MID-FLINX

First hardcover in an established paperback series about a young man, Philip Lynx, the product of illegal genetic experiments, who has the ability to sense (intermittently) the emotions of those around him. Also weighing on Flinx's conscience is the danger represented by the vast, disembodied essence of pure evil that he's sensed far out in space. His constant companion is Pip, a similarly gifted, venomous flying snake. Here, Flinx is resting on the tranquil planet Samstead, where the headaches and mental turmoil caused by his talent are minimized when the rich, arrogant Jack-Jax Coerlis demands to buy Pip—and won't take no for an answer. Rather than kill Coerlis, Flinx flees into space. He ends up on Midworld, an unexplored planet covered by a vast forest containing innumerable curious and hungry beasties—not to mention humans, descendants of those who survived a long-ago crash, and their large, intelligent native symbionts, the furcots. Then the maniacal Coerlis shows up, closely followed by a squad of alien AAnn Empire troopers—these latter intent on grabbing Flinx's state-of-the-art spaceship. A fairly typical Foster outing: pleasant, breezy, and of no great craft or significance.