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sammaich's review
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
authoraugust's review
4.0
All right, Zahn, you've got me back on board. After "Odd Girl Out," I was tired of Frank and Bayta. Just a little, but enough that I didn't enjoy it as much as I could have. This, though, was excellent. It was back to the page-turning space mystery that I've come to enjoy, and though it introduced new characters and a (somewhat) new set of circumstances, it also tied everything back in from previous books in a way that makes the fifth one -- coming out this year, I hope -- a book I'm really anticipating. I enjoyed both the further characterization of Frank and Bayta and the way Zahn crafted the plot in this one.
teachinsci's review
4.0
How do you catch a murderer when the is no way the could be a murder? That is the question facing Bayta and Frank asthey climb aboard the quadrail for a trip across the galaxy.
A medical and murder mystery along with the standard adventure fare. Zahn keeps you wanting to turn to the next larg page in this fourth installment of the series.
A medical and murder mystery along with the standard adventure fare. Zahn keeps you wanting to turn to the next larg page in this fourth installment of the series.
therush192's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
gmvader's review
4.0
This is the book where the series takes a turn and flips everything over.
Timothy Zahn has always been good at building mystery as a sub-genre into his novels. There’s always a question of who, what or how going on in the background. With the Frank Compton novels that’s even more important as each book is basically a future thriller-murder-mystery.
With this one Zahn decided to play off his trains-in-space theme and do a science fiction retelling of Agatha Christie’s Murder of the Orient Express in which, famously, anybody could have done it — and maybe did.
Zahn doesn’t play it quite so cleverly but he builds a good case where Compton is genuinely puzzled for most of the book — quite a feat since he is usually nearly Sherlockian in his observational skills.
This is the penultimate novel of the series and as such is sitting in a strange place. On the one hand it does finally reveal some information that completely changes the game of the series — in typical Zahn fashion. On the other hand, many of the villains, characters and themes of the previous novels are missing, making this feel like just another adventure for Compton and Bayta.
It ends with a good setup for the final novel and I found I enjoyed it the most of all the ones in the series so far. Compton and Bayta have developed quite a relationship by this point in the books and it’s fun to see them working together. They know each other so well that they can communicate with just looks sometimes and Zahn has spent the time in the previous books setting that up so that it doesn’t feel cheap here.
You could probably read this book alone — without reading the rest of the book in the series — but it’s hard to say.
Timothy Zahn has always been good at building mystery as a sub-genre into his novels. There’s always a question of who, what or how going on in the background. With the Frank Compton novels that’s even more important as each book is basically a future thriller-murder-mystery.
With this one Zahn decided to play off his trains-in-space theme and do a science fiction retelling of Agatha Christie’s Murder of the Orient Express in which, famously, anybody could have done it — and maybe did.
Zahn doesn’t play it quite so cleverly but he builds a good case where Compton is genuinely puzzled for most of the book — quite a feat since he is usually nearly Sherlockian in his observational skills.
This is the penultimate novel of the series and as such is sitting in a strange place. On the one hand it does finally reveal some information that completely changes the game of the series — in typical Zahn fashion. On the other hand, many of the villains, characters and themes of the previous novels are missing, making this feel like just another adventure for Compton and Bayta.
It ends with a good setup for the final novel and I found I enjoyed it the most of all the ones in the series so far. Compton and Bayta have developed quite a relationship by this point in the books and it’s fun to see them working together. They know each other so well that they can communicate with just looks sometimes and Zahn has spent the time in the previous books setting that up so that it doesn’t feel cheap here.
You could probably read this book alone — without reading the rest of the book in the series — but it’s hard to say.
slimikin's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
mjfmjfmjf's review
3.0
4th book in a series. Read this one for the Endeavour Award. I'm guessing its a classic murder mystery set on a train - sure to be an homage to something - the only thing I've ever heard of is Murder on the Orient Express. Except that it's a galactic train with aliens. An okay read and not requiring of having read the previous books, which is good cause I hadn't. But I feel no need to go back and read them either. Interesting but not noteworthy. 3.5 of 5
straystarlight's review
3.0
The entire book felt a bit like a transition, actually, but was different enough from the previous books that I was still interested. Here is where I could start to see where everything was leading up to, or where I hoped it would, anyway.
cj13's review
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
jaclynhyde's review
5.0
Now that is how to do a cliffhanger! I just have one issue with the book: