Odd Girl Out

I brought this book home all excited to read a good ol' science fiction, opened it up and discovered it was third in a series. Third. I was tempted to drive the 14 miles back to the library in wintery conditions just to take it back and start with book #1 but I controlled myself. After reading it, I'm sure I could have used a bit of the background on characters from the first two books, but the plot and story of this book was separate enough that I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

Frank Compton is embroiled in a fight against the Modhri, a hive brain that can embed itself in others through thought control or physical things called polyps. Compton and his partner Bayta have been trying to root out the Modhri as they travel on the Quadrail, a train-like mode of transportation that goes between planets. He is just getting home from a mission when he is met at his front door by a girl who has been crashing at his apartment and is looking for help. She needs someone to get her younger sister off the planet Tigris where her life is in danger. And so it begins.

This was perfect mind candy. I flew through the book unhindered by my brain, just enjoying the mystery and excitement and imagination that Timothy Zahn set before me. I look at reading as something to be enjoyed and this delivered. This was no Dickens, nor was it meant to be. Odd Girl Out is merely a good old story told in new and interesting places which I find oddly comforting. It brings about a feeling of relaxation and enjoyment and makes it so I don't have to bring my brain out for much exercise. A good, fun read - seven bookmarks out of ten.