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Product Description
Product Description
From science fiction legend and New York Times bestselling author Alan Dean Foster, creator of the ever-popular Pip and Flinx series, comes the climactic final novel in The Taken trilogy, his electrifying space epic about a man and his dog for whom the expression “out of this world” takes on a whole new meaning.
Location is everything. In Chicago, Marcus Walker was a hotshot commodities broker. In the cargo hold of the alien Vilenjji spaceship, he and a laconic dog named George, who has been speech-enhanced to increase his value, are just two more primitive creatures being shipped to the civilized part of the universe, where the market for cuddly extraterrestrial “pets” is busting wide open.
Though Walker and George manage to escape, man and dog are far from overjoyed, being even farther from Earth–billions of miles, in fact–and without a clue as to whether the direction home is up, down, or sideways. Possessing universe-level social skills, Walker becomes the leader of his own armada. Yet even a fleet commander is hard pressed to find a piece of space that no one’s ever heard of, much less cares to find.
To make matters worse, it seems the Vilenjji are proving to be notoriously sore losers. Even if Walker does pull off the impossible and pinpoint his needle of a solar system in the universe haystack, there’s a good chance that the unrelenting Vilenjji will get to him before he ever gets to Wrigley Field.
Yep, it’s a wide-open universe out there, bursting with possibilities– and Walker’s going to get hit with all of them.
From the Hardcover edition.
Location is everything. In Chicago, Marcus Walker was a hotshot commodities broker. In the cargo hold of the alien Vilenjji spaceship, he and a laconic dog named George, who has been speech-enhanced to increase his value, are just two more primitive creatures being shipped to the civilized part of the universe, where the market for cuddly extraterrestrial “pets” is busting wide open.
Though Walker and George manage to escape, man and dog are far from overjoyed, being even farther from Earth–billions of miles, in fact–and without a clue as to whether the direction home is up, down, or sideways. Possessing universe-level social skills, Walker becomes the leader of his own armada. Yet even a fleet commander is hard pressed to find a piece of space that no one’s ever heard of, much less cares to find.
To make matters worse, it seems the Vilenjji are proving to be notoriously sore losers. Even if Walker does pull off the impossible and pinpoint his needle of a solar system in the universe haystack, there’s a good chance that the unrelenting Vilenjji will get to him before he ever gets to Wrigley Field.
Yep, it’s a wide-open universe out there, bursting with possibilities– and Walker’s going to get hit with all of them.
From the Hardcover edition.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Having read this book was delighted to find a sequel. The pragmatic talking dog guides his non-accepting human friend through the trauma of alien abduction. Both use their own skills to make friends to help them thole, thrive and escape their captors and find that "people" are people no matter what they look like.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
14 reviews
12 of 13 people found the following review helpful
fun tour of the galaxy
5 July 2006
Format:Hardcover
On the planet Hyff, an astronomer sees three ships approaching and fear the Iollth are approaching as they do every century or so to loot and plunder. The Hyffs are pacifists by nature and simply do not have the military mindset to wage war even on an enemy. However, the ships the astronomer saw are not from Iollth but are Nyyuan carrying Marcus Walker, the sentient speaking canine George, the squid like creature Sque and the giant Braouk from the planet Tuuqalia.
These four aliens have been abducted from their homeworlds by the Vilenjii traders who believe sentient beings are commodities to be taken. The astronomers of Hyff find Braouk's planet but before they can travel there the Iollth arrive. The people of Hyff have been so kind and helpful to them, they find they can't leave without solving the Iollth problem. On Braouk's world they find the homeworld of Sque and once they arrive there, the isolationist egotistical beings of K'eremu refuse to help George and Marcus find earth because it is not their problem.
Readers are treated to a tour of the galaxy filled with sentient aliens of all shapes and sizes. It is a dazzling universe and Earth is considered such an isolated backwater place, nobody knows where it is. Allen Dean Foster has written an excellent Star Wars like novel that dazzles the readers with characters that are so realistic and unusual. There is plenty of action but what makes this tale stand out from others is that that these different worlds are explored in intricate detail.
Harriet Klausner
These four aliens have been abducted from their homeworlds by the Vilenjii traders who believe sentient beings are commodities to be taken. The astronomers of Hyff find Braouk's planet but before they can travel there the Iollth arrive. The people of Hyff have been so kind and helpful to them, they find they can't leave without solving the Iollth problem. On Braouk's world they find the homeworld of Sque and once they arrive there, the isolationist egotistical beings of K'eremu refuse to help George and Marcus find earth because it is not their problem.
Readers are treated to a tour of the galaxy filled with sentient aliens of all shapes and sizes. It is a dazzling universe and Earth is considered such an isolated backwater place, nobody knows where it is. Allen Dean Foster has written an excellent Star Wars like novel that dazzles the readers with characters that are so realistic and unusual. There is plenty of action but what makes this tale stand out from others is that that these different worlds are explored in intricate detail.
Harriet Klausner
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Decent End to a Decent Series
18 Nov 2006
Format:Hardcover
THE CANDLE OF DISTANT EARTH (2006) is the third book from THE TAKEN TRILOGY, following LOST AND FOUND (2004) *****, and THE LIGHT YEARS BENEATH MY FEET (2005) ***.
In LOST AND FOUND, we were introduced to Marcus Walker, the "All American Boy" who gets abducted by aliens while on a solo camping trip in the Sierra Nevadas. Walker is paired with the "All American Mutt", abducted from a Chicago alley, whom he calls George... the dog is able to speak, due to brain enhancement and implant technology of the "evil" abducting aliens. While in captivity aboard a giant alien ship, our heros encounter all sorts of strange oxygen-breathing aliens in a Wild Animal Park setting; and eventually work with some of them to execute an exciting escape attempt - but as they are breaking free in a "life boat", an even bigger space ship arrives on the scene manned by "interstellar cops" who take pity on the 4 individuals, whom they take back to their planet near the center of the galaxy, which can be described as near the height of galactic civilization, and where they put the four abductees on the government dole as hardship cases.
In the 2nd book, the 4 folks (human, dog, giant poetical monster, & genius pompous land octopus), manage to find a way out of their "boring" government sponsered lives, where they are basically provided everything they want, except for a ride home (nobody knows exactly where home is)... they are put to work on an alien planet that is hopefully closer to their homes out on the galactic "outback"... this alien planet turns out to be constantly at war, but with some strange rules (that closely parallel those from the STAR TREK Original Series episode A TASTE OF ARMEGEDDON). Suffice it to say, those adventures were far less believable than the ones from the first book.
In the third book, the 4 aliens eventually manage to find their way back to their individual worlds, and new adventures and situations transpire... the book starts off well, but slows down in the middle, and winds up with an unsatisfying ending that leaves the door open for similar future books.
In LOST AND FOUND, we were introduced to Marcus Walker, the "All American Boy" who gets abducted by aliens while on a solo camping trip in the Sierra Nevadas. Walker is paired with the "All American Mutt", abducted from a Chicago alley, whom he calls George... the dog is able to speak, due to brain enhancement and implant technology of the "evil" abducting aliens. While in captivity aboard a giant alien ship, our heros encounter all sorts of strange oxygen-breathing aliens in a Wild Animal Park setting; and eventually work with some of them to execute an exciting escape attempt - but as they are breaking free in a "life boat", an even bigger space ship arrives on the scene manned by "interstellar cops" who take pity on the 4 individuals, whom they take back to their planet near the center of the galaxy, which can be described as near the height of galactic civilization, and where they put the four abductees on the government dole as hardship cases.
In the 2nd book, the 4 folks (human, dog, giant poetical monster, & genius pompous land octopus), manage to find a way out of their "boring" government sponsered lives, where they are basically provided everything they want, except for a ride home (nobody knows exactly where home is)... they are put to work on an alien planet that is hopefully closer to their homes out on the galactic "outback"... this alien planet turns out to be constantly at war, but with some strange rules (that closely parallel those from the STAR TREK Original Series episode A TASTE OF ARMEGEDDON). Suffice it to say, those adventures were far less believable than the ones from the first book.
In the third book, the 4 aliens eventually manage to find their way back to their individual worlds, and new adventures and situations transpire... the book starts off well, but slows down in the middle, and winds up with an unsatisfying ending that leaves the door open for similar future books.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Great Series, Implausible Ending
25 Nov 2007
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Spoiler:
Ever read a book or a series of books, enjoy them thoroughly, only to reach the end and then have the author deliberately choose an "easy" resolution which not only seems entirely implausible but has you seething at being cheated out of what could have been the best part of the entire story?
Candle of Distant Earth is the most frustrating of books, as the consistently entertaining series screeches to a most disappointing ending as our reluctant hero and dog and friends decides AGAINST visiting earth and - most unlikely of all - somehow manages to convince the arch villain to not only spare his life but become - incredibly - a likely business partner! Keep in mind that in Book 1 our hero and friends managed to KILL several representatives of the kidnappers and Pret-Knob spends the entirety of the last two books trying to reacquire his cargo! And never mind the bloodthirsty Iollth whose brief appearance in this book raises far more questions than it answers. And can anyone not see the cosmic and comic possibilities of a Man and Talking Dog and "Weird" Friends actually visting good old Earth! But nope - Walker decides that after finally reaching his home he can't go home again so there goes the book (even though Pret-Knob never said that he wouldn't kidnap yet more human cargo or for that matter that they haven't been doing it for some time!).
One can only hope ADF revisits this series which was otherwise well-written, charming, and immensely sly and entertaining - at least until page 254 of this book (with the words "I am going to kill you") before it jumps the shark....
Ever read a book or a series of books, enjoy them thoroughly, only to reach the end and then have the author deliberately choose an "easy" resolution which not only seems entirely implausible but has you seething at being cheated out of what could have been the best part of the entire story?
Candle of Distant Earth is the most frustrating of books, as the consistently entertaining series screeches to a most disappointing ending as our reluctant hero and dog and friends decides AGAINST visiting earth and - most unlikely of all - somehow manages to convince the arch villain to not only spare his life but become - incredibly - a likely business partner! Keep in mind that in Book 1 our hero and friends managed to KILL several representatives of the kidnappers and Pret-Knob spends the entirety of the last two books trying to reacquire his cargo! And never mind the bloodthirsty Iollth whose brief appearance in this book raises far more questions than it answers. And can anyone not see the cosmic and comic possibilities of a Man and Talking Dog and "Weird" Friends actually visting good old Earth! But nope - Walker decides that after finally reaching his home he can't go home again so there goes the book (even though Pret-Knob never said that he wouldn't kidnap yet more human cargo or for that matter that they haven't been doing it for some time!).
One can only hope ADF revisits this series which was otherwise well-written, charming, and immensely sly and entertaining - at least until page 254 of this book (with the words "I am going to kill you") before it jumps the shark....
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