But what with Arrawd being very beautiful, and Flinx being Flinx, this particular rule doesnt stand a chance.Now, Flinx is no stranger to murderous attacks and stalking assassinsevading them occupies most of his waking hoursbut to be besieged by hordes bent on worshipping him as a god? Worse still, escaping this fate is going to be as impossible as fulfilling his dire mission. As Flinx is the only one who has ever experienced mental contact with the machine, it is his job to find the powerful alien artifact and coax it into joining the battle against the behemoth from beyond.So Pip and Flinx valiantly sail into the unknown aboard their little spaceship, which is immediately forced down for emergency repairs on planet Arrawd, home to less advanced sentients and therefore off-limits to space travelers. Roaming the galaxy is a conscious planet-size weapons system, the legacy of a long-extinct race. Something horrific that howls and writhes and rages across three hundred million light-years of spaceand is now heading straight for the Commonwealth and moving faster all the time.One slim chance exists to avert catastrophe, and only Flinx can take it. and a primordial horror intent on devouring all of it.In the outer depths of the universe lies the Great Emptiness, where something dreadful lurks, hidden behind a great gravitational lens of dark matter. “Foster’s high-concept novel is a gripping tale of serenity amid sorrow.From science fiction legend Alan Dean Foster comes a thrilling new Pip and Flinx adventure, wherein a certain red-haired, green-eyed young man blessed (or cursed) with strange powers finds himself and his mini-dragon sidekick on a top-secret mission concerning deep space, alien worlds. “Foster’s high-concept novel is a gripping tale of serenity amid sorrow.” -World Magazine “Foster’s sympathetic novel successfully surveys human frailty, the tendency not to learn from history, and an enduring capacity for adaptation and emotional attachment.” -Publishers Weekly
A true first contact novel on many different levels.” - Library Journal “The stunning plot of Foster’s stand-alone novel will intrigue readers for not only the ‘last man in the universe’ trope but also the well-developed alien species. The plot spans galaxies!” -Hugo and Nebula Award–winning author Greg Bear With Alan Dean Foster’s trademark invention in both the psychology and physiology of his aliens, he also enriches the narrative with their complex cultures. “ Relic is a thrilling and thoughtful epic. Thus begins an epic journey of adventure, danger, heartbreak, and hope, as Ruslan sets out in search of a place that may no longer exist-drawn by the slimmest yet most enduring hope. But then the Myssari make Ruslan an extraordinary offer: In exchange for his cooperation, they will do everything in their considerable power to find the lost home world of his species-an all-but-mythical place called Earth-and, perhaps, another living human.
Though the Myssari are determined to resurrect the human race, using Ruslan’s genetic material, all he wants for himself and his species is oblivion. Rescued from the charnel house of his home planet by the Myssari-an intelligent alien race-Ruslan spends his days as something of a cross between a research subject and a zoo attraction. That man is Ruslan, the sole known surviving human being in the universe. As had happened many times before, the basest, most primal human instincts rose up, only this time armed with the advanced scientific knowledge to create a genetically engineered smart virus that quickly wiped out humanity to the last man. Once Homo sapiens reigned supreme, spreading from star system to star system in an empire that encountered no alien life and thus knew no enemy. “A provocative read.”- The Washington Post
The last known human searches the galaxy for companionship in a brilliant standalone novel from the legendary author of the Pip & Flinx series.