Reviews for The Howling Stones (Humanx Commonwealth Series #6)

The average rating for The Howling Stones (Humanx Commonwealth Series #6) based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2015-07-31 00:00:00 Francisco Horna Alan Dean Foster is back in xenozoologist mode again with this instalment of the Humanx Commonwealth series and there really is nothing he does better than dream up new species of alien and make them all interact seamlessly in his wonderfully imagined ecosystems. This book also made this terminal daydreamer drool with its peek behind the curtain of accepted reality. I love to ponder the imponderables of reality, letting my curious mind wander around the possibilities of existence... Parallel universes, the non-linear nature of time, chaos theory, eternity and infinity and what they really mean... Man, I could go on all night and this is something I clearly share with ADF. He loves to give the reader a glimpse beyond in his writing and that scratches so many of my itches. To be honest, the only thing I wasn't keen on in this one was the relationship between the two protagonists, Pulickel and Fawn. He occasionally comes across a little seedy in his physical attraction to her and she occasionally seems a little too sure of her own physical attractiveness and slightly manipulative with it. It's down to my own personal taste, really, as their dynamic is entirely plausible... It just made me like them a bit less is all and detracted slightly from my enjoyment of the book. P.S. For those keeping score, Pip and Flinx don't actually appear in this book but references are made to them and the events of this book have a significant impact on their story arc. If you're only interested in that rascally pair you should probably still read this book, despite their absence.

Review # 2 was written on 2008-11-26 00:00:00 Michael OHanlan This story begins with the arrival of Pulickel Tomochelor on the planet Senisran. "Pu'il"--as the natives call him is a contact specialist and he is bound and determined to get a treaty with the Parmaratti tribe. This is a common theme in SF--the "primitive" aliens turn out to be not what they seem. After a slow start, Foster handles the story quite well. The ending was different from his usual style, and was interesting. This is not a slam-bang, shott-em up , fast paced novel. What it IS is an excellent picture of a truly alien and fascinating society. One of Foster's BESTt skills is creating interesting alien societies, such as the Thranx and the AAan. If you like to read about alien societies and worlds, you will enjoy this book. Foster's single novels tend to be stronger than his series books. Recommended for any SF fans; especially recommended if you like Foster's other aliens.