F/SF

I love F. Paul Wilson's books, love the Repairman Jack series, but the LaNauge books hold a special place for me, I think I have read Healer about 20 times.

The Tery is a short read, and while some have panned it, I enjoyed it as it fills in a bit more background of Dalt. Think of it more as an addendum rather than a major part. ( )

F. Paul Wilson is best known for his horror fiction, particularly his bestselling vampires-among-the-Nazis, The Keep. I rather enjoyed that pot-boiler, but I like his space opera LaNague Federation novels much more. This is listed both on Goodreads and LibraryThing as last in the series, but chronologically that really isn't correct. This is definitely after the first novel, An Enemy of the State, and possibly after Dydeetown, but definitely before Healer and Wheels Within Wheels. It's also as far as I'm concerned the weakest of the novels, the others of which I've rated four stars; The Tery is only rated as high as three stars because I did enjoy seeing Steve Dalt of Healer before joining up with Pard, and for that reason this book is keeping its place on my bookshelves for now rather than being culled. Otherwise I found this science fiction Beauty and the Beast less original and imaginative that the other books in the series, and the title character never really hooked me. It also has the weakest--or anyway least interesting--female character in the series. Adriel is pure damsel-in-distress without anything else (other than her beauty natch) to distinguish her. And you know, if you're trying for a sci-fi version of Beauty and the Beast, in my opinion anyway, the female perspective--how a woman can come to love a beast--is if anything more important, more interesting than how the beast can come to love the beauty--and this novel is scant on that perspective. I do like this series, and would recommend the omnibus LaNague Chronicles containing An Enemy of the State, Wheels Within Wheels and Healer. They're all Prometheus Award winners, which might be an added attraction--or detraction--for some. (The Prometheus Awards are given to libertarian fiction.) More general readers might enjoy Dydeetown which can stand on its own, and where the libertarian themes aren't to the fore. The Tery I'd recommend only to fans of Healer who want more of Steve Dalt. ( )