted to go back and try that one again, along with its sequels, because I hate starting a book and not finishing it. Other than the Flinx series, some of my favorites include the Icerigger trilogy, which is sadly no longer readily available, Mad Amos, which is possibly my favorite book by Mr. Foster, and the The Damned series. But I have enjoyed every Foster book that I ever finished reading. One note: a number of the books are listed as , but don't take that to mean they aren't any good. They're good books, but not up to Foster's usual caliber.

Books I've Read by Alan Dean Foster

Meet two of L.A.'s finest: Sykes - the veteran and Franciso - the alien. The time - a future closer than we know. Where groups of extraterrestrial aliens have become familiar members of our society. The place - Los Angeles. Still a town of fast times and hard crime, touching every life form inside the city limits. The cops - Sykes, earthman, and Francisco, alien. Facing a menace meaner than the meanest streets on their beat. Fighting an enemy as terrifying as the darkest forces in a vast, unfathomable universe. Battling back with the best - and the deadliest - of both their worlds. (book description)

The Ghost Ship - For five years the crew of the Palomino had ranged through deep space, searching for evidence of alien life - with no result. Then, their mission almost at an end, they discovered a giant collpsar - the largest black hole ever encountered - and, drifting perilously near it, was the long-lost legendary starship Cygnus. Incredibly, the ship was not a lifeless hulk. Its commander, the genius who had designed the Cygnus and planned its epic voyage, still survived, served by a horde of mechanical slaves. But Commander Reinhardt had no desire to be rescued. He had a rendezvous with the incredibly hellish forces of the collapsar - and he planned to take the Palomino's crew along on his doomed adventure. (book description)

While on vacation in Peru, movie star Jason Carter discovers a lost civilization of extra-dimensional Incas intent on conquering the entire world. (from an Amazon.com review)

By answering a seemingly impossible riddle, Perseus, the son of Zeus, wins the hand of the Princess Andromeda in marriage. Trouble appears in the shape of Calibos, the princess's former love, and his mother, the Goddess Thetis. In order that the dreaded Kraken not be released, Andromeda has to be sacrificed and Perseus searches for the Medusa; her head is the only thing that can stop the Kraken. (book description)

When every machine ceases to function and begins to search for non-human species of higher intelligence, an alien threat to humans and machines threatens the universe. (book description)

A fascinating book combining the traditions of the Navaho indian tribes and post modern culture and technology, while at the same time a thought-provoking "how done-it" . The story revolves around the investigations of a Miami detective looking into the bizarre murder of a wealthy business man and its relation to a unique Native American sandpainting. His investigations take him to California where he calls upon the assistance of a local Navaho detective. While there he uncovers links to an ancient alien race, and is called upon to eliminate a possible threat to all mankind. (from an Amazon.com review)

If anything could go wrong aboard the scoutship Dark Star, sooner or later it would. Now in the 20th year of their mission - destroying unstable planets - the ship and its crew were falling apart…. After 20 years in space, isolation and loneliness have left their mark. The four surviving crew members are bored beyond relief. Only an occasional bomb run or another or the inevitable malfunctions aboard ship upsets the monotony. Then, Bomb #20 is primed, armed, and set to detonate - suddenly life on the Dark Star becomes frantic… (book description)

When a strange starship appears mysteriously on a distant alien world, bearing only a single human and his bee-like extraterrestrial companion, the powerful warlord of that world laughs at the stranger's preposterous demand: End an all-out war with an interstellar rival, or face devastating consequences. But James Lawson, emissary from an intergalactic federation of advanced races, means every word he says, and has the power to back them up—whatever the cost. (from an Amazon.com review)

When a mile-wide asteroid appears in orbit around Earth, ex-astronaut Boston Low is called on to return to space and nudge the monster into a stable position. When he, a journalist and a scientist investigate the asteroid's surface, they enter a time and place of mystery, danger and revelation: the planet Cocytus, once home to an intelligent race but now a haunted museum to their incredibly advanced civilization. (from an Amazon.com review)

Seeth—a bored punk rocker looking for excitement. Miranda—an air-head beauty who lives to shop. And Kerwin—a nerd who just wants to fit in. They're not friends, and they don't even like each other. But now they are the key to saving the universe—and are on the adventure of a lifetime. When Seeth and Kerwin encounter the guy with the seven fingered hand and the gravity defying bowling ball, they never thought that they, as well as beauty queen Miranda, would be involved in the fate of galaxies and civilizations. (from a www.1stChoiceUsedBooks.com and an Amazon.com review)

In a future of staggering technology, corporations must employ cutting-edge security systems to stay one step ahead of a new breed of thieves. And detectives need all the help they can get. That's why Broderick Manz uses robot as his assistants. When high-tech pharmaceuticals are stolen, the perfect crime is turned over to the perfect crime-solvers. (from an Amazon.com review)

For over 100 years, the machine called Colligatarch had ruled the Earth. Its predictions of the future have proved so accurate that humans accepted its recommendations as the best course of action—until a young engineer in Phoenix begins to travel without authorization, enter secret places, assume aliases, and display super-human feats of strength. Is it because he has fallen in love? Or has he instead fallen into an interplanetary plot? (from an Amazon.com review)

upset stomachs. The collapse of civilizations. Nervous Breakdowns. Blame them on a twist of fate but archaeologist Cody Westcott knows differently. Something is causing these random acts of badness. Something ancient, Something evil, something…hungry. We are not alone, but we're about to wish we were…. (book description)

AN ANCIENT EVIL RETURNS … They are small and dark …and as elusive as shadows. They are the shetani, a swarm of spirit-beings of awesome power, stealing into our world from the Out Of to destroy the very fabric of reality. Only one man sees the growing danger, Olkeloki, an elder of the Maasai people, an African laibon with the knowledge to fight the shetani both in this world and its bizarre counterpart. But he must have help from two others if he is to stem the deadly tide—U.S. government agent Joshua Oak, a man all too used to combat, and Merry Sharrow, a courageous young woman braving demons of her own. Together, they must invade the very heart of a nightmare and—as spell-cast mayhem causes one Earthly crisis after another—defeat the shetani in their own terror-strewn world! (book description)

Ross Ed Hager is a good ol' boy from Texas, headed to the coast and expecting to see things he's never seen before. Jed is something he's never seen before—a three-eyed, six-limbed, alien corpse. And even though he's dead, he's still the life of the party. (from an Amazon.com review)

After the all-powerful wizard Susnam Evyndd is defeated during battle with an evil clan of sorcerers, the world is plunged into darkness. If the spell is not quickly reversed, all plants will die off from lack of sun, until everything-and everyone-is destroyed. Yet Evyndd's death sets off his last and greatest spell, transforming his household pets into humans. With Evyndd's instructions, the group sets out to return light to the world…but pursuing the missing light promises to be difficult and dangerous, and carries no guarantee of success. (book description)

It descends from space… THE BLACK FORTRESS raining death and destruction upon the planet KRULL - Who will rise to defend the people? Who will defy the red-eyed Beast who dwells within the Fortress? One man dares. Colwyn, who is armed with the magical Glaive. Colwin, abetted by a band of newly freed felons; a Cyclops with a sorrowful secret; the magician Ergo, small in size but great in heart; an aged Seer; and a brave young boy. Colwyn, whose betrothed is the captive of the Beast and fighting desperately to resist his loathsome embrace… (book description)

Alex Rogan is a small-town teenager with big-time dreams. He's just like everyone else, except Alex has a very special talent. Tonight, a mysterious stranger will call on Alex. He comes from a galaxy that's under attack from an alien force. Alex's unique ability is their last best hope. (book description)

On the faraway planet Jaco, nine scientists from Earth have established first contact with a humanoid civilization. Now all they have to do is live to tell about it… Life Form Is it humankind's greatest discovery…or its worst nightmare? Bestselling author Alan Dean Foster presents a gripping and thought-provoking account of scientific research in the darkest reaches of the unknown. It is a spellbinding odyssey to a miraculous living planet where nature breaks all the rules. Where logic falls apart. And where nothing is as it seems. (book description)

On April 15th, 1960 a plane crashed in the untamed African jungle. The survivor - a young girl! Raised by fierce cats, Luana grows up to be as savage as her jungle habitat. And now she watches the windling overgrown paths for hapless humans on safari… (book description) This book is the novelization of an Italian movie that was apparently never produced. Although Amazon doesn't even list it, I have found it on a number of other used book websites, so if you want to read it, Google {"alan dean foster" luana} (type everything inside the {}).

Strange things lurk up in the mountains and out in the plains and deserts of the West, but few are as unique as the giant mountain man named Amos Malone, the man some call Mad Amos, though not to his face. But when the world gets weird, there's no one who's better to have on your side… Is a renegade dragon harassing the men laying the rails of the great railroad? Are headless Indian spirits driving you from your land? Is that volcano threatening to destroy your settlement? Then Mad Amos is the man for you. Ten delightful stories of dragons, jackalopes, snake-oil salesmen, iron horses, and, of course, the incomparable Mad Amos Malone from the incredible imagination of world-class storyteller and bestselling author Alan Dean Foster! (from an Amazon.com review)

Kees vaan Loo-Macklin is a born killer, the criminal prodigy who seized the reins of an intergalactic underworld, then sold out to go legit. Even then he could see there was no future on Evenwaith with its poisoned atmosphere and cities sheathed in glass and steel tubes. So he reached out, as no other man ever had, to Evenwaith's natural enemies, the slimy amorphous aliens known as the Nuel. In a truce on vaan Loo-Macklin's own uncompromising terms, the Nuel gained the illusion of peace, while vaan Loo-Macklin won the secrets of the aliens' survival. Now only one of the Nuel dares to question the underlying motive of this extraordinary human. Is it greed, personal power, revenge? Or something far darker, waiting on the fringes of space—where enemy starships mass to begin their raid? (book description)

Robert Coffin, captain of an English merchant ship, sets out from the whaling town of Kororareka to forge a new city and a new life across the island. Unknowingly he enters this enchanted land's greatest mystery, cast in the wondrous spell of a native wizard whose magic will change him forever! First in a fantastic new series set in the wilds of 19th-century New Zealand. (from an Alibris.com review)

Forget what you thought you knew about the universe and enter the fantastic world of master storyteller Alan Dean Foster… OPERATOR ASSISTED CALLS ARE CHARGED AT A HIGHER RATE. Mr. Parkworthy had a score to settle with the telephone company, and he was a man used to getting his own way. But he should have remembered that it is not polite to be rude to a lady… especially when the lady is Ma Bell. THE METROGNOME. Charlie Dimsdale was only a little man in the company that ran New York City's subways… until some odd little denizens of the city's subterranean tunnels showed him who was really in charge! THE TESSELATED TETRAHEXAHEDRAL YELLOW ROSE OF TEXAS. Country people in America are a fair but mighty independent bunch. So when some government scientists rudely demanded that the Shattucks turn over the UFO that crashed on their Texas ranch, the Shattucks became a bit obstinate. Besides, the shining little spacecraft looked real cute hanging on the barn with the Christmas decorations. COLLECTIBLE. When young Pearl's life was collapsing around her, she could always find comfort in her extensive collection of dragon memorabilia—but some youngsters are more fragile than others, and dragons can be deadly. Plus eleven more stories! (book description)

In orbit out from Jupiter in view of its malignant red eye is Outland - Here on Io, moon of Jupiter, hell in space - men mine ore to satisfy the needs of Earth. They are hard men, loners for whom the Company provides the necessities: beds, food, drink and women for hire. Now, in apparent suicide or in frenzied madness, the men are dying… To Outland comes the new U.S. Marshal O'Niel, a man with a sense of duty so strong it drives him to ferret out evil, greed and murder regardless of the cost. If he must, he will forfeit love, livelihood - even life itself. (book description)

A nameless stranger rides into the corrupt and explosive gold rush town of Lahood, California. His arrival coincides with the prayer of a young girl who is hoping for a miracle to end the sudden and random violence in the community. Fifteen-year-old Megan quietly recites from the Bible: "And I looked, and beheld a pale horse; and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him." A story of confrontation in a lawless time, the nameless stranger becomes a catalyst for hope and retribution. A struggle between ruthless corporation gunmen and innocent independent miners takes on new meaning with the appearance of an enigmatic horseman. Clint Eastwood is the Pale Rider. (book description)

"It seems you have acquired about you a field that affects the links between multiple parallel worlds, causing objects and individuals from these worlds to slip into yours… or you to slip into theirs…" It was just an average day for tabloid reporter Max Parker when he arrived in Malibu for a demonstration of a brand new parallel-universe machine. But everything changed in an instant when inventor Barrington Boles succeeded in making Max the human gate to numerous parallelities. Now Max was lost in a virtual sea of collateral worlds, confronting man-eating aliens, dinosaurs, talking frogs, dead Maxes, girl Maxes, old Maxes, even ghost Maxes. His only chance to escape the space-time continuum was to find Boles and hope the loony genius could rescue him. But how could he be sure which world was real, which Max was Max, and which Boles was the Boles who could stop the madness—or trap Max in the wrong world forever…? (book description)

"They're all dead now—except me, of course…. " Thus begins Bohannon's story. His wallet stolen by a one-night-stand, Bohannon still believes her to be the girl of his dreams. This weary world traveler decides as a matter of honor that he must pursue her. Recruiting a scout from the roughneck Caucasian castoffs of the New Guinea port he pursues her farther and farther up country, to areas where headhunters still roam and law and order play by entirely different rules. Beyond the natural threats of poisonous reptiles and bugs, floods, and the jungle, Bohannon encounters the various evils of men, as he winds up in the middle of a hunt for gold that proves that more than lust or love, greed is man's most primal instinct. (book description)

They came in sleek, wood-panelled space ships, the ultimate in tasteful design. Their furry bodies were preened to perfection and clothed in the height of fashion. They were terrifyingly cute, amazingly confident and chillingly dapper. There has never been an invasion quite like the Quozl, and Earth may never be the same again! (from an Amazon.com review)

Tower of terror. They called it Shadowkeep. Its evil had blasted the land and plunged it into darkness. Its malice had ravaged the countryside with foul creaturs of the night that ventured forth from its walls. The bastion of one sorcerer's powerful magic, Shadowkeep was an abode of death that had stood longer than anyone could remember and few dared to challenge. Now a new hero descends into the dreaded valley of the keep. Summoned by the cloaked and ghostly Spinner, he is Practor Fime, an apprentice blacksmith eager for adventure. But young Practor soon learns he must do more than carry a big sword and shout orders. To free his land, he must find the key to an ancient enchantment and conquer the castle from which no man has ever returned… (book description)

Living next to a chemical dump isn't so bad. Just ask Jake Pickett. He's been exposed to industrial waste for years—with only a few minor side effects… Like telekinesis. New York Times bestselling author Alan Dean Foster presents a weird and wonderful parable for our times—a story of everyday miracles born in the wreckage of modern science. In an impoverished neighborhood near a chemical dump, Jake Pickett is known as "el magico hombre," the magic man. He can turn bullets to dust or collapse skyscrapers with his mind. But all Jake really wants to do with his "magic" is entertain the local children—and speak telepathically with his crippled niece, Amanda. Then one day, the giant chemical company decides that the only way to cover their mess is te eliminate the people who've been affected. Like Jake. (book description)

Anthology of 18 humorous fantasy stories with an introduction and an afterword by Alan Dean Foster. This collection of short stories is absolutely wonderful. It includes Sci-Fi stories about Hell, Trolls, and the absolute worst wish ever imagined. Includes: Introduction by Alan Dean Foster As Is by Robert Silverberg The Same to You Doubled by Robert Sheckley The Egg of the Glak by Harvey Jacobs Beibermann's Soul by Mike Resnick Thimgs by Theodore R. Cogswell Ms. Lipshutz and the Goblin by Marvin Kaye Unferno by George Alec Effinger Unicorn Variation by Roger Zelazny Yes Sir, That's My by Daniel P. Dern Please Stand By by Ron Goulart Bottle Party by John Collier My Mother Was a Witch by William Tenn [nonfiction] Djinn, No Chaser by Harlan Ellison Up the Wall by Esther M. Friesner Trouble with Water by Horace L. Gold Savage Breasts by Nina Kiriki Hoffman Or the Grasses Grow by Avram Davidson Snulbug by Anthony Boucher Afterword by Alan Dean Foster Edited by Alan Dean Foster & Martin H. Greenberg (book description)

In 1977 Voyager II was launched into space, inviting all life forms in the universe to visit our planet. Get ready. Company's coming. A peace loving alien takes that invitation seriously and becomes involved in the greatest acventure of a dangerous flight across America into the unexplored territory of interplanetary love. (book description)

The stage is set for havoc and terror when a twelve-man researc team finds an alien being that has fallen from the sky and has been buried for over 100,000 years. (book description)

It was just a boring drive through the Nevada desert …until the Sonderberg family picked up a beautiful young hitchhiker named Mouse and found themselves on a wild, careening ride down the exit ramp to Hell. It seems the entire universe is doomed unless Mouse, a transdimensional alien, can find and heal the dying cosmic Spinner who controls the very fabric of reality. And if she‚and now the Sonderbergs—can escape the evil Anachis, the incarnate primal chaos. Suddenly attacked by a demonic gas station attendant, ax-wielding rats and fire-breathing cops, the Sonderberg family must become warriors in a now-mystical motor home and battle pangalactic diners, weird worlds, impossible voids, and brain-bending realms of madness. They're driving into a fantastic nightmare to save all creation at the Vanishing Point on the Cosmit Road… Which happens to be U.S. Interstate 40! (book description)

"Believing is Seeing" In the tradition of such favorite classics as Gulliver's Travels and Journey to the Center of the Earth, Voyage of the Basset takes the reader on a fantastical journey of discovery. Through richly detailed full-color paintings and line drawings, magical kingdoms emerge from a sea of dreams. Cassandra Aisling, who is nine years and eleven months old, doesn't care "a jot" about what sensible people think. She likes strange, mysterious, and magical things. So when her world gets tumbled upside down, she boards the H.M.S. Basset, ready to explore the landscape of her imagination. Pledging allegiance to the Basset's motto, "Credendo do Vides…Believing is Seeing," Cassandra, her skeptical older sister Miranda, and their father, Professor Algernon Aisling, set out in search of the ancient legends. From the flickering flight of fairies and the mermaids' siren songs to a labyrinth-bound Minotaur and a fire-breathing dragon, the Aisling family witnesses firsthand the wonder of mythological worlds. In this lavishly illustrated edition, Cassandra's adventures intertwine with her father's scientific scribblings to present both new tales and the essence of classical myths. From the two voices, readers learn the power of imagination, the importance of believing in oneself, the value of family, and the need for creative, cooperative problem-solving. The story of a magical journey and the exquisite fantasy artwork will appeal to young and old alike. (book description)

Willie Whitehorse could have been just another boozed-up guitarist, if it hadn't been for his songs. Somehow they were different—they reached out and grabbed people's souls. Now agent Sam Parker wanted a piece of the action. But when he had it, Sam knew he'd made a terrible mistake…a mistake it was much too late to correct… With Friends Like These… The aliens had returned to Earth after centuries because they needed allies. But after hundreds of years, they had no idea what they would be getting the universe into…and they soon found out! Dream Done Green Pericles was a poet and a genius, who also happened to be a horse! Why Johnny Can't Speed A father could teach his son a lot of important things, but combat on the freeways wasn't one of them…not when the kid was eighteen and too full of himself to survive. But revenge did have its compensations! (book description)

Of the 12 short stories herein, only 1 is a Pip & Flinx story, although others share the Humanx Commonwealth universe. Foster provides a short introduction for each, discussing the story's genesis, as well as an introduction for the entire book. The cover art for this edition is from "Wu-Ling's Folly" - not Pip, in other words. "Swamp Planet Christmas" (1976) A series of e-mail messages, mostly between a little girl writing to Santa Claus and a government computer across the galaxy, this snafu tale is intended to be in the style of Eric Frank Russell (one of Foster's idols; I recommend his Next of Kin). "Snake Eyes" (1978) - The only Pip & Flinx story in this volume, set between The End of the Matter and Flinx in Flux. "Bystander" (1978) Chapman was dispatched as sole crew on the rescue ship sent to evacuate the Abraxis colony to escape its flare-prone star. He's just a backup to the tertiary backups, so when the ship awakens him early, he is himself in mortal peril. As if the upcoming freak flare weren't enough, a mysterious Dhabian spacecraft is pacing his ship - those aliens who ordinarily refuse to have anything to do with humanity. "What Do the Simple Folk Do?" (1979) Picture a future in which "plot it yourself" stories are mixed with first-class medical technology, where network execs argue that viewers expect realism to include *real* damage - after all, what are actors being paid for? No joke when one's ratings slip… "Gift of a Useless Man" (1979) Lilliputian overtones here. When Peterson, fleeing for his life, crashed on the tiny planetoid, he was left paralyzed as well as hopelessly stranded. But when a tiny, telepathic alien befriends him, he becomes far more valuable than he ever was in his old life… "Surfeit" (1982) A Humanx Commonwealth story, although not involving Pip and Flinx, but rather the Monsters of Dis - the dream of surfers across the galaxy. "The Dark Light Girl" (1981) Haskell Wells decided to take the back country roads from L.A. to Dallas, seeing the untouched part of the country while changing jobs to another newspaper. Now he's seeing more of it than he bargained for, stranded for a day in Agua Caliente, New Mexico by a torn-up tire until the mechanic can get another from the next town… "Instant with Loud Voices" (1982) Twenty years of hard work - continual design improvements integrated into the growing system - have gone into making DISRA the biggest and best computer in the world, and for 6 years it's been able to solve problems from earthquake to crop failure. The world depends on it - but it has weaknesses that no simpler system can have, and its creator is preparing to ask a dangerous question… "Communication" (1981) Earth is about to have its first contact with aliens, wish to deal a single world leader, based on their analysis of Earth's communication broadcasts, who seems more popular and durable than any other. Who will it turn out to be? "The Last Run" (1982) Bill "the Wisp" Switch is a genius at souping up engines, and gets a kick out of street racing (where a mere 150 mph isn't worth the gasoline it costs). But after Wisp defeated a Lamborghini and a Ferrari one night, a new challenger offered him the chance of a lifetime. "Wu-Ling's Folly" (1982) The old West's gold was bound to attract a dragon or two - hard luck on the Butterfield stagecoach line, in a world that doesn't believe in dragons. Fortunately, "Mad Amos" Malone makes a living solving unusual problems (see Foster's short story collection Mad Amos for more of the character). "Village of the Chosen" (1983) Harvey Vickers has spent 20 years in Africa for UPI, and while he's been in worse places than Mogadishu, recording the endless cycle of devastation has burned him out. Until he collides with a woman in the street - knocking her veil off to reveal a face as exquisite as an emerald, and about the same color… (book description)

Alien

• (I haven't read this book, yet) The Complete Alien Omnibus (Hardcover)

  Alien, Aliens, and Alien 3, in one volume. (book description)

  1. (I haven't read this book, yet) Alien (Paperback) or (Mass Market Paperback)

     Where was Earth? This was not their galaxy. A strange sun lit the sky with orange rays. In their long cold sleep, the seven space travelers had left their own universe behind, and now their monitor told them that on the planet revolving below them, someone was signalling for help. By space law, they must descend, explore and render assistance. But they would carry weapons. For who could tell what being called to them - or why. All they knew was that it was Alien. (book description)

  2. (I haven't read this book, yet) Aliens (Paperback) or (Hardcover)

     Now there's a whole planet of them, waiting… Ripley is going back… The sole survivor of the terror that struck her space comrades years ago, she now steels herself to help lead an expedition to the hell she once escaped. For on a planet far from earth, alien beings swarm, hungry for the human face, ready to make the human race their living nesting ground. Here waits the ultimate nightmare of Alien, hundreds of times stronger, more insidious, and practically invincible. Here Ripley must re-enter a world of sudden, unspeakable horror… one that attacks without warning again and again and again. (book description)

  3. (I haven't read this book, yet) Alien 3 (Paperback)

     Here, even the wind screams. Abandoned hulks of machinery rust in the colorless landscape. Dark, oily seas beat against a jagged black shore. And the remnants of a reentry space vehicle crash into the rough waves. In it sleeps Ripley, a woman who has battle the Enemy twice. It killed her whole crew the first time. The second time, it slaughtered a spaceload of death-dealing Marines. Now, on this prison planet that houses only a horde of defiant, captive men, she will have to fight the ultimate alien horror one more time. Before it rips apart a whole world… (book description)

4. (I haven't read this book, yet) Alien Resurrection (Paperback) (by A. C. Crispin)

   Having experienced her own death, Ellen Ripley awakens on a space station and learns that her resurrection is the result of an incredible experiment that has altered both her and the alien creature she is carrying. (book description)

5. (I haven't read this book, yet) Alien vs. Predator (Paperback) (by Marc Cerasini)

   Novelization of the movie, Alien vs. Predator.

The Damned

1. A Call to Arms

   For eons, the Amplitur had searched space for intelligent species, each of which was joyously welcomed to take part in the fulfillment of the Amplitur Purpose. Whether it wanted to or not. When the Amplitur and their allies stumbled upon the races called the Weave, the Purpose seemed poised for a great leap forward. But the Weave's surprising unity also gave it the ability to fight the Amplitur and their cause. And fight it did—for thousands of years. Will Dulac was a New Orleans composer who thought the tiny reef off Belize would be the perfect spot to drop anchor and finish his latest symphony in solitude. What he found instead was a group of alien visitors—a scouting party for the Weave, looking. for allies among what they believed to be a uniquely warlike race: Humans. Will tried to convince the aliens that Man was fundamentally peaceful, for he understood that Human involvement would destroy the race. But all too soon, it didn't matter. The Amplitur had discovered Earth… (from an Amazon.com review)

2. The False Mirror

   As war rages on between the Amplitur and the union of races known as the Weave, Ranji—an Ashregan warrior trained from birth to battle humans—is captured, and he soon learns of the Amplitur's vile genetic manipulations. (from an Amazon.com review)

3. The Spoils of War

   The Weave was on the verge of winning a decisive victory after a milennia of war, thanks to their new allies from earth. But then the birdlike Wais scholar Lalelang found evidence that Humans might not adapt well to peace. Researching further, she uncovered a secret group of telepathic Humans called the Core, who were on the verge of starting another war, and then eliminating Lalelang. At the last moment, she was saved by a lone Core commander. He took a chance on her intelligence and compassion, and gambled the fate of Humanity on the possibility that together, they could find an alternative to a galaxy-wide bloodbath… (from an Amazon.com review)

Dinotopia

• Dinotopia Lost

  Rarely has a vessel survived the treacherous fangs of the coral reefs surrounding the island of Dinotopia, but when a storm-swollen breaker hurls the pirate ship Condor ashore, the peace of the Land Apart from Time is shattered. (from an Amazon.com review)

• (I haven't read this book, yet) The Hand of Dinotopia (Paperback) or (Hardcover)

  A long-lost legend is found… Will is a skybax rider, one of the elite couriers of Dinotopia, a land apart from time where humans and dinosaurs coexist in harmony. Protected for centuries by raging currents that wreck any ship that comes too close to its shores, this strange land is cut off from the outside world. When headstrong Sylvia disappears in search of the legendary Hand of Dinotopia, a landmark that points toward clear sea passage to and from the island, Will follows her, accompanied by his four-footed Protoceratops companion, Chaz. Their quest for the Hand takes them to a startling destination where they're met with a choice as unexpected as the journey. See Dinotopia on TV! (book description)

• Nor Crystal Tears (paperback) or (mass-market paperback) or (hardcover)

  Before Man and insectlike Thranx had become allies, when the reptilian AAnn were just occasional raiders of Thranx colony worlds, one young Thranx agricultural expert lived a life of quiet desperation. A dreamer in a world of sensible, stable beings, Ryo buried himself in his work—reclaiming marshland from a tenacious jungle—until he came across a letter describing a relative's encounter with horrid, two-legged, soft-skinned space-going beasts… (from an Amazon.com review)

• Phylogenesis (The Founding of the Commonwealth)
• Dirge (The Founding of the Commonwealth)
• Diurnity's Dawn (The Founding of the Commonwealth)
• (I haven't read this book, yet) Voyage to the City of the Dead (Paperback) or (Mass Market Paperback)

  Irritating horseye! Many worlds of the Humanx Commonwealth boasted of 'natural wonders,' but Horseye was truly unique - the planet had the most spectacular river valley anywhere in the known universe, and was home to three alien cultures. The fascinating planet just cried out for proper study, and after months of impatient quarantine Etienne and Lyra Redowl had finally received permission to begin a voyage of exploration to the source of the River Skar, a mere 12,000 kilometers Upriver. Old hands at cracking new planets, the Redowls studied the alien's languages, took local guides, and provided for emergencies. But nothing could prepare them for the awesome treachery of the natives or the unbelievable natural obstacles. And not even the natives understood the planet's deepest secret… (book description)

• Midworld

  Born was a child of the rain forest that covered Midworld, part of the primitive society that the peaceful jungle planet had sustained for hundreds of years. He was wise in the ways of his world, and he knew well the precarious natural balance that governed all things. Then one day the aliens came. Giants. They knew nothing of the Upper or Lower Hell—and they cared less. Born had risked his life to save them, to guide them through the myriad tangled boughs, past unseen, unsuspected dangers lurking in the underbrush. But worse than their ignorance of how to survive, the aliens had plans for Midworld, plans that could utterly destroy the globe-spanning forest that his people called home. As the days passed, Born realized his mistake. And as he had once hunted only to live, he knew now that he would be forced to live only to kill… (from an Amazon.com review)

• The Emoman:a short story included in With Friends Like These
• Icerigger (The Icerigger Trilogy)
• For Love of Mother-Not (The Adventures of Flinx of the Commonwealth)
• The Tar-Aiym Krang (The Adventures of Flinx of the Commonwealth)
• Mission to Moulokin (The Icerigger Trilogy)
• Orphan Star (The Adventures of Flinx of the Commonwealth)
• The Deluge Drivers (The Icerigger Trilogy)
• The End of the Matter (The Adventures of Flinx of the Commonwealth)
• Snake Eyes (The Adventures of Flinx of the Commonwealth): a short story included in Who Needs Enemies?
• Flinx in Flux (The Adventures of Flinx of the Commonwealth)
• Mid-Flinx (The Adventures of Flinx of the Commonwealth)
• Reunion (The Adventures of Flinx of the Commonwealth)
• Drowning World (paperback) or (hardcover)

  Alan Dean Foster doesn't just build worlds, he creates entire universes. Book by book, his star-spanning saga of the Humanx Commonwealth has evolved into one of science fiction's most notable achievements. Filled with rigorously imagined aliens and sophisticated cultures, spiced with humor and passion, and driven by relentless adventure and intrigue, Foster's remarkable Commonwealth series just keeps getting better. They call it the Drowning World. It is Fluva, a planet on the fringes of the Commonwealth where it rains torrentially, ceaselessly, and maddeningly for all but one month of the Fluvan year. Chief Administrator Lauren Matthias is fairly new to the position. Her primary goal: keeping Fluva's indigenous species, the warlike Sakuntala and immigrant species, the timid but hard-working Deyzara, from annihilating one another. The wettest place on Fluva is Viisiiviisii, an immense, mostly unexplored jungle. Thanks to the endless rains and humid conditions, exotic animals and plants have thrived there, many of them deadly predators. Yet the same evolutionary process responsible for creating toxic creatures has made the jungle a treasure trove of undiscovered botanicals potentially useful in engineering everything from pharmaceuticals to perfumes. A man can get rich there. Or die trying. Bio-prospector Shadrach Hasselemoga has come to the jungle to get rich—if he survives the terrain once his sabotaged ship goes down. When a Sakuntala and a Deyzara are dispatched by Matthias to rescue the unfortunate soul, their ship crashes, too. Now, in order to survive, the three unlikely allies must do something that no one has ever done before: walk out of the Viisiiviisii. Meanwhile, in what passes for civilization, long-simmering tensions between Sakuntala and Deyzara erupt into violence, threatening Matthias's official position of neutrality—and her life. Behind the violence, Matthias detects a mysterious presence, one related to Shadrach's disappearance. But how are the two related? The answer, when it comes, will send shock waves through the entire Commonwealth… and beyond. (book description)

• Sideshow: a short story included in Impossible Places (The Adventures of Flinx of the Commonwealth)
• Flinx's Folly (The Adventures of Flinx of the Commonwealth)
• Sliding Scales (The Adventures of Flinx of the Commonwealth)
• Running from the Deity (The Adventures of Flinx of the Commonwealth)
• Bloodhype (The Adventures of Flinx of the Commonwealth)
• Trouble Magnet (The Adventures of Flinx of the Commonwealth)
• The Howling Stones

  The newly discovered planet of Senisran was a veritable paradise—a sprawling world of vast oceans dotted with thousands of lush islands and copious deposits of rare-earths and minerals. First-contact specialist Pulickel Tomochelor's mission to Senisran was straightforward: Secure mining rights for the Humanx Commonwealth before the vicious AAnn Empire beat them to the chase. With Senisran's Parramat clan resisting entreaty, negotiations could be difficult, but Pulickel was more comfortable with aliens than with his own species, and looked forward to a triumphant return to Earth. He hadn't counted on the incredible secret of Parramat, though: the strange, powerful green stones that the tribe used to manipulate the forces of nature. Within those stones lay an awesome technology the origin of which was lost in time—a technology that had to be kept from the AAnn at any cost… (from an Amazon.com review)

• (I haven't read this book, yet) Sentenced to Prism (out of print)

  He was smart. He was good. He was backed up by the Commonwealth's best equipment. What could possibly go wrong? The Company had a big problem - it was illegally exploiting a fabulously rich planet named Prism, a world where even the tiniest creatures were living jewels. But, somehow, all contact had been lost with the scientists of the survey team. The Company didn't want to draw attention to itself by sending in a rescue mission, so they assigned Evan Orgell, a self-confident problem-solver, to investigate. Evan was good, but he didn't understand Prism. Worse, he couldn't solve the real mystery of the mission… until it was too late. (book description)

• Cachalot (publisher out of stock)

  A guilt-ridden Earth had turned Cachalot over to the few surviving cetaceans as a perpetual refuge - a planet whose surface was one great ocean, where the remnants of the whales, porpoises, and dolphins could pursue their lives and perhaps even the development of an intelligence greater than man's. Humans on Cachalot were strictly confined to a few islands and the floating towns prospering from the wealth of its sea. The cetaceans seemed to have forgiven the thousands of years of terror and slaughter they had suffered - some had even befriended selected humans. But something was destroying the towns of Cachalot - leaving no clues… and no survivors. (book description)


The Adventures of Flinx of the Commonwealth (in chronological order)
1. For Love of Mother-Not

   He was just a freckle-faced, redheaded kid with green eyes and a strangely campelling stare when Mother Mastiff first saw him an the auctioneer's block. One hundred credits and he was hers. For years the old woman was his only family. She loved him, fed him, taught him everything she knew—even let him keep the deadly flying snake he called Pip. Then Mother Mastiff mysteriously disappeared and Flinx took Pip to tail her kidnappers. Across the forests and swamps of the winged world called Moth, their only weapons were Pip's venom . . . and Flinx's unusual Talents. (from an Amazon.com review)

2. The Tar-Aiym Krang

   Moth was a beautiful planet, the only one with wings—two great golden clouds suspended in space around it. Here was a wide-open world for any venture a man might scheme. The planet attracted unwary travelers, hardened space-sailors, and merchant buccaneers—a teeming, constantly shifting horde that provided a comfortable income for certain quick-witted fellows like Flinx and his pet flying snake Pip. (from an Amazon.com review)

3. Orphan Star (publisher out of stock)

   His birth had been shrouded in mystery, and all Flinx knew of himself was that he'd been abandoned by those who had spawned him. Raised by Mother Mastiff in the marketplace of Drallar, Flinx eventually discovered that his unknown parents had bequeathed to him a curious legacy…a legacy of extraordinary mental powers that were both an incalculable asset and a most dangerous liability. This legacy would lead him—and his potent protector, the minidrag Pip—into the clutches of one of the most depraved and powerful men in the galaxy…on to a harrowing search for the truth about his birth…and out of one world into another on his most dangerous adventure ever. (from an Amazon.com review)

4. The End of the Matter

   Accompanied by his faithful minidrag Pip and a most troublesome alien called Abalamahalamatandra—Ab for short—Flinx set out for Alaspin, the ruggedly primitive homeworld of his flying snake. There he hoped to find the giant man with the gold earring who somehow held the key to Flinx's mysterious past and to the strange powers he possessed. Chasing down his heritage was trouble enough, but Flinx didn't know what real trouble was until he realized that the Qwarm—a deadly assassin squad—were three steps behind him with a contract to kill. But the minidrag's homeworld did not offer safety and Flinx had a terrible time just staying alive … a matter complicated to no mean degree by a collapsar already set on an unstoppable death course across the galaxy! (from an Amazon.com review)

5. Snake Eyes: a short story included in Who Needs Enemies?
6. Flinx in Flux

   When Flinx, no stranger to galactic intrigue, found an unconscious woman on a riverbank deep in the jungles of Alaspin, he took it in stride. When he learned that the woman, Clarity Held, was a brilliant scientist abducted from a remote outpost on inhospitable Longtunnel by a group of fanatic assassins, he tried to help the beautiful Clarity back to her project. Unfortunately, the assassins were still at work. They would do anything to stop the research on Longtunnel and would kill anyone or anything that got in their way… (from an Amazon.com review)

7. Mid-Flinx

   Where Flinx and his flying minidrag Pip went, trouble always followed—that law had governed their lives through years of unsought danger and galactic intrigue. Now an evil rich man was out to kidnap the minidrag for his personal zoo, and Flinx and Pip were on the run again—this time into uncharted space, on a random course they hoped would foil their pursuers. They found more than they bargained for when they landed on Midworld, a verdant planet covered by an immense jungle, hosting an incredible variety of plant and animal life—all of it unknown and all of it deadly. And now they were in real trouble. Their hiding place was in danger of discovery, and their only hope lay with this bizarre and untamed planet… if it didn't kill them first! (from an Amazon.com review)

8. Reunion

   At last, New York Times bestselling author Alan Dean Foster returns to his acclaimed Humanx universe, where a young human orphan called Flinx seeks to unlock the dangerous secrets of his past-and the uncertain prospects of his future with the aid of the formidable minidrag known as Pip. This is the most mind-bending Pip and Flinx adventure yet—a roller-coaster ride into the unknown, filled with wonder and humor, and a host of deadly adversaries. Using his enhanced empathic abilities, Flinx finesses his way into a top-secret security installation on Earth. Once there, he bamboozles a sophisticated AI program into releasing classified information about the Meliorare Society, the sect of renegade eugenicists whose experiments with human beings had horrified the civilized universe more than twenty years ago. After all, as one of the few Meliorare experiments to survive, Flinx has a right to know about his past. Especially since his telepathic powers seem to be evolving. The question is, evolving into what? The excruciating headaches afflicting Flinx with increasing frequency make him wonder if he will be alive to find out…. (book description)

9. (I haven't read this book, yet) Sideshow: a short story included in Impossible Places (Paperback)

   For three decades science fiction legend Alan Dean Foster has captivated readers around the world, from his debut classic The Tar-Aiym Krang and his inspired scenario for the first Star Trek movie to a host of New York Times bestsellers, including Splinter of the Mind's Eye and Flinx in Flux. In this collection of twenty brilliant odysseys of the imagination, Foster once again soars beyond the limits of reality?where the real thrills begin…. NASA Sending Addicts to Mars!: It was the most insane idea in the annals of space travel—and the only one that would work. Diesel Dream: Sometimes on dark, lonely highways dreams do come true, and this trucker's hope was the best one of all. Sideshow: Flinx hadn't a clue about the alien dancer, but Pip knew trouble when she saw it. Empowered: A magnificent male discovers the not-so-super part about being a superhero. The Question: A bold adventurer determines to solve one of life's profound mysteries. …and fifteen other amazing stories! (book description)

10. (I haven't read this book, yet) Flinx's Folly (Paperback) or (Hardcover edition)

    New York Times bestselling author Alan Dean Foster delivers the eagerly awaited new Pip and Flinx novel featuring a certain twenty-four-year-old with red hair, growing powers, and a loyal sidekick who just happens to be a flying mini-dragon. Sure to delight longtime fans and win new ones, Flinx's Folly follows Flinx on a thrilling quest to unravel the mysteries of his mind and body. It is a quest that forces him to confront a horror almost beyond human comprehension concealed somewhere in the universe… and coming closer. It's a good thing Flinx is no stranger to trouble, because he's swimming in it. Even before the latest murderous attack by a new gang of assailants, there seems no end to people determined to arrest, examine, or kill him. To add insult to all that injury, Flinx has been spirited away and enlisted in a battle against a monstrous extra-galactic threat. Hidden behind the Great Emptiness, in a place where it seems matter and energy have never been, there is only evil. Pure evil that is approaching him, accelerating. Against such a quintessence of colossal evil what can one puny human and a formidable mini-drag protector do? Flinx must tell someone or go out of his already addled mind. Choosing a confidant is easy: Clarity Held, a crush he hasn't seen in six years. She is a young woman who has clearly gone on with her life in ways that (he soon learns) don't necessarily include Flinx. Whatever happens, Flinx makes up his mind to act quickly. His decision is the beginning of a terrifying, high-stakes adventure through perilous new realms that will rocket him into the very heart of danger-and into the arms of the only woman he's ever loved. As he and Pip bravely travel to a place where no man or mini-drag has gone before, Flinx discovers he has a few more friends than he thought-and far more enemies than he ever imagined. (book description)

11. (I haven't read this book, yet) Sliding Scales

    On the advice of his ship's AI, Flinx travels to a world where no one is looking for him…but finds something other than the rest and relaxation he is seeking. (from Alan Dean Foster)

12. Running from the Deity (Mass Market Paperback) or (Hardcover Edition) or (Amazon Kindle Edition)

    In the outer depths of the universe lies the Great Emptiness, behind which lurks something dreadful—something that is now raging straight for the Commonwealth. To avert catastrophe, Flinx must find a conscious planet-size weapons system and, using his heightened mental powers, coax it into joining the battle against the behemoth from beyond. So Pip and Flinx sail their little spaceship into the unknown, only to be forced down for emergency repairs on planet Arrawd, home to primitive sentients and therefore off-limits to space travelers. But rules never applied to Flinx. Upon his arrival, Flinx is besieged by hordes bent on worshipping him as a god. Escaping this fate will be as impossible as fulfilling his dire mission. What’s a deity to do? (book description) Personal note: This was not my favorite Flinx book, but it was an enjoyable read. I felt like the writing was more ostentatious than it really needed to be and the book ended rather abruptly, probably as an incentive to read the next one. That said, I fully plan on reading the next one, so I guess it worked.

13. Bloodhype

    It caused instant addiction, followed by an excruciating slow death, and there was no known antidote. It was a killer. Supposedly the drug had been totally eradicated from the humanx galaxy years before. At least that's what everyone thought. But somehow, mysteriously, that dreadful substance was back in circulation on Repler and threatening to wreak havoc throughout the known galaxy. Someone somewhere was secretly manufacturing Bloodhype, but nobody seemed to know where or who! (from an Amazon.com review)

14. Trouble Magnet (Mass Market Paperback) or (Hardcover Edition) or (Amazon Kindle Edition)

    From science fiction icon Alan Dean Foster comes a blazing new Pip & Flinx adventure for fans of the green-eyed redhead with awesome mental powers and his miniature flying dragon. In this dazzling new novel, Flinx confirms his status as the galaxy’s greatest magnet for big trouble. Wandering out there in some remote region of the galaxy is a gargantuan, sentient Tar-Aiym weapons system. All Flinx has to do—while his pals look after his injured love, Clarity Held—is find the hefty object and persuade it to knock out the monstrous evil that is hurtling through space to waste the entire Commonwealth. A no-brainer, really, especially for Flinx, who is never without his loyal entourage of official snoops, crazed zealots, assorted goons, and the occasional assassin. Indeed, the boy wonder and his mini-drag, Pip, are eager to commence their heroic task . . . just as soon as Flinx visits Visaria—a dangerously depraved planet—to convince himself that humans are indeed worth saving. The chances of stumbling across high moral values and utopian ideals don’t look promising—what with Flinx playing lawless Pied Piper to a gang of lying, thieving juvenile delinquents. But prospects really go south when Flinx runs afoul of the corrupt planet’s ruthless crime king. Still, life is full of surprises, and Flinx is about to get smacked by a passel of them—by turns devastating, heartening, and positively jawdropping. For although Flinx came to Visaria to plumb the enigma of humankind, there’s another mystery waiting here, a shocking clue about his own shadowy past. (book description) Personal note: I really enjoy the Pip & Flinx series. This is another solid addition to that series. I really wish Mr. Foster would hurry up with letting his readers know just what Flinx is capable of and how he does it, but such was not to be in this installment. Even so, it was an excellent read, and I found it hard to put down.

The Founding of the Commonwealth

1. Phylogenesis

   In the years after first contact, humans and the intelligent insect like Thranx agree to a tentative sharing of ideas and cultures despite the ingrained repulsion they have yet to overcome. Thus, a slow, lengthy process of limited contact begins. Yet they never plan for a chance meeting between a misfit artist and a petty thief. Desvendapur is a talented Thranx poet who is bored with his life and needs new inspiration for his work. Venturing beyond the familiar, Desvendapur runs into Cheelo Montoya, a small-time criminal with big dreams of making a fast buck. Together they will embark upon a journey that will forever change their beliefs, their futures, and their worlds… (book description)

2. Dirge

   Bestselling author Alan Dean Foster has written an exciting Humanx Commonwealth adventure that delves deeper into the fragile early years when humans made first contact in this unforgettable world… In the second half of the twenty-fourth century, diplomatic relations proceed cautiously between thranx and humans. But the insectlike beings are nearly forgotten with the sudden discovery of an ideal planet to colonize-Argus V-and the startling appearance of a new race of space-faring aliens. People are dazzled by the beautiful, glamorous pitar. Then tragedy strikes. The entire human population on Argus V is brutally slaughtered. Not a single clue remains to identify the unseen executioners. But from a tiny inner moon of Argus V comes a faint signal. On that insignificant chunk of rubble lies the key to the crime-setting in motion a cataclysmic chain of events with deadly consequences for thranx, pitar, and human alike. For their worlds will be changed forever by a colossal battle that is their future and their destiny… (book description)

3. Diuturnity's Dawn

   In the climactic third novel of the Founding of the Commonwealth, bestselling author Alan Dean Foster continues the spectacular space adventure that traces the perilous early years of this remarkable universe…. From the beginning, contact between humankind and the thranx has been tenuous at best. Nearly a century after first contact, the likelihood of closer human/thranx relations is as far away as ever. Yet idealists on both sides refuse to surrender their dreams of achieving an alliance. Among the most dedicated are a minor diplomat named Fanielle Anjou and her thranx counterpart. Others intend to make sure such a liaison never comes to pass… by any means necessary. For these xenophobes, the upcoming Humanx Inter-Cultural Fair, the first wholly cross-species event, is a hideous confirmation of their worst fears. Zealots on both sides vow it will be the last of its kind, no matter how many must die. In the coming conflagration Fanielle holds the key to triumph, but only if she can outwit those desperate to silence her forever…. (book description)

The Icerigger Trilogy

1. Icerigger (out of print)

   Ethan Fortune was a simple salesman—knowledgeable and civilized… a sophisticated traveler between many worlds. But he had certainly never thought of himself as a hero. Skua September, on the other hand, never thought of himself as anything else. A matched pair, if ever there was one! When the two of them were suddenly stranded on a deadly frozen world, Ethan Fortune incredibly found himself cast in the role of Leader. And he didn't find that at all amusing… (from an Amazon.com review)

2. Mission to Moulokin (out of print)

   Ethan Frome Fortune had been on Tran-ky-ky long enough… too long, in fact. He wanted out. He wanted to get back to business. He wanted to go home. So he and his sidekick Skua September headed their giant Icerigger toward Brass Monkey, the busy off-world trading post where they were sure they could book passage home. But when they discovered that their Tran friends were being victimized by ruthless profiteers, they decided to stick around and organize the isolated city-states into a functioning confederation… a governing body that the Commonwealth Council would have to recognize and protect. But the Tran had enemies - deadly ones at that - and Skua September and Ethan Fortune quickly found themselves back aboard the icerigger Slanderscree, leaving a crimson wake on the frozen seas and hurtling toward the most chilling encounters either had ever known! (book description)

3. The Deluge Drivers (out of print)

   Hot times on Tran-ky-ky… It looked as if Ethan Fortune was stuck on the icy world of Tran-ky-ky, never to enjoy the warm comforts of civilization again. But when the scientists at the outpost of Brass Monkey detected an odd atmospheric phenomenon, things began to heat up. Only the great icerigger Slanderscree could make the dangerous journey to the isolated southern continent, and only Ethan could convince the primitive Tran that the mysterious warm spot was worth the trip. Nothing could have prepared Ethan and his Tran and human companions for what they encountered as they sped southward, for its like had not been seen for thousands of years - open water on the ice oceans of Tran-ky-ky! But the worst was yet to come. This was no natural phenomenon. Someone was systematically raising the temperature of the frozen planet. If Ethan and the crew of the Slanderscree couldn't stop the process, soon Tran-ky-ky would become a paradise for humans - and a living hell for the Tran. (book description)

Montezuma Strip

1. Montezuma Strip (publisher out of stock)

   Montezuma Strip is a nightmarish future world where First World tech meets Third World wages, where gangs rule the night, and where the wealthy few lock themselves behind steel gates. Here on the Strip, Federale Angel Cardenas is a top cop on the streets of virtual reality, where talking animals are programmed to kill and even the Holy Blessed Virgin's ghost runs rackets. (from an Amazon.com review)

2. The Mocking Program (Mass Market Paperback) or (Hardcover)